Gander Mountain In Gwinnett To Close

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA — Gander Mountain, the popular hunting and outdoor-goods store in Lawrenceville, will be closing as its parent company undergoes bankruptcy proceedings.

The Minnesota-based company announced this week that the 52,000-square-foot store in Snellville Exchange on Scenic Highway is one of its 32 stores that will be shuttered in coming weeks.

Georgia locations in Augusta and McDonough also will be shut down. Stores remain in Albany, Newnan and Valdosta.

The Gwinnett County store had only been open for about a year and a half after a grand opening in October of 2015.

Gander Mountain announced last week that it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections.

"Despite aggressive actions to improve the efficiency of the company's retail operations and support functions, the underlying financial impact from underperforming stores and unproductive, excess inventory hampered efforts to create a sustainable path forward," the company said in a written statement.

The company is in active discussions to sell to a new owner, the statement said.

It said "32 underperforming retail locations will begin a shutdown process in the next several weeks." No exact date for the closure of the Gwinnett County location has been announced.

In 2015, the Gwinnett stores debuted with a weekend-long grand opening that included celebrity appearances and long lines of customers waiting to get in.

Photo via GanderMountain.com