Isle Royale Forums

Received the following email note from Midwest Mountaineering early this morning.

Regards,
IncaRoads (Mark)


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Dear Friends,

I started Midwest Mountaineering 53 years ago by selling outdoor gear from my kitchen, as a passionate climber and outdoorsman. Over the years Midwest Mountaineering has grown into a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts. We built an outdoor community with events like the Outdoor Adventure Expo, film festivals, clinics and programs, pint nights and other opportunities for customers, staff and vendors to gather and share knowledge and passion for the outdoors.

But times change. Midwest's style of retailing has been under extra pressure in recent years. Online and direct shopping continue to outpace traditional specialty stores like Midwest. Screen time has taken many of our customers off the trail. It's time for us to move on to new adventures.

Before we go, please join us for one last great adventure. Our Going Out of Business Sale will include our entire stock of high-end outdoor gear, clothing and footwear from the finest brands with storewide savings of 30- 75% off and more, until everything is gone. We'll be selling our rental gear inventory, fixtures, and memorabilia. Everything must go!

The Going Out of Business Sale begins Friday, September 1st at 11:00 am, and is scheduled to go through Sunday, October 8th. There'll be a farewell party Thursday, October 12th 5-7 pm. The party will include a silent auction of memorabilia, along with food and beverages.

We'll be presenting the Banff Festival of Mountain Films again this December 1st and 2ne, 2023 and April 27, 2024. Stay tuned for info on tickets.

Whether you're into hiking, rock climbing, mountaineering, camping, trail running or adventure travel, we have the gear and it's all on sale. Shop early for the best selection at liquidation prices.

It's been our great joy to have served you and the outdoor community for 53 years. We'll certainly miss it. On behalf of our entire staff, I thank you for your friendship and support. In the weeks ahead we look forward to helping you find the perfect outdoor gear and clothing during this final sale.

Hope to see you on the trail!


Rod and Sharon Johnson
Midwest Mountaineering

That's sad, but inevitable it seems.

Very sad to hear this. I was in the store for the first time early this summer, while visiting my daughter and her husband in Minneapolis (it's where they've purchased their kayaks and backpacking gear). I was very impressed (and I've let them know about the clearance sale).

I'm sorry to hear that -- I had no idea that IncaRoads owned Midwest Mountaineering (Edit: And it turns out Inca isn't! See below.). For the couple of years that I was at the U, I enjoyed shopping there. Being so close to campus was a real benefit.

I am not the owner of Midwest Mountaineering. I was just relaying the email that I received from them earlier today. I added some clarification to my original post.

MWM closing is sad. It's also not surprising.

We live in a weird time, but I think a store like MWM is needed again. The retail industry seems like it's circular (like most things):

1. Pre-internet era: you go to a specialty shop to learn about gear from an expert
2. Internet era: you Google everything and make yourself the expert.
3. Internet era with spam/bots aka "current internet era": we need to get the no-kidding info from a gear expert again, because there's too much spam/fake reviews out there
4. Future era: ???