Longtime Frederick outdoors shop to close | Retail

“One of the weird things about being in your own business is that you get in it for certain reasons, and mine was the passion for the sport,” Friedman said this week. “But you open a fishing shop, and you never get to go fishing … because you’re always working. So I really want to put some time into spending time on the water.”

For Friedman, the decision to close the Market Street business was a bittersweet one. Friedman said he was coming up to the end of his lease, and he began considering whether to extend it or close up shop. He said he started to feel like it was time to take the latter route.

“The industry, like a lot of things in life, has changed,” he said. “You know, with supply chain issues, the cost of doing business had gone up. So the fact that my lease was coming up gave me a chance to make a decision. And I’m not getting any younger.”

Friedman said he felt it was better to close the shop now while the store is in a good financial place, instead of risking being forced to close later.

Originally from Ohio, Friedman has spent the past 26 years in the area immediately outside Washington, D.C., where he first worked in the banking industry. But Friedman said that changed when he saw a report from outdoor equipment company Orvis identify several cities around Maryland as potential hot spots for future outdoors stores.

Frederick was one of those cities, Friedman said, along with Cumberland and Annapolis.

“I’d always been an outdoorsman, and I was like, ‘Man, this could be really cool,’” he said.

Friedman said he and his business partner and former college roommate Bradley Guyton spent the better part of a year planning with Orvis on how to bring a store to Frederick. Once the store opened, Orvis was the primary brand Hunting Creek Outfitters carried, but the inventory slowly expanded over the intervening years.

Now, after 21 years in Frederick, Friedman said the city has been incredibly welcoming to him.

“I love Frederick; not being from here, I really feel like I’ve adopted the city, and the city’s adopted me,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to have this shop anywhere else. I don’t think it would’ve survived anywhere else.”

It’s that love of the city that makes the decision to close so bittersweet, since he said he’s built close relationships with his customers over the years.

“What’s most flattering to me is how many people have come in and said, ‘Hey, we’re gonna miss you,’” he said. “I jokingly said, ‘If I knew this many people liked me, I might have stayed open.’”

Friedman said he doesn’t have an exact closing date for the store yet, but he expects the final day to be sometime in early May. The store is running some steep discounts on nearly every product in the store, including fixtures. Friedman said the exact closing date depends largely on how quickly the remaining product sells out.

He did note, though, that a few select brands would not be part of the discount. Also, the taxidermy on the store’s walls is not for sale, as much of it is on loan from other owners.

As for what happens once the store closes, Friedman said he’s unsure. While he said he’ll probably eventually need to go back to work, he said he should be able to take a period of time off. He hopes to spend much of that time visiting family in Ohio and, of course, taking some time to go fishing.