OGDEN — While Ogden city continues to promote itself as a world- class outdoor-recreation destination, owners of a new retail store near downtown hope to ride that wave.
GEAR:30, a premier mountain equipment shop, is now open at 1931 S. Washington Blvd., positioned as one of the centerpieces in the Ogden Riverbend project, right between Kneaders Bakery & Cafe, Slackwater Pub & Pizzeria and the Bingham Cyclery.
GEAR:30 is locally owned and includes five partners: Brandon Long, Jeff Young, Mark Adams, Damen Burnham and Greg Reynolds.
The store specializes in trail running and paddleboarding gear, but has an array of equipment for alpine and rock sports, ice climbing, backpacking and camping, ski and snowboard touring, and kayaking.
The store opened on Nov. 23, Black Friday.
“It’s kind of retail suicide to make your first public appearance on Black Friday, but we did it,” Long said. “We’ve been happy with the response we’ve gotten so far.”
The shop is open now at a temporary location while construction wraps up on GEAR:30’s 10,000-square-foot permanent home, which is directly north of the store’s current location.
Long said the shop will make the move next door sometime in December or January, which will be followed by special sales and a grand-opening ceremony.
“We had this space available to us, so we thought we might as well open,” Long said. “We wanted to be available and open for the Christmas shopping season.”
Long said the new store will have space to conduct special clinics on topics such as avalanche safety and how to efficiently pack a backpack.
The store has already sponsored several local outdoor events, including the Climbing Festival, the Skyline Mountain Marathon and several trail runs.
“We want to be more than just a place to buy things,” Long said. “We want to be a resource for the community.”
Long said the idea to open the store came after Canyon Sports closed in Ogden.
“We all became kind of tired of having to drive down to Salt Lake (City) to find decent gear,” Long said. “There was really no place in the entire Ogden area where you could get quality stuff, and that meant that you had thousands of dollars leaving Ogden, which is a shame.”
South Ogden resident Adam Prothess visited GEAR:30 Tuesday evening and said he’s thrilled to finally have a high-end outdoor gear store close to his home.
“We just haven’t had anything like this in Ogden,” he said. “I think there is a market for it because a lot of people here are either already into the outdoors scene or they are getting into it.”
For more information, visit www.gearthirty.com.
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