Local outdoor store Grizzly Outfitters spent six weeks this fall renovating the 15,000-square-foot space in the RJS Tower Building next door to its main shop in Big Sky Town Center.
Formerly home to the Charsam Gallery, the rental/repair space opened in late November and is effectively triple what it was last year, said Rental and Repair Manager Nick Turner.
“It was just coming to a point where we couldn’t handle our capacity any,” said Turner, who’s been with Grizzly for four seasons. “We needed to grow and have more space.”
The rental area will have seven full-time employees including Turner, and one part-timer. The tuning shop, which previously was in the basement of the building, is now behind a glass window in a room separate from the rental shop.
“Now people can actually view us tuning their equipment,” Turner said. “It’ll be fun for kids to watch sparks fly and see the process.”
He expressed pride in Grizzly’s top-of-the-line Wintersteiger Sigma SBI tuning machine, which will grind ski and snowboard bases and sharpen edges. “We’re hoping this will boost our repair work, because when people see service they buy service.”
He also noted the shop’s high-tech boot drier, which uses UV heating elements to sterilize, warm and dry boots, and also the rental software system, which Turner says helps employees have a more personal connection with repeat customers, saving information on what equipment they’ve skied on in the past. –E.W.
Grizzly is holding a ribbon cutting ceremony on Wednesday, Dec. 4, at 5 p.m. Stick around after for tours of the shop, food and drinks.
