Some of my readers know that I have been working on a project for sometime now and it meant I would have to move a little north from where I was. Well I can now officially talk about what has been going. I was recently asked by my site partners over Sportsmen’s Direct to help them with their brick and mortar location. I ended up becoming employed by John and his wife Beth to manage and run the retail store for them. Below is a note from John on just what has been going on. I will try to keep everyone up to date on things as they progress and maybe pictures.

About two years ago my wife and I started a web based sporting goods business while I was laid off during the auto collapse. With a little bit of home equity and a lot of support from friends and family we have been able to grow Sportsmen’s Direct Inc.

Thanks to our success online we are now ready to take a big leap of faith. We recently signed a lease for a brick and mortar retail location in Harrison Twp., right on Lake St. Clair. The location will be right next to the DNR launch on Jefferson Ave near Crocker Rd.

We have big plans for this facility, with our main goal being the promotion of the sport-fishing industry here on Lake St. Clair and throughout Southeast Michigan. We are going to supply anglers with the very best products available, no matter the size of the manufacturer. There are many high quality, local and regional tackle manufacturers out there, many of which are hard to find. We hope that between our new retail location and our web site we will be able to support them and help them grow with us. We will also carry a wide range of other products from well known companies like Rapala, Suffix, Northland, Lindy, Berkley and many more.

For many of you, our shop may be the only place other than St. Paul, Minnesota, where you can see a Wilcraft (www.thewilcraft.com) in operation and get some help picking out options and ordering one. We will also be promoting Polar Kraft aluminum fishing boats. We plan on hosting various seminars, educational workshops and other cool events.
Sportsmen’s Direct’s growth also offers opportunities for some of you as well. We are going to need some employees to help us with the daily operations of the store. We will soon be taking applications, as we begin looking for a few good people to help us with these new responsibilities. Thankfully, I am still employed in the auto industry, so I can not be in the shop much of the time. We have already employed someone to head up the job of managing our brick and mortar location. We will need more help for weekends, afternoons and possibly mornings.

We are looking for a local rod builder to partner with us, as well. This could be a great opportunity to get both local and national exposure.

Last, but not least, if you produce/provide a hunting or fishing related product/service, we would love to explore ways for you to utilize our website and store. Whether you manufacture a product or offer a service like chartering, guiding, etc, we can find a way for everyone to win. Win-Win relationships is one of our core values!

Stay tuned for info on our official opening and grand opening dates. We look forward to meeting you and providing you with great products and service.