Sportsman’s Warehouse CEO announces store expansion plans

US retailer Sportsman’s Warehouse has opened three new stores – and plans to open another two before the start of the holiday shopping season.

Stores in Seminole, Florida, Eastgate, Ohio and Santee, California have already opened their doors, while outlets in Montrose, Colorado and Jacksonville, Florida will soon become operational.

The expansion comes barely a year after the retail chain was almost acquired by Bass Pro Shops.

The five new stores will offer a combined 127,000-plus square feet of fishing, hunting, camping, apparel and footwear products and mean that Sportsman’s Warehouse now has 131 retail locations in 30 US states.

The company will have opened nine new stores this year and CEO Jon Barker (pictured) revealed that its accelerated expansion strategy over the next few years is targeting 190 to 210 stores by the end of fiscal year 2025.

“With the execution of our flexible store format strategy, we remain nimble and will adapt our store footprint to match the size and demands of the markets we enter,” added Barker.

“The size of these five new stores will range from 12,000 square feet to just under 40,000 square feet, allowing us to penetrate under-served markets both large and small.”

It was only last year that Sportsman’s Warehouse came close to being acquired by The Great Outdoors Group – the owner of Bass Pro Shops – but the deal collapsed in late 2021 when the Federal Trade Commission failed to give it clearance.