Inland Sports heads to Ogden

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OGDEN -- Inland Sports is moving its business from Layton to downtown Ogden.

"There's lots of things going on there -- the growth of it -- and we like what the mayor has done turning Ogden into a place where people want to come," Tyler Conlin, owner of Inland Sports, said.

Conlin's store sells ski, snowboard, backpacking and climbing equipment and also rents equipment to customers.

By moving to Ogden, Conlin hopes there will be "more traffic for rentals to help people get geared up."

Conlin's store will also be doing outdoor tours for its customers. Guides will take people backpacking, climbing, biking, and backcountry skiing, among other activities.

Another thing that attracted Conlin to Ogden was the possibility of a gondola being built downtown.

"I want Ogden to be a destination town," Conlin said."I want it to be a place people go to play, and the gondola adds to that."

Conlin got his start in the retail business by selling equipment on e-Bay as a hobby, and then started a Web site called gotyourgear.com.

"It wasn't really planned," Conlin said of his business.

"It just kept growing."

He eventually created a physical store in Layton to accompany the Web site.

"You can't custom mold a backpack or ski boots online," Conlin said. "If you want to do those things, which I like doing, you have to have a place where a customer can try them on."

Moving to Ogden places the store in direct competition with several established retail stores that sell outdoor equipment.

"A lot of the big box stores don't carry high-end gear," Conlin said. "Our shop carries only the best -- almost everything we carry has a lifetime warranty, and we stand behind it. I like to think our service is better too."

With the move, Conlin is changing the name and logo of his store because "Inland Sports doesn't help the customer understand who we are."

Conlin is asking people to come up with their own names for the store and submit them. He is offering a $500 gift certificate for the best name, and $800 if a logo is included and used.

"We're excited to be coming out that way, and I just really love the whole ski-town atmosphere Ogden is getting, and we want to be a part of that," Conlin said.

The store will be at 2236 S. Washington Blvd., and Conlin hopes to have the grand opening in early March.

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