This was the scene today at the brand new Gander Mountain store that was built in northeast Cedar Rapids. The signage... every single one... came off the front of the store that was originally scheduled to open months ago. The signage also came off the Northtowne Market sign today.

Jacob Cowger
Jacob Cowger
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Jacob Cowger
Jacob Cowger
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So what's it all mean? In May, after Gander Mountain was purchased following a bankruptcy filing, new company CEO Marcus Lemonis tweeted that the new store would open and be a dual store with Camping World.

KCRG reported in August that the store would open this fall... that gives them only about 80 days to make it happen. There seems to have been no movement at the store to this point and today made us wonder even more. Our efforts to get information yielded only one response.

After a call to the company headquarters was greeted with a lone mailbox that said "messages would not be returned," I tried the company that removed the signage. They told me they didn't think they should be the ones to answer the question and referred me to the developer. To this point, that call hasn't been returned.

A tweet to the CEO has gone unanswered.

The only response I've gotten is from the Gander Mountain Facebook page.

Here's my message, and their response:

Good afternoon. This is Bob James, Brand Manager for 98.1 KHAK in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. We noticed today that all signage on the new, unopened store built here is being removed. Could you provide insight on this or tell me who I could contact? The 888 number for the headquarters that I found online is not being answered. Thank you.

 

We are currently not able to talk about store openings, but stay tuned and we will be making some announcements soon.

In June, RetailDive reported only 57 Gander stores would stay open, a lower number than originally announced. The Cedar Rapids west-side Gander Mountain store is now closed.

The new owners of Gander Mountain announced long ago that they would be renaming the stores Gander Outdoors. Obviously, the new Cedar Rapids store would require new signage especially since it is, or was, going to be a dual store. However, the fact that all the signage came off the store today, including the words "Hunt, Fish, Camp, Firearms, (and) Marine," is leaving me with an uneasy feeling. I hope that feeling is wrong...

[KCRG and RetailDive]

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