Public Lands store opens in former Polaris Field & Stream

Gone are the guns, and the name.

What once was the Field & Stream store at Polaris Fashion Place reopened Friday as Public Lands.

The focus remains outdoors, but instead of guns and ammo, customers will find running shoes and climbing gear.

"There's a whole new sort of interest in the outdoors," said Public Lands President Todd Spaletto, who cut the ribbon at the store Friday morning. "It isn't just about the 'core' or 'cool' outdoor consumers. For a lot of consumers now, the outdoors is emotionally restorative."

Polaris is the second Public Lands location, following one in Pittsburgh, which opened in September. Like Field & Stream, Public Lands is owned by Dick's Sporting Goods, which continues to occupy the next-door space at Polaris.

While apparel forms the heart of the 60,000-square-foot space, specialty shops ring the store selling gear targeted at eight activities: camping, hiking, fishing, biking, climbing, running, paddling and skiing.

Clothing anchors the store, with a bevy of high-end brands including some, such as Outdoor Voices, new to Columbus, said Spaletto, who previously held leadership positions with The North Face and Wolverine Worldwide.

Other clothing brands include Kuhl, Patagonia, North Face, Marmot, Cotopaxi, Helly Hansen, Hoka, La Sportiva, SmartWool and Scarpa.

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The brand and equipment selection begs comparison to REI, but Spaletto resists that.

"We think our store is quite different than anything else in the industry," he said.

The store tries to reflect the inspirational connection to the outdoors that many feel, Spaletto said.

The store, for example, is decorated with images from nearby parks such as Hocking Hills, and includes an "art bar" where guests – presumably children – can draw or color. It also features a 30-foot-high climbing wall and a small section of locally made foods including Roosevelt Coffee, Lapp It Up! Kombucha and Charqui Jerky.

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In addition, the store contributes 1% of sales to conservation groups. Three-fourths of the proceeds from the Columbus store will go to Ohio groups including Friends of the Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks, Project Learning Tree and Arc of Appalachia.

Spaletto and Dick's officials say they want to see how the two stores perform before moving forward on a third location.

"We want to test the waters and observe consumers at the two stores," Spaletto said.

Spaletto said locations for the two stores were chosen because they are different – the Pittsburgh store is a standalone building and the Columbus store is attached to a mall – but in similarly vibrant markets.

"We like the idea of testing a store that is not freestanding, and it (Columbus) is quite a collegiate town with a diverse cross-section of consumers," he said. "We thought this was a good place to test the concept."

Spaletto expects Public Lands to test and perhaps tweak its two stores for another three to six months before taking the next step. While Public Lands is clearly in a pilot phase, Lauren Hobart, CEO of the parent company Dick's, believes it can carve a niche in the increasingly crowded outdoor retail landscape.

"We see a real opportunity to reinvent the outdoor marketplace, and we believe Public Lands can be a great growth vehicle for us," Hobart said in a July conference call.

jweiker@dispatch.com

@JimWeiker

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Public Lands store opens at Polaris mall