‘Remnants of what we were’: Tri-State Outfitters’ closing is almost complete

MOSES LAKE — There’s not much left in Tri-State Outfitters in Moses Lake.

A few winter hats, flannel shirts, some odd-sized shoes (size 15 Keene flip flops, anyone?), several packages of felt swabs to clean gun barrels, some protein snacks and a whole lot of face masks.

It’s all that’s left of more than 40 years — 27 in the location at 1224 S. Pioneer Way — selling sporting goods, clothes, firearms, camping gear and even brewing supplies in Moses Lake.

“Wednesday will be our last day,” said store manager Sandy Keller, as she surveys the now-nearly empty building. “It’s just little bits and pieces, remnants of what we were.”

Tri-State Outfitters, which is owned by Kalispell, Montana-based Crown Enterprises (which also owns the sporting goods chain Sportsman and Ski Haus), announced it was closing its Moses Lake store in February, after the company was unable to renew the lease on its current location due to the owner, Connelly McMahon LLC (according to the Grant County Assessor’s data), selling it.

“It’s all business-related,” Keller said. “We knew the lease was up in June, and the owner let us know they were selling.”

“It was just one of those things, a business decision the company had to make,” she added. “They figured they could make more money elsewhere, which is sad, it leaves a big void in Moses Lake.”

Keller, who has managed the Moses Lake store for the entire 27 years it has been on Pioneer Way, said when she heard the news, she was less concerned about the store’s employees than she was its loyal base of customers.

“It just killed me, and I felt so bad for our customers,” she said. “It wasn’t for me, and it wasn’t really for my employees, it was just the community, and the community has supported us well.”

The response from some customers shows that Tri-State Outfitters will be missed.

“I wish this place wasn’t closing,” said Bob Milton, a firearms enthusiast and a retired camp director for the YMCA across the Pacific Northwest. “This store serves a tremendous need in the community. The staff has been great, the customer service has been phenomenal.”

“I have bought many guns from here, and a lot of clothing and other things,” Milton added. “I just think this store was great.”

Keller said Tri-State sold a “little bit of everything” and never had much room to adequately do “a wonderful job” displaying and presenting, though the focus on upper-end, niche clothing — North Face, Patagonia, Columbia, Keene and Brooks shoes — kept the doors open.

“I think the most comments I have gotten are the people are going to miss our shoe shop,” she said. “It is the only place to get decent shoes in town. Was, maybe.”

Gun sales were “beyond crazy” in the last few years, Keller added, though she explained there’s actually not very much profit in selling firearms and ammunition.

“It’s an industry that’s so competitive,” she said. “By the time you get done with the ATF (the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the federal agency that regulates gun sales and sellers) and all of their paperwork, you’re pennies on the dollar on a firearm sale.”

Which meant that other things, like clothes and shoes, had to carry the store, Keller said.

Keller said Tri-State started carrying brew supplies about five years ago as a way to make use of the store’s loft space. It was never a big seller, but it was another niche the retailer could fill to keep the buying and selling of brewing supplies local.

“We tried just about everything in that little area and figured, well, brew it is, because people are not going to walk up there for sleeping bags and tents and camping and whatever,” she said. “It was just a very hard area to merchandise.”

“It’s such a bummer that we’re losing Tri-State,” said Chris Lamb of the Moses Lake Union of Great Zymurgists (MUGZ), the local home brewers association. “They were the local home-brew shop.”

Keller said she doesn’t regret her time at Tri-State Outfitters, and has decided to retire here in Moses Lake instead of look for another job.

“The company has been wonderful to work,” she said. “They’re understanding, they understand family need, they’re just a great, great company to work for.”

“I’ve been in retail for probably 38 or 39 years, and I learn something new every day. There’s not a dull moment,” Keller said.

Keller said Tri-State Outfitters is unlikely to return to Moses Lake, and the company is probably done in this market. As for the building itself, she has no idea what will happen to it, or who might be interested in buying it.

She’s just grateful for the time she has spent selling things to neighbors, to people who wanted and needed them.

“Thanks for the community for being here when we were here,” Keller said. “We’re going to miss you.”

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.