Type Privately held company Founded 1902 Motto Gear. Passion. Sports. | Website scheels.com Number of locations 26 | |
Industry Sporting goods retailing chain Key people Steve M. Scheel, chief executive officer Products Apparel, sports equipment, shoes, exercise equipment Headquarters Fargo, North Dakota, United States CEO Steve D. Scheel (Jan 2015–) Profiles | ||
Scheels All Sports (/ˈʃiːlz/) is an American privately held, employee-owned and -operated sporting goods and entertainment chain store headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota. Scheels operates twenty-six store locations in twelve U.S. states. Its slogan is Gear. Passion. Sports.
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History
Scheels began as a hardware and general merchandise store in Sabin, Minnesota, in 1902. Frederick A. Scheel, a German immigrant, used the $300 he earned from his first harvest of potatoes as the down payment on the first Scheels, which was a hardware store.
Scheels started adding a small selection of sporting goods to its stores in 1954. Over the years, Scheels opened in surrounding communities, including Fargo, North Dakota, where the corporate office and the second-largest all-sports store in the world are now located. Scheels' first all-sports superstore opened in Grand Forks, North Dakota, in 1989. This store relocated to Columbia Mall in 2014.
CEO Steve M. Scheel, great-great-grandson of Frederick A. Scheel, oversees the company of over 6,000 associates. His father, Steve D. Scheel, is the Chairman of the Board.
Locations
Scheels owns and operates twenty-six stores in ten U.S. states. Scheels can be found in Springfield, Illinois. In Iowa, stores are located in Cedar Falls, Coralville, Sioux City, West Des Moines, and Waterloo. In Minnesota, stores are located in Eden Prairie, Mankato, Moorhead, St. Cloud, Rochester. In South Dakota, Sioux Falls. Montana has two locations, Billings and Great Falls. Nebraska, has two as well, in Lincoln and Omaha. At 295,000 square feet (27,400 m2), the store in Sparks, Nevada, is both the largest Scheels store and largest all-sports store in the world.
The headquarters are located in Fargo, North Dakota, along with two stores, one traditional all-sports store, and a store focusing on home and hardware store that is now in the old sports store after being in its University Avenue location since 1962. All-sports stores are also located in Bismarck, Grand Forks, and Minot. Stores can also be found in Rapid City and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Scheels is also located in Appleton and Eau Claire, Wisconsin. On June 25, 2011, a new Scheels location opened in Springfield, Illinois. The Sandy, Utah, store opened September 29, 2012.
On December 3, 2012, Scheels announced that it would be opening the company's new flagship store in Overland Park, Kansas, in Corbin Park outdoor retail village. The store would be a 222,000-square-foot, two-story building. CEO Steve Scheel said that he had grand plans for the interior of the store. Customers will enter the store under a 16,000-gallon aquarium, complete with a coral reef and scuba divers to feed the fish daily. A 65-foot, 16-car Ferris wheel also will be in the store, in addition to sport simulators and a walk of U.S. presidents. Scheels opened its new flagship store in Overland Park, Kansas, on June 27, 2015.
On June 3, 2015, Scheels announced plans to open its next store in Johnstown, Colorado on September 30, 2017.
Scheels Outfitter brand
Scheels Outfitters is a premium brand exclusive to Scheels. Merchandise is designed for field experts by "Scheels Experts". This includes gear for camping, fishing, and hunting.