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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Piragis makes list of ‘essential outdoor stores’ in Minnesota

Keith Vandervort
Posted 3/28/19

ELY – Piragis Northwoods Company has been recognized as one of the top outdoor equipment stores in the state, according to the website www.stepoutside.org.

Just in time for the start of the …

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Piragis makes list of ‘essential outdoor stores’ in Minnesota

Posted

ELY – Piragis Northwoods Company has been recognized as one of the top outdoor equipment stores in the state, according to the website www.stepoutside.org.

Just in time for the start of the camping season, the organization released a list of seven “essential outdoor stores” in Minnesota and the Piragis store was rated second, right behind REI.

“Piragis is a premier outfitter for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness,” according to the website. “In addition to permits, canoe rentals, and a ton of good advice, they also have a retail operation that sells new and used gear from respected outdoor brands like Nemo Equipment, Sea to Summit, and Sierra Designs. If you don’t want to drive to Ely to grab your gear, you can order online from their Boundary Waters catalog.”

Tim Stouffer, marketing manager at Piragis Northwoods, said the staff welcomed the nomination and the honor of making the list. “We found out about this ranking on social media, like everyone else,” he said. “As far as I can tell, it was an independent ranking. We sure gained a lot of attention, and that’s good thing for us and all of Ely.”

He said the Ely retail store and outfitting operation remains the biggest portion of the 40-year-old business. “We have a great reputation as a must-stop for our summer visitors,” he added, “and our online presence, started in 1997, has really taken off. We send out as many as 585,000 catalogs every year, and ship orders for clothing and other outdoor-related supplies around the world.”

Piragis employs about 20 people year-round, while their staff jumps to about 50 in the summer months. “Ely residents and businesses do a tremendous job of treating people with respect, and care that folks go home from vacation wishing they could be part of our community,” he said. “We take the time to listen and do customer service one-on-one.”

He added that the Piragis bookstore is “like a store within a store” on the upper level of the business. “Many people, visitors and residents alike, comment to us that it is a nice hidden gem in Ely to have that service here.”

With recent reports of retail store closings in Ely, Stouffer relished the positive ranking for Ely. “It feels good to have some good news,” he said. “It puts our store and our town back in people’s minds in a positive way and reminds them that we all do things a little bit differently up here at the end of the road.”