Gander Outdoors (Gander Mountain) in Woodbury may survive

Gander Outdoors (Gander Mountain) in Woodbury may survive

June 29, 2017 at 9:46PM
T.J. Kvilhaug, checked out a bow, along with his wife Bria, center, and two daughters Madison, 5, left, and Avery, 3, during "Black Friday" shopping at Gander Mountain, in Woodbury, MN. (ELIZABETH FLORES/STAR TRIBUNE) ELIZABETH FLORES • eflores@startribune.com
A rep at Gander Mountain in Woodbury said that the store may survive but in a different location in Woodbury or Oakdale. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Marcus Lemonis, the reality TV personality who won a bankruptcy auction for rights to acquire a number of Gander Mountain stores, returned to Twitter on Thursday. He announced that 36 of the existing stores may be built new again as a Gander Outdoors, Overton's, Camping World or a hybrid of two or three of the concepts.

The only Minnesota store on the list is Woodbury, which like most of the other Minnesota Gander Mountain stores, is still open during liquidation. Lemonis did not purchase any of the retailers' inventory, so none of it will be transferred to stores that survive.

Nothing is a lock as Lemonis' negotiations with landlords continues. Details need ironing out on paper, he tweeted. Employees at the stores seem to be no more enlightened than customers are.

A rep at Gander Mountain in Woodbury said that the store may survive but in a different location in Woodbury or Oakdale. The store in Rogers is still slated to close July 29, but Lemonis' tweets from last month stated that Lakeville and Forest Lake are staying open.

Other nearby Gander locations included in today's tweet potentially getting new locations are Green Bay and Eau Claire.

In other tweets Thursday, Lemonis showed off the new logo for Gander Outdoors, which he had to clarify for the design-challenged audience. "It's a 'G' and an 'O.' Gander Mountain stores that survive will eventually be renamed Gander Outdoors, although some will become an Overton's or a Camping World.

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about the writer

John Ewoldt

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John Ewoldt is a business reporter for the Star Tribune. He writes about small and large retailers including supermarkets, restaurants, consumer issues and trends, and personal finance.  

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