Gander Outdoors store in Cedar Rapids to close

CEDAR RAPIDS - Gander Outdoors in Cedar Rapids soon will close.

Store ads touting 'STORE CLOSING - EVERYTHING MUST GO” now appear on Facebook and Instagram.

And employees at the outdoor lifestyle product store, at 2140 Edgewood Road SW, confirmed Monday the location is on track to close but said they had not been given a specific date.

Representatives with Camping World Holdings, the parent company for Gander Outdoors, did not return requests for comment.

As Gander Outdoors winds down in Cedar Rapids, the store is running a variety of discounts, including 50 percent off most store items aside from firearms and ammo, and 70 percent off some marine and boating items.

The store appeared a likely candidate for the chopping block, following Camping World Holdings' announcement Sept. 3 that it plans to 'strategically shift away” from Gander Outdoors locations where it does not sell or service recreational vehicles.

Only 37 of Gander Outdoors' more than 200 locations nationwide - including the Cedar Rapids store - meet that description, and the parent company said it expects to sell, repurpose, relocate or close between 27 to 37 stores by the end of the year.

Gander Outdoors opened its 31,000-square-foot current store in June 2018 after nearly 20 months of delays.

Originally, in September 2016, then-Gander Mountain seemed destined for a new 52,000-square-foot building on Skylee Drive NE in, but the company filed for bankruptcy in March 2017.

Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis acquired the retailer's assets shortly thereafter and rebranded it to Gander Outdoors. Then-Rockwell Collins ultimately moved its Child Development Center into the vacant Skylee Drive building.

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