Scheels: World’s Largest All Sports Store

I attended a pre-opening event at the new Scheels store in Fargo on Friday. It is the world’s largest all sports store. It opened to the public on Saturday, July 1. What an experience! The store has 196,000 square feet (more than four acres) of retail space with 85 sport specialty shops under its huge roof. There is even a colorful, large, operating ferris wheel at its center. If you get a chance to visit this new store—or one of the other Scheels superstores—it is great way to spend your day (and your money). The new store in Fargo has over 340 employees. Besides carrying all the best lines of sporting goods, I can speak from experience that their employees are second to none. They have a passion for what they sell and it shows.

Stores like the new Scheels are part of an interesting retail trend where a location moves beyond being simply a store and really becomes a destination in itself. This is a place that could become your prime reason for a trip. Scheels has 22 stores in the Midwest and the West. If they are not in your community yet, they probably will be in the future. I predict continued huge growth for this well-run organization.