Expeditionary meet-ups. Be sure to see the world's largest map of the Allegheny River Watershed at Allegheny Outfitters before embarking. They are located on the Warren PA waterfront in the city's western approach just past the General Joseph Warren statue.
Allegheny Outfitters, a family-run business known for its canoe and kayak rentals and clean-up efforts along the Allegheny River, is expanding, opening a new outdoor gear store and wilderness trip planning center in downtown Warren PA.
The 2600-square foot store, which opens March 12, will cater to campers, climbers, paddlers, hikers, adventure racers, Scouts and other outdoor enthusiasts of varying stripes and abilities, said owner Piper Lindell. “We’ve got everything from Old Town canoes to ultralight duel-flame cooking stoves to women’s outdoor fashions to synthetic, dissectible owl puke for the kids,” Lindell said. “We tried to keep it fun.”
Allegheny Outfitters has seen robust growth in its livery operations since Piper and her husband, Josh, bought the business in 2006. The pair published the Allegheny River Paddling Guide and also founded the Allegheny River Clean-Up, an annual event involving dozens of sponsors and volunteers that has retrieved thousands of pounds of garbage from the Allegheny River and its tributaries over the last two years. They’ve also donated time to the PA Wilds Initiative, an effort to grow outdoor tourism across 12 1/2 counties in rural Pennsylvania, including Warren.
The Lindells’ conservation and business development efforts have won them a flotilla of awards – from the Governor’s Office, the Pennsylvania Wilds, the Gannon Small Business Development Center and the Warren County Chamber of Business and Industry, as well as a write-up in Entrepreneur, a national magazine.
“The feedback we’ve gotten from customers and the community has meant a lot to us,” Lindell said. “Growing a small business is grueling work. There is a lot of uncertainty and personal sacrifice involved when you start out like we did, which is to say as two kids from the sticks, with very little capital, in an economically-depressed area, during a terrible recession, in a new industry, with a weather-dependant, seasonal business and three young kids to boot. You can never have too many cheerleaders in that case, no matter how passionate or hard-working you are, and we appreciate every last one of ours, even the ones that started out as naysayers.”
One of the main features of Allegheny Outfitters Company Store is a free “Wilderness Trip Planning Center,” an area with tables and wall maps and 3-D topographical maps that customers can use to plan trips on the Allegheny River and in the Allegheny National Forest. A variety of free gear demos, workshops and presentations will be held in the Wilderness Trip Planning Center throughout the year, Lindell said.
“Our out-of-town customers and big groups have long asked for a place where they can sit with us and plan their river or backpacking adventure, so we’re excited to finally be able to meet that demand,” Lindell said. “Our other goal with the trip planning center is to create a place where local outdoor groups can come together, share information, be inspired and get stuff done.”
Meredith Hill, Director of the PA Wilds Initiative for the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, said Allegheny Outfitters has become a great example in the region for how conservation work can be married with economic development in the private sector.
“On the economic development side, they use the area’s natural assets to attract visitors, create jobs and pass foot traffic to other businesses,” she said. “On the conservation side, they connect people to the natural resources in a way that encourages them to be better stewards. It’s great stuff and what the PA Wilds Initiative is all about.”
Allegheny Outfitters Company Store is located at 430 Pennsylvania Avenue West, a few doors down from the Moose Lodge and next to another new outdoor store, Allegheny Cyclery, which specializes in bikes. The two outdoor businesses are already working together to find synergies.
The buildings the two stores are in had an uncertain fate before local developer Kurt Smith made a leap of faith of his own and bought them and began their transformation.
“Kurt has done an incredible job mixing old with new and creating unique spaces that make you want to be in them,” Lindell said. “A bunch of us younger entrepreneurs were immediately drawn to the spaces and Kurt met us half way. He took a chance on us and it’s made all the difference. Someone ought to give him an award! He deserves all the success he gets from those buildings for how down to earth he’s been and how hard he and his crew have worked to rehab these great old structures.”
The opening of the two outdoor tourism businesses in downtown Warren comes on the heels of other developments in outdoor tourism locally. Pennsylvania Kinzua Pathways, a local volunteer group, for example, has gotten traction with its plan for recreation upgrades near the Reservoir. Many local outdoors-related events and groups – Running Revolution, the Kinzua Country Tango, Winterfest, the outdoor show at the Warren Mall – have seen notable growth in the last few years. And new events are coming. This summer, upwards of 5,000 people are expected to attend Geowoodstock, an international event being held at the fairgrounds.
“Outdoor tourism is really starting to take off here,” Lindell said. “A big part of our growth has been people from out of town. But we’ve also seen a huge awakening locally. People who have lived here their entire lives are coming up to us and saying, ‘You know, I haven’t been out on the river or down that trail in years and this year that’s going to change.’ We love that. It just makes you feel good to get outside.”
Lindell said both of her company's livery locations, near the Glade Bridge in Warren and on Route 62 near Tidioute, will open as usual this spring. The new store will be open year-round, she said. "We've got free swag bags and great drawings planned for the first folks through the door March 12 and 13," Lindell said. "It should be fun!"
Grand opening details: The Grand Opening for Allegheny Outfitters Company Store will be held March 12 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and March 13, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. First 10 people through the door each day get a free swag bag. First 50 people through the door each day are eligible to win a free kayak. All others who stop in are eligible to win a variety of prizes including a weekend canoe pass; a season canoe pass; and a new backpack. General spring hours will be Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
