Gander Mountain not shutting down, some stores in NC will stay open

Gander Mountain, a chain of big-box hunting and outdoors stores, is not shutting down after being bought in a bankruptcy sale, according to the new owner, Marcus Lemonis of Camping World.

Lemonis said in a live online Periscope video that he plans to keep open at least 70 stores around the country. He also plans to keep the headquarters for Overton’s, Gander Mountain’s watersports and boating brand, in Greenville, N.C. and will keep the stores open in Greenville and Raleigh.

In North Carolina, the Gander Mountain stores in Fayetteville and Winston Salem will stay open. The fate of store in Mooresville, near Charlotte, depends on new lease negotiations, Lemonis said on Twitter. The others, including Raleigh, are still up in the air.

Lemonis is best known for his reality series The Profit on CNBC where he helps struggling businesses become profitable. He owns or has stakes in a number of businesses, including Camping World.

Lemonis also put the fate of other stores that were already set to close, such as the one in Morrisville, back in the mix.

Media reports around the country over the weekend said the retailer would close every store, but those stories were wrong. Lemonis has taken to Twitter to counter the claims that all Gander Mountain stores are closing and has been sending out regular updates from his Twitter account on which stores will remain open.

“I know this way of communicating is a bit unorthodox,” Lemonis said in the live video. But that communication has brought praise online for his transparency. One person said on Twitter, “I am not sure there is anymore then you are doing now to help with the anxiety of Gander employees #CommitedBoss.”

Gander Mountain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March and announced a number of store closings, including the store in Morrisville. Lemonis and his company Camping World bought the chain, including its brand, assets, leases and intellectual property in the bankruptcy auction.

Stores around the country are selling off everything they have in stock, Lemonis said, because a liquidator bought the company’s inventory.

In the live video, Lemonis said, “We will buy new inventory.”

On Twitter, he said he plans to keep the Gander Mountain locations that can be profitable and raise the minimum wage for employees to $12.

Lemonis said the biggest factor in decided which stores to keep is renegotiating leases with landlords for the large stores.

This story was originally published May 7, 2017 at 12:13 PM with the headline "Gander Mountain not shutting down, some stores in NC will stay open."