Former Midwest Mountaineering employee opens outdoor store in North Loop

Those who loved Midwest Mountaineering finally have another local store to find their specialized outdoor equipment.

Longtime Midwest Mountaineering employee Steve Schreader once saw himself taking over the reins of the beloved outdoor store.

After its closure in 2023, Schreader knew he wanted to fill the void. Earlier this month, he opened Lake State Mountaineering in Minneapolis' North Loop.

With his fox red Lab Cinna by his side, Schreader welcomed new customers and former Midwest Mountaineering loyalists to Lake State's homebase on the second floor of 424 Washington Av. N.

It marked the beginning of a new adventure for the both of them, but the greeting of shopgoers was hardly new for Cinna, who acted as an unofficial mascot when Schreader worked at Midwest Mountaineering.

"It's just rinse and repeat as far as she's concerned," Schreader said.

Lake State first launched as an online store offering a limited selection of tents, sleeping bags, climbing shoes, climbing carabiners and apparel.

But Schreader's plan was always to open a physical retail space.

Finding a place to set up shop was like a "navigational maze tour" as he tried to secure enough capital for a small-business loan.

After the first location fell through, Schreader found himself discussing his options with former Midwest Mountaineering customer Tim Kunin, who owns the space he's currently in.

Kunin paid for the buildout, handled the painting and gave Schreader a deal on rent the first couple of years.

"The universe was beckoning me to be like, 'You need to be in this space,'" Schreader said.

Between neighborhood traffic, Twins and Timberwolves game attendees and former Midwest Mountaineering customers, Schreader said he has gotten a consistent stream of traffic so far, despite not yet having a light-up sign outside.

"I just have a banner on the outside of the building, billowing in the wind, and I'm still getting folks swinging in here and checking me out," Schreader said.

Lake State Mountaineering focuses on climbing and rope craft and paddling, with a few gaps filled in by apparel and camping gear. And he knew bug repellent had to be available.

"If you're going be an outdoor store, especially in Minnesota, you've got to have bug repellent; otherwise, you're not an outdoor store," Schreader said.

In a post shared on Instagram ahead of the grand opening, Schreader wrote: "Lake State is your shop, not mine."

His vision for the store is to remove the financial, social and educational hurdles to spending time outdoors.

The new space features a classroom for workshops, demonstrations and meetings, allowing teaching and education to be a critical part of Lake State.

The room also currently doubles as a storage space for the American Alpine Gear Cache — a "gear library" of climbing equipment for people participating in events hosted by Lake State or other outdoors initiatives, which allows people to determine if they like the activity before paying the steep equipment prices.

The collection is limited, he said, but people can also connect with organizations such as the Center for Outdoor Adventure at the University of Minnesota or Twin Cities Rock and Ice.

Bear Paulsen, the general manager of Northstar Canoes in Princeton, Minn., gave a presentation earlier this month on his family's 130-day winter camping trip where they lived in a 10- by 10-foot tent warmed by a wood stove.

"We are open to anyone and everyone. It doesn't matter what kind of background you have, please swing by," Schreader said. "I, my staff would love to chat about what your aspirations are. It doesn't matter how big or how small it is — anything from your first state park camping trip with your family, to your first two-week-long expedition to Greenland."

As an ode to his former employer, he's also brought back Midwest Mountaineering's Thrifty Outfitters offering, a heavily discounted selection of brand-name outdoor clothing, both in-store and online.

Schreader is focused on keeping the business as local as possible, from the brands he carries to the artwork he features. One of the wall wraps that will be displayed features a photo taken by Adam Bibeau, a local photographer, capturing a local climber on Palisade Head along the North Shore.

Each month, Lake State will feature a local artist's work in-store and available for purchase. In exchange for the store acting as a gallery, the artist will host a presentation explaining who they are and what they do, followed by a workshop later in the month teaching people about their craft.

"The fact we have all these opportunities to go outside and do these cool things, that's what I wanted to show off before you even start looking at the gear," Schreader said. "You walk in and you're in Minnesota but you're in a different world of Minnesota, the outdoors of Minnesota."

Schreader's always had a passion for the outdoors, but it wasn't until he began working at Midwest Mountaineering that he realized he could combine his background in education with his love of the outdoors.

"I realized I could still satisfy my education stuff but get folks stoked about going outside and still do outside stuff myself," Schreader said.

In the next year, Schreader hopes to launch a new website that features a tab where customers can connect with different guiding companies, nonprofit and outdoors-based programs.

The three steps to getting outdoors are figuring out where to go, how to find the gear, and "taking the leap," Schreader said. The new website feature would handle the first two.