Huppin’s, Mountain Gear team up for sale

Two Spokane retailers are banding together for a two-day sale featuring indoor and outdoor gear.

Huppin’s Hi-Fi, Photo and Video, and Mountain Gear, which each has a thriving online Web site along with a retail store, will hold the joint sale next weekend.

Murray Huppin and Paul Fish, the businesses’ owners, said they think they’ll generate solid sales by collecting in one place a range of deals on products as varied as kayak paddles and iPod docks.

“Murray and I looked at the idea and decided that interesting times require interesting ideas,” said Fish, who launched Mountain Gear …

Two Spokane retailers are banding together for a two-day sale featuring indoor and outdoor gear.

Huppin’s Hi-Fi, Photo and Video, and Mountain Gear, which each has a thriving online Web site along with a retail store, will hold the joint sale next weekend.

Murray Huppin and Paul Fish, the businesses’ owners, said they think they’ll generate solid sales by collecting in one place a range of deals on products as varied as kayak paddles and iPod docks.

“Murray and I looked at the idea and decided that interesting times require interesting ideas,” said Fish, who launched Mountain Gear more than 25 years ago.

It’s also a chance to meet customers face to face, said Huppin, president of Huppin’s and One Call, the retailer’s online store.

Both owners said the weekend sale will feature deals with prices lower than the companies’ lowest online prices.

“Some of these are deals we couldn’t do if we had to include the cost of shipping,” Fish said.

They’ll host the sale in the Huppin’s-One Call warehouse in Spokane Valley, 229 N. Ella Road. Canoes and kayaks will be outside the warehouse, with most of the other outdoor gear indoors.

Both companies launched their Web sites in 1995. “We’ve worked together and we’ve talked about what we’re both doing with our businesses,” Huppin said.

Over the past several years, he said, “we’ve spent a lot of time bouncing ideas around and sharing our expertise.”

Huppin said having the sale at his warehouse makes available nearly his entire line of merchandise.

“We decided it’s easier (for Paul) to haul over their clothing and equipment than having us haul flat-screen TVs,” he said.

Tom Sowa can be reached at toms@spokesman.com or by calling (509) 459-5492.