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Friday, March 18, 2022

A New Retail Choice In West Bend

It is extraordinary that West Bend doesn’t have a proper sporting goods store. You have to wonder how many of us are traveling to Brookfield, Grafton, Wauwatosa, or West Allis to visit a Dick’s or a Dunham’s. Several years ago I heard a rumor that Dunham’s was going to open a West Bend store next to Walmart, but that hasn’t happened. Our last sporting goods store, MC Sports, opened in 1999 but closed soon after the Michigan-based chain filed for bankruptcy in 2017. If you’re into baseball, basketball, football, soccer, tennis, and most other sports, then your gear options in West Bend are limited to the handful of things you can find at big box stores like Walmart, Meijer, and Fleet Farm.

Fortunately, West Bend has two very good bike shops: Pedal Moraine and Mountain Outfitters. And if you’re into snow sports, then Mountain Outfitters is a far superior choice to the big box stores. But it’s about to get some competition. Sierra is coming to town.

Sierra is owned by the same parent company that operates HomeGoods, HomeSense, Marshalls, and TJ Maxx. Its West Bend location will be in the former Shopko building. City leaders are justifiably delighted to see commerce coming back to that location. And Pedal Moraine shouldn’t worry too much about competition from Sierra, its new neighbor on South Main Street. We don’t know yet whether Sierra’s West Bend store will sell bicycles, but Sierra’s online offerings are all department store quality bikes from Pacific, the sorts of bikes already available at other big box stores. Mountain Outfitters has a little more to worry about. Sierra offers a wide range of products for snow sports, including snowshoes, downhill skis, and cross-country skis. Still, I expect Mountain Outfitters to win with better customer service and an even wider range of products that includes snowboards.

But there’s a niche that Pedal Moraine and Mountain Outfitters have never really explored: hiking and trail running. We have an amazing network of trails. The Ice Age Trail gets most of the attention, but it’s not the only place to go. If Sierra can appeal to local trail users, then it can find success in West Bend. It has a broad range of boots, shoes, backpacks, trekking poles, clothing, and accessories from top brands. Sierra also sells gear for hunting, fishing, and camping. The West Bend area already has several retail options for those activities, including a massive Cabela’s store in Richfield, but from a customer standpoint there’s no such thing as too many choices.

So, welcome Sierra! You’re not going to shake up the local cycling landscape, but there’s a place for you here.

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