Outlet Recreation opened south of Crosslake on County Road 3, and held a grand opening the weekend of April 10.
General Manager Nick Buckentin chose the whopping nine-acre property for its prime location on the corner of County Roads 3 and 11, and to bring his work home to him, in a manner of speaking.
"I know the owners and we've always wanted to open something up in Crosslake," Buckentin said. "Here we are. I live in Crosslake. I'm five minutes from home. So that excites me being close to home, being able to spend more time with my family."
The company is located where the former Lake Select Storage was. With a property this large the company has lots of space to display all its wares from fish houses, fifth wheel trailers, travel trailers, motorhomes and boats to e-bikes and mopeds.
"A lot of people are going away from the RV and marine. They just want to be one or the other," Buckentin said. "We have just a wide variety of stuff. You can come into Outlet Rec in Crosslake and pretty much get whatever you need besides ATVs and UTVs."
ADVERTISEMENT
They plan not only to be accessible from County Road 3 where the office is now, but eventually also County Road 11.
"We're optimistic about this location," Buckentin said. "We're clearing out the backlog. We're putting up a service center. We're going to put in some blacktop and have frontage on 3 and 11."
Outlet Recreation of Crosslake is one of five locations for the company, with one in Clearwater, two in Detroit Lakes and one in Fargo, North Dakota. Buckentin has worked for 15 years in the industry. He enjoys selling items that are fun in nature.
"The stuff you sell is fun," Buckentin said. "People come in and are happy. They're excited to buy something. It's a family oriented business."
The company has seven employees currently, though Buckentin said he plans to add more service technicians.
Travis Grimler may be reached at 218-855-5853 or travis.grimler@pineandlakes.com. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@PEJ_Travis.
