Grand Rapids Braces For Orvis Store Closures In The Area

What began as a fly-fishing equipment store nearly 175-years ago, Orvis announced they have decided to downsize quite a bit and close 31 stores and five outlets. That will be nearly half of their retail stores and that is a huge bite out of the brick and mortar retail landscape.

That may also take a retail bite out of Grand Rapids because we actually have two of those 70 stores. Scary, huh? What about us?

The Orvis stores, USAToday reports, have expanded "into sportswear, fine gifts, home furnishings, luggage and travel accessories," over the years, but see this move as a move to become more focused on their original image, "fly fishing and wing shooting."

The Orvis folks have said they won't simply dump the lifestyle and apparel portion of their business, but just try to refocus on their original core business. "The emphasis will shift decisively toward gear and outdoor products directly related to fly fishing and hunting rather than general lifestyle merchandise," Rolling Out.com says.

 👇 BELOW: CHECK OUT AN INCREDIBLE FLY FISHING COMPOUND! 👇

What is happening here? Are stores underperforming? Nobody wants to shop in-store any more and only online?

No, not really. Surprisingly It seems to be tariff's.

Seriously, I guess that is not so surprising. They say with so many products coming in from, and manufactured by, other countries, their costs obviously are going through the roof, and it is not manageable to support so many stores efficiently.

Orvis does have partnerships with many other sporting goods stores, about 550 to be exact, like Bass Pro shop, and the retail closings will not affect these stores at all.

So, what about Grand Rapids with our two stores, one in Breton Village and the other at Knapp's Crossing?

Orvis has not announced which stores they plan to shutter, but since they plan on this happening early 2026, I'm sure we will hear soon.