Outdoor gear, gun retailer to open store in Algonquin

Gander Mountain, a major outdoor sporting goods retailer and gun shop, will open a new store in Algonquin this fall.

The Minnesota-based retailer is planning to build a 52,000-square-foot store off Randall Road, just south of Binny's and north of the Wal-Mart Supercenter.

It will be Gander Mountain's seventh location in Illinois, which includes stores in Geneva and Rockford.

The Algonquin store will feature one of the largest selections of new and used firearms, according to a news release.

"Gander Mountain is a foremost firearms retailer in the country, (but also) it's a full-service outdoors retailer beyond the firearms selection," spokesman Jess Myers said.

The store will offer gear and accessories for hunting, hiking, fishing, camping, boating, archery, and a wide selection of men's and women's active performance outdoor and casual apparel and active footwear brands.

Plans for the store already have been approved by the village board and are being reviewed by the building department. Construction will move forward on an aggressive timeline, the company said.

"This is a major deal and development is starting to happen again in the village of Algonquin," Village President John Schmitt said.

Schmitt said he expects Gander Mountain will do well in this market, which has been good to Dick's Sporting Goods, located in Algonquin Commons just south of Gander's future location.

"Dick's has a lot of that same type of stuff and they are doing a lot of business," Schmitt said.

Gander Mountain's store will be much larger, he added.

"It's just very exciting to see that kind of new development ... that kind of an investment on Randall Road shows the viability of our business climate," Schmitt said. "It's going to be a real benefit to the residents as well as to the village itself."

One of Gander Mountain's primary competitors in the outdoors gear market is Bass Pro Shops, but its stores are much larger, Myers said.

"Gander Mountain is on a much more user-friendly scale," he said.

More information on special events, activities and promotions as part of the new store's grand opening celebration will be available at GanderMountain.com.