Gander Outdoors closes Greensburg location

Less than two years after reopening under the Gander Outdoors name, the Greensburg location has permanently shut its doors.

A sign reads: “It is with great regret that we announce the closing of Gander Outdoors of Greensburg, PA. We have enjoyed serving our customers in the community and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused by the closure of the store.”

A worker who was at the store Friday said the location closed Dec. 22. A sign touting Good Sam Memberships that give users 10% off purchases still hung from the ceiling inside the former store. Shelves were moved to the middle of the room as workers cleaned out the building and shopping carts were stacked in the corner.

The move comes months after Camping World Holdings Inc., the entity that bought Gander Mountain’s assets in bankruptcy proceedings in 2017, announced the possibility of selling, repurposing, relocating or closing locations that do not sell or services RVs. With 165 locations, some 37 did not sell RVs, according to a news release.

Shortly after the company acquired the Gander Mountain name, they reopened 69 former Gander Mountain stores as Gander Outdoors, including the 31,000-square-foot Greensburg location and six other stores across the state, employing more than 55 part-time and full-time employees.

The former Monroeville Gander Mountain was not reopened, and eventually became a Goodwill in March, while the Greensburg location had a grand opening celebration in April 2018.

Dan Dibartola, 47, of Greensburg, was looking to buy a fishing license Friday when he discovered the Greensburg store was closed. He noted he had purchased a three-year membership to the store about six months ago.

“It just seems like there’s a lot of outdoorsmen in the area, and I don’t know how they could not be successful,” he said. “There’s an opportunity for someone to open a store, because a lot of this stuff you can’t buy brick and mortar around here (now). You can’t buy a lot of that stuff online because you can’t pick it up and see it in your hands. Just surprising.”

The closure leaves limited options for Western Pennsylvania shoppers. Across Westmoreland and Allegheny counties, there are several Dick’s Sporting Goods locations along with Dunham’s Sports, but the nearest Cabela’s is in Wheeling, W.Va., while Bass Pro Shops has locations in Ohio, West Virginia and Harrisburg.

Dick’s removed all “hunt” products — including rifles and ammunition — from 125 stores in March, replacing that inventory with other products that might appeal to consumers in those markets. Assault-style firearms, high-capacity magazines and bump stocks were removed from Dick’s stores following a mass shooting at a Parkland, Fla., high school in February 2018.

Walmart, which also sells sports and outdoor equipment, stopped selling handgun ammunition and requested that customers refrain from openly carrying firearms in stores, even where state laws allow it, following a mass shooting that claimed seven lives in Odessa, Texas, that followed two other back-to-back shootings last month, one of them at a Walmart store.

Gander Outdoor customers who shopped at the Greensburg store are encouraged to redeem gift cards online at ganderoutdoors.com and return merchandise by contacting customer service at 1-88-5-GANDER.

Those who are looking for RVs and RV accessories were told to visit Camping World locations in Allegheny Township and Harrisburg, according to the sign on the door.

“I’m really surprised that they went out,” Dibartola said.