Outdoor Insight

24 • Outdoor Insight • November 2018 outdoorinsightmag.com By Bob McGee N estled in a valley beyond the hundreds of acres of corn and soybeans fields that line I-94 West and I-69 South sits Coldwater, MI, a blue-collar farming com- munity of 11,000. In a half-filled strip center off the highway, cashiers at a Bob Evans Farm Restaurant hawk "Go Pig or Go Home" T-shirts at checkout and associates at a nearby Younkers department store are prepping for the final days of a "Going Out of Business" sale. This is the 17th largest farm community in the Wolverine State with more than $175.3 million in annual agricul- tural products sold and 1054 farms, according to Census of Agriculture data. Less than five miles away, Waffle Farm Campgrounds, bordering a chain of seven lakes and encompassing nearly 1100 acres, is in peak season this final Friday of July. The family-owned business, down the road a piece from Michigan's largest Walmart distribution center #0043, is at full capacity. All seasonal, primitive, lake/beach front sites and cottages are occupied with an assortment of Michigan, Illinois, Ohio and Indiana families, many with signs hailing their respective college team alliance. Coldwater is 135 miles southwest of Detroit in South Central Michigan and less than a four-hour drive to Chicago or Indianapolis. A Good Sam sign is visible in the window of a campground building as RVs and assorted vehicles roll into the vast complex for the weekend or longer. In late September, Good Sam Club membership, which offers benefits ranging from roadside assistance and vehicle insurance to 10 percent off all Gander Outdoors purchases and 15 percent off a tank of propane, hit two million. Membership costs ranges from $29 for a single year to $75 for three years. Welcome to America's outdoor heartland, where the lifestyle centers more on fishing, boat- ing, camping, hunting and spending time with family, often in or near an RV, than hiking or scaling a mountain with friends. What's Inside the Store It is here, in a former 30,000-square-foot Walmart adjacent to Younkers, where Gander Outdoors opened its Coldwater store for business in April to cater to both community residents and seasonal guests at Waffle Farms and two additional nearby campgrounds. The Coldwater store, which we visited, is described as a "one-off store" for the Gander chain, owned by Camping World Holdings. Larger Gander Outdoors locations operate in nearby Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo. The chain's stores generally have a footprint that averages 60,000-square feet. The Coldwater Gander store, with its co-branded overhead signage touting Camping World's owner- ship of Overton's and specialist Erehwon Mountain Outfitter, draws customers from a 30-mile radius. Many are overall-clad farmers, searching for a new rifle for duck hunting season or some new An Inside Look at Camping World's Bold Gander Outdoor Strategy RETAIL Gander In The Heartland

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