Black Diamond Equipment prepares to open stores in Boulder and Denver

Editor’s note: this story previously said that Red Fox Equipment operated a store in the Pearl Street Mall. That store has recently closed. 

BOULDER — The influx of outdoor retailers into Boulder’s Pearl Street just keeps coming, as mountaineering gear maker Black Diamond Equipment Ltd. intends to open a new store on the mall this spring.

Black Diamond retail director Devin Gillette confirmed to BizWest that the Salt Lake City-based company will open a store at 1433 Pearl St. by late March to April, which is expected to employ six or seven full-time employees.

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She also confirmed that Black Diamond will open another location in the Basecamp Market Station development at the corner of 16th Street and Market Street in Denver in March, employing 14 or 15 full-time staffers.

The new stores join the existing location in Castle Rock, along with four other locations in Utah and Montana.

The retailer is one of three confirmed to be opening new locations in Boulder in the coming months. Wyoming-based Stio is opening a location just east of the Pearl Street Mall at 1505 Pearl St. that’s expected to open in May at the latest, while online retailer Backcountry intends to open its yet-to-be-announced location in the city around the same time.

They join an existing cluster of outdoor equipment makers in the shopping district. Patagonia, Montbell, The North Face and PrAna already have shops near or on the mall.

Gillette said outdoor retailers have seen an increase in people seeking to get into the outdoors as the pandemic continues to make in-person gatherings in large numbers a public health risk, and places like Boulder already have plenty of customers for that type of gear.

Having a physical Black Diamond location with experts will help newcomers to the outdoors manage the inherent danger in mountaineering while maintaining social distance.

“It’s a really high avalanche danger year; we’re able to educate people on backcountry safety and (using safety) beacons and those resources and tools that we can provide to people to get out safely,” she said.