Sportsman’s Warehouse opening at Carson Mall likely is set for spring

Sportsman’s Warehouse plans a grand opening at Carson Mall next spring, according to the outfitter that’s set to anchor the shopping center.

John V. Schaefer, CEO of the private corporation based in Utah, expressed excitement in a news release about bringing a third outdoor-merchandise store into Nevada, just as he did about another outlet opening next year in Oregon. The openings mark another step forward in his company’s emergence from a 2009 bankruptcy reorganization.

“The area has a strong outdoor heritage,” Schaefer said of Carson City’s region, “and I’m sure that we will become an active, contributing partner of this great community.”

The firm’s two other Nevada locations are on Kietzke Lane in Reno and Centennial Center Boulevard in Las Vegas. The Oregon store opening next year will be in Hillsboro, a suburb of Portland, which already has an outlet. The retail firm, a subsidiary of Sportsman’s Warehouse Holdings Inc., has nearly 50 stores, most in the West.

Joanne Holmes of Carrington Co., which is leasing the mall’s major space to the Midvale, Utah, company, said asbestos removal should be completed soon. After that, she said, her firm’s workers and those with Sportsman’s Warehouse will complete interior renovations for the opening.

She said the outfitter will occupy more than 42,000 square feet, most of the area that had been vacated when Gottschalks, a department store, went bankrupt. Sportsman’s Warehouse will offer firearms and fishing gear, archery equipment, camping gear, outdoor clothing and the like.

Mayor Robert Crowell tossed a bouquet to Holmes and her firm as he lauded the announcement, a formal confirmation from the Utah firm of what had been known for weeks.

“The Carson Mall, through the efforts of the Carrington Co., is becoming a sizable anchor at the south edge of downtown,” Crowell said. “That’s good for the economy, Carson City, the mall, and it’s good for creating jobs.”

Both Crowell and Holmes, without mentioning specifics, hinted the mall’s transition and return to a competitive stance wasn’t finished.

“We’ll see some changes in the mall,” Holmes said, without elaborating.

A report from a Reno Sportsman’s Warehouse store clerk recently indicated that the Carson Mall grand opening will be in April.

Reuters reported that when Sportsman’s Warehouse filed for bankruptcy, it cited a liquidity crisis, which wasn’t an unusual lament from retailers and other businesses during a period of economic stagnation and turgid or nonexistent credit.

The company’s growth since has included the purchase of 10 locations this year.

Sportsman’s Warehouse had planned to open a store in Carson City before the recession, but the economic downturn scotched the idea until the reorganization and recovery.