There are billboards talking about this place for miles. As you get closer, your curiosity grows. Can a store really be as cool as these billboards try to claim? I decided that I had to find out and that’s how I ended up in one of the weirdest stores I’ve ever been in. Scheel’s Outfitters outside of Reno Nevada.
At first glance, you might think that this is just another iteration of a generic hunting/sports store a la Cabellas that dot the more rural areas of the United States, enticing men from all around to come and look at guns and bows, fishing equipment and accessories to get “rugged” out in the wilderness. On the surface you would be completely correct. But once you start looking, you discover there is much more.
As you enter, the first thing that you see is a huge multi hundred gallon fish tank that is big enough to form an arch you are required to walk under. Sharks and colorful fish swim about, begin to have their picture takes. As you walk through, you realize that this is a multi level store and the centerpiece is a giant Ferris Wheel in the middle.
Surrounding the Ferris Wheel, are animatronic recreations of select presidents ranging from George Washington to George Bush. Interestingly though, almost none of them are democrat. It seems (as with the rest of the Nevada area) only republicans are respected. Except for Andrew Jackson, the creator of the Democratic Party, who if you met today, you would swear was a Republican.
Closest Supercharger – Reno NV
3800 S Virginia St, Reno, NV 89502
Scheels
1200 Scheels Drive, Sparks, NV 89434