Gander Outdoors, formerly Gander Mountain, reopened its Eden Prairie location on Tuesday. A grand opening event is planned for Saturday.
The Eden Prairie location is the only store in Minnesota to be resurrected from the permanent closure list. Nearly a year ago, the Eden Prairie store was included among other Minnesota locations that would close for good, including Blaine, Mankato, Rochester, Rogers and St. Cloud. Nationwide, 160 locations closed after the Gander Mountain bankruptcy in 2017, but more than 70 are expected to be back in business by July. Currently, more than 40 Gander Outdoors locations have reopened, according to Ganderoutdoors.com.
Eden Prairie joins other Minnesota Ganders that have reopened, including Hermantown and Lakeville (opened in February), Forest Lake (March) and Bemidji (early May). A Baxter, Minn. store is expected to open in 2018 by summer or fall.
Compared to Gander Mountain, Gander Outdoors stores have expanded the selection of fishing, hiking, biking, and kayaking accessories and reduced sections of archery, hunting gear and firearms.
Grand opening activities Saturday include family fun, storewide savings, gift with purchases, and drawings for gift cards.
Gander Outdoors is owned by parent company Camping World, Its CEO Marcus Lemonis also purchased the assets of Len Druskin apparel and reopened the store in City Center in Minneapolis, renaming it Union 73.
