To the Largest Outdoor Shop in Europe!

When you hear that the largest outdoor shop in Europe (geographically, not politically, let’s not get into that) has opened, and it happens to be only a small detour away from somewhere you are already going to, then it seems almost rude to not go and have a look see, right? … Also Rob needed a new pair of waterproof trousers and had his eye on a pair of Paramo Velez Adventure Trousers, but wanted to check them out in person.

Location

It turns out that the largest outdoor shop (not sure how they are defining that, but we are rolling with it and making the assumption it is in floor space, as it is clocking in at whopping 125,000 sq ft!) is a GO Outdoors located at the Vanguard shopping centre in York. It happens to be in a unit previously used by John Lewis, which might give you an idea as to how big it actually is (if UK based department store size comparisons are your thing). This out-of-town shopping centre has easy access and substantial parking, and in a wider context the store is less than an hour's drive from the Yorkshire Dales, Yorkshire Moors, and Yorkshire Wolds; all wonderful places to go and spend time outdoors.

Due to York’s location and rather active tourism industry the city centre has a thriving high street. Back in the mid 2000’s York was awash with small outdoor stores which included the likes of Nevisport, Blacks, Millets, Army & Navy and Yeomans Outdoors, among others. However this is now no longer the case. With the coming of GO Outdoors (their previous store being in the city) these smaller stores just were not able to compete.

What we were expecting

This is not the first time we have been to a GO Outdoors, as they have been a chain in the UK since the mid-2000’s, so we went into this with some expectations. Since GO Outdoors was taken over by the JD group there has been a distinct change in the feel of the shops, and to be completely frank, a drop in the quality of the majority of the equipment being sold. It has become much more of a stack it high with cheap stuff and plaster it with “deals” type of shop. We were expecting to see many of the brands owned by the JD Group there, such as Peter Storm, OEX, HI-GEAR, and North Ridge, alongside some more well known brands such as Berghaus, North Face, Rab, and maybe a smattering of some of the smaller more specialist UK brands, such as Mountain Equipment and Paramo to give it some credibility. In some of the press releases prior to opening the new York store the CEO of GO Outdoors made statements like “It’s a big store and there is so much in there ... We’ve got a massive mountain area where you can effectively get your kit to climb Mount Everest.” With a statement like that our cynicism did come out, with an expectation that they were likely to be using the allure of adventure rather than supporting it. What we mean by this is we expected them to put one or two bits of the fancy kit front and centre on the mannequins and then surround them with a sea of their own brand stuff, which would be frankly dangerous to use on Everest.

What we found

They were not joking around saying that it was a BIG shop. Upon walking into the shop you are instantly met with a sea of garments that felt like it went on for days. There was quite a large boot wall and two thirds of the second floor was exclusively tents, it felt like quite a lot of space.

What we were not expecting was how big the retail concessions were. The concept of a retail concession is a bit of a strange one, as it is effectively a shop within a shop. In this instance, the store has a whole heap of them (approx. 30); some we found of note were:

Jessops (photography)
adidas TERREX (trail running)
Tiso (a strange one, as this is one of Scotland's leading outdoors retailers)
YETI (coolers)
Garmin (GPS & activity trackers)
Ordnance Survey (maps)
Stanley (bottles)
Weber (BBQ’s)
White Stores (garden furniture)
Leisure Lakes (bikes)
Thule (roof racks)
Alpine Café (both a cafe downstairs and a restaurant upstairs)

So with all of this it makes you wonder how much of what you are looking at is actually the core GO Outdoors store, and what is a concession stand? Have GO Outdoors realised that they cannot get enough revenue from a unit that big, in that location, just selling their own stuff? There seemed to be people walking around all the concession stands, so maybe this business model is working.

The YETI stand was massive with a wide range of coolers on offer. They even had this cooler that has been subjected to a bear trying to get to the tasty food inside. Not that we have any bears in the UK, but it does give you confidence that it could probably stand up to an angry squirrel.

Going back to the “....you can effectively get your kit to climb Mount Everest” statement, this may just have been hyperbole, like them saying they had more of the top end kit than their usual stores, in which case they definitely do. Don’t get us wrong you could probably kit yourself out for a DofE expedition there, and for most UK adventures, however it is far from an outfitter to properly kit you out for a trip to one of the harshest environments on the planet.

Our shopping experience

If we are going to keep being direct, it was a bit hard going navigating the store. We were not sure what the logic to the overall store is supposed to be (maybe we were confused by the number of concession stands) and finding anything was a challenge. Rob did manage to find the Paramo corner and got to try on the trousers he had his eye on though, and they were a good price (so you may see those in our future adventures).

Rob’s new paramo goodies. Since picking these up it has been hard to get him out of them!

The tent section was extensive, and it was good to see tents put up and be able to walk around them. Having them inside did show the tents in a better light than having them pitched outside, as they're usually out for months at a time, so you see them sun faded and full of water. It was clear from the tents pitched there that they were aiming at those family camping rather than going on expeditions.

GO Outdoors (at time of writing) still price matches and then goes 10% cheaper than any other store in the UK, as long as it is in stock at the time and in the same size and colour. Rob did a bit of googling in the store and was able to find the Paramo trousers cheaper elsewhere and got a price.

Looks like someone also had fond memories of the Terra Nova Super Solar 2.2 designing this one. The OEX version is heavier, less waterproof, but for less than a third of the price it would be a good choice for a DofE expedition.

As with most GO Outdoors you are very much left to your own devices, the staff were few and far between, and when we did manage to find one to talk to they did not appear to know where specific stock was, or much about the stock they sold.

Due to the size of the store by the time we had walked around it and had a look at a few bits and bobs, we had spent about an hour or so in there and it was actually quite nice to stop off for a quick drink in the cafe. We could see if you were about to make a big purchase then having the cafe there to go and have a drink and a think would also be a good thing.

Would we recommend going

It is an experience, and one that if you are in the area we would recommend that you pop in and have a look around. However, as a destination shop, probably not. There is one exception to that recommendation, and that is if you wanted to look at a bit of kit that may otherwise be difficult to find in other local outdoor shops, and you wanted to go and pick it up and play with it before purchasing. Ironically, the concession stands may well be the reason for such a destination trip.