Eastern Mountain Sports last week announced that it will be expanding
its presence in the Boston market with a new 14,200 square foot
location in Newton, Mass. This new location will also be the
headquarters for EMS climbing and kayak schools for the Boston Area.
“The Newton store will be the second Eastern Mountain Sports store in
the area developed with our new, expanded format,” Will Manzer, CEO and
president of Eastern Mountain Sports said in a prepared statement. “It
also increases our footprint in the greater Boston market to 22 stores,
supporting our strategy to evolve the brand along the East Coast. On
the education front, there is no better source than our Climbing and
Kayak Schools. As headquarters for our schools throughout the country,
the Newton store is unique with its easy access to the Charles River
for paddling, Hammond Pond Reservation, a natural forest with large
geological formations for climbing and Cutler Park for trail running
and mountain biking.”
This is the first of several store openings that Manzer has planned for
the remainder of 2007. Currently the company plans to open a
total of three new locations in September, one in October and one in
November. According to Manzer, these store opening come on the heels of
“17 or 18 weeks in a row” of strong comp-store sales increases.
However, even with this many new store openings, EMS will end the year
having closed more stores than it has opened. According to
Manzer, this is all part of his plan to re-position the EMS brand as a
younger, more inclusive retail experience. EMS has been closing stores
that are in under-performing markets, or where the real estate doesnt
fit with the companys clientele. Manzer said that most mall stores
will close and the new stores with a re-designed footprint will be
opened in lifestyle centers and strip malls.
The new target audience for EMS marketing is the 27-year-old outdoor
enthusiast this is very different from the baby boomer that the
company once focused on. However, at the same time, the company
wants to focus it merchandise assortment on the 25- to 40-year-old age
range and create a retail bandwidth that ranges from 16- to
60-years-old. Previously, Manzer feels that EMS only spoke to the
30- to 60-year-old group.
In terms of current store count, Manzer describes EMS as being in a
“trough.” The company is closing more stores than it is opening this
year, so the store count is at a historical low point. Next year, EMS
will begin to re-build that store count, and then 2009, 2010 and 2011
will be years of “rapid expansion” for the retail chain.
Recently, the hook and bullet outdoor retail world started going
through a rapid expansion as three rivals – Gander Mountain, Bass Pro
and Cabelas – all began expanding their square footage in a fight for
more market share. Ground zero for this battle was in the Midwest, and
now many analysts feel that the region is vastly over retailed in the
hunt-fish category.
In the outdoor specialty category, a similar expansion of retail square
footage is on the horizon. L.L. Bean is on track to open three new
stores in 2007, with one each in Connecticut, New York and
Massachusetts, with plans for an additional five stores in 2008. They
also plan to boost their presence in Canada and enter other
international markets. Likewise, REI broke ground on their first
eastern regional distribution center in Bedford, Penn. This is the
retail co-ops first step towards better penetration in the Eastern
Seaboard.
With EMS ramping up its expansion plans, L.L. Bean building new retail
locations, and REI targeting eastern markets for expansion, it looks as
if New England could be seeing a similar market share war from the
outdoor specialty chains. However, Manzer believes that the three
retailers are targeting very different consumers and can peacefully
co-exist, if not help each other to expand the overall outdoor market.
