The Gander Mountain store in Maple Grove, considered outdated by the St. Paul-based company, is closing.
Company spokesman Jess Myers said Wednesday that the 37,000-square-foot store at 80th Avenue and Elm Creek Boulevard will close in the coming months when its lease expires.
Myers said the store's size kept Gander Mountain from adding various high-tech gear and other goods. The store itself, he added, couldn't be expanded because it's in a strip mall. Most of Gander Mountain's 115 stores nationwide are stand-alone in design and much larger, he said.
The eight full-time and 23 part-time employees at the store, which opened in 1995, will be offered transfers to other Gander Mountain stores in the Twin Cities area "as the positions become available," Myers said.
There are 11 other Gander Mountains in Minnesota, including five in the Twin Cities area.
PAUL WALSH
