For those heading out to Huron County’s campgrounds this summer, there is a new store where you can stock up on any items you may have forgotten.
Kristen and Levi Zagorski, the owners of Beadle Bay Marina in the Sand Point area, have opened a new outdoor goods store in Caseville called Lakeland Outfitters. The store offers basic camping supplies like water filters, hoses, extension cords, and sanitation supplies, boat safety supplies like flares, flare guns, and life jackets, Michigan-themed clothes, and other outdoor goods.
“There really isn’t anywhere else in town that sells (the safety gear),” Zagorski said. “So we thought not just for our patrons out in Beadle Bay, but for other people coming into the area, it would be something that they wouldn’t be able to get elsewhere.”
Lakeland Outfitters is located on Main Street across from Lefty’s Drive-in in one of three brick buildings that were formerly a rental cottage and the Caseville Chamber of Commerce’s Cheeseburger festival store about a decade ago.
Kristen said the marina has a small camp store where they offer similar apparel and fun gift items, but it was small for the store. They were looking for an opportunity to expand, saw the building was available, and thought they should go for it.
“It’s really an extension of what we were trying to do out there,” Zagorski said. “It was a really small store and our office area in the marina. We enjoy that piece of the business and decided to expand and open up this store.”
Lakeland Outfitters tries to source as much of its products as it can from Michigan vendors, and stock products that are made in the United States. These include Stanley thermoses, Grand Trunk hammocks, and nautical themed Cleatus cups.
The store is expected to be open year-round, with season appropriate outdoor apparel coming for the fall and winter. Zagorski said they would like to pique people’s interest in outdoor winter activities like snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.
“Not that we’ll necessarily sell that particular gear, but people are coming to the area for those,” Zagorski said. “I know that Port Crescent State Park has some groomed cross country skiing trails, or people coming up to their cabin in the winter and playing in the snow.”
Since this is the first season Lakeland Outfitters is open, Zagorski will be taking note of what products the customers ask for that the store does not carry, so they can make sure to carry them in the future.
“This store came about because when people came to our facility in Beadle Bay, they forgot an extension cord or hose for their camper,” Zagorski said. “They don’t have to drive a half-hour or hour away to find something. We’re hoping to supply those basics and the fun stuff too.”
The store will be open Tuesdays through Sundays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.