Appalachian Outfitters Review

Well stocked outfitter store. Service has been much improved. They have all the latest in clothing from brands like Patagonia, mountain hardware, Northface. Sometimes they only order one size line-which means they only have one in each size. Good selection of tents, kayaks, and other hiking gear. Also right next to a climbing gym. Conveniently located right next to the Cuyahoga Valley national park.

Nice place for all your camping needs but on the pricey side

Chris, Christine, Joe, and Sam were very helpful and knowledgeable!

My first purchase from Appalachian Outfitters was a very positive one. I ordered an ax and was surprised that the processing was near immediate, the shipping was perfect, and the item arrived in three days. I received several notes telling me the status of the order and even one expressing thanks for my first order supporting this small business. Expect to see more orders from me in the future with this strong company.

It was fun with different levels available to challenge you skills. Customer service was good. Friendly and helpful.

Stay away from this place! It's full of nasty condescending employees. I stopped with my wife to check out the annual clearance sale. She liked a Patagonia down parka which was marked down 35% to about $230.00. She didn't buy it but later in the day regretted it. I called back and asked them to hold it and they refused. I asked to buy it over the phone and they refused. I then did an online search and found it at Patagonia.com for $208.00. I called them back to see if they would price match. I was going to drive back out to buy it. Another employee answered. I began the conversation by telling them I just called and that another employee wouldn't sell a coat over the phone. Before I was able to continue and ask my question the employee told me in the most condescending manner that he wouldn't sell it to me either. Nasty entitled people! Stay away from this place unless you are in dire need of a product they stock. If you shop there use your smart phone and price check. I'm sure you will find it cheaper elsewhere. Stay away!!!

I always love stopping in when I'm near Peninsula. While their prices are higher than internet stores, they often have sales. Sign up for their email list, as they often have 20% coupons available. There is also a constant sale section in the middle back of the first floor.

The staff is very helpful, but they also respect my general desire to browse alone. There is an excellent dog section, with a large assortment of Ruffwear. I wish they sold some entry level kayaks and snowshoes, but if you're looking for high quality gear, this is your place. They have many backpacks to try out, and they occasionally are "taken over" by a specific manufacturer, with nearly their entire backpack line for sale.

On the top floor, there is a viewing window for the climbing place next door, Kendall Cliffs. I stop for a few minutes to watch the kids and adults climbing. If you need climbing gear, it's available on the first floor.

There is an expansive shoe section and clothing for both men and women. It's mostly hiking clothes, but they also stock yoga, snow sports, and general active clothing.

(Tip: The bathrooms are hard to find, and it took me a few visits. They are to the left of the shoe section on the first floor. Yes, I should have asked earlier!)

Cool store with great selection of clothes and other outdoorsy things. Good for hiking, climbing, and camping gear. They have great pro brands, not just the stuff you find at Dick's Sporting Goods. Location is a little out of the way from other stores, but appropriate, on the boundary of Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Great store, helpful staff and fair prices. My go to for clothing and outdoor gear. Appalachian Outfitters is one of my favorite stores anywhere.

My only minor complaint is that a few times they have not had the exact model or color that I was looking for, but they always have a decent selection of alternatives.

Highly recommended.

Very helpful people. They have everything you could possibly need for camping and hiking.

Great outfitter. A little pricey but quality costs. Even better, it's right next to Cuyahoga Valley NP!

A really cool place with just about any camping gear you'd ever need. Prices might be a tad higher but the support and community opportunists they provide, it's worth it.

Love this place! May be pricey but there knowledge and experience is top notch. Good people good vibe.

Nice place to find needed hiking, climbing and back packing items. It is high quality items so it is priced accordingly.

This place was amazing. I didn't even know the area had anything like this. The rock climbing was awesome. Great prices and extremely friendly staff. They were helpful and went above and beyond to assist the group I came in with. They have good specials as well. Make sure to check out the days discounts happen.

Very comfortable and fun to browse. There wasn't a crowd of people all over the place. The staff was friendly and knew a lot about the products they sold. The layout and decoration of the place was nice. Had a cabin in the wood feel.

Great little store with nice additional resources for occasional work shops. Nice atmosphere and staff.

Love this place. Friendly, knowledgeable staff and great selection. I don't mind the prices, but be aware, it's not cheap.

Dog friendly!! Employees are very helpful! However, you can sometimes find things online cheaper and in different colors. I go here first and figure out what I want then shop around.

This place has some great gear! We went in to rent some snowshoes ($15/a day) so we could go hiking in the national park. The staff was pleasant and helpful and gave us good suggestions on where to go. After we returned we did some shopping. The prices were a little too intimidating for us, but we can dream right?

High quality merchandise and great customer service.

I recently bought a Black Diamond "Stance Belay Jacket" here on the recommendation of an employee (young guy with beard.) Thanks to that guy because I probably wouldn't have bought it otherwise and it's one of the best jackets I've owned. More

One of the best places to find outside adventure gear!

This place is awesome! Staff is always so friendly, personable, and very knowleadable of their products. Definitely recommend!
PS: we like this place better than REI.

I tried to buy a pair of pants as a Christmas gift for my son and was told that their sale items are not returnable. The store manager told me If they don't fit, they could not be returned ! I was very disappointed and expected more especially because they claim to be a high quality service oriented business. If I spend premium dollars, I expect premium service. This was not the case with these people. They lost me as a future customer. Urgh!

Expensive gear wasn't what I was looking to purchase.

The service is always knowledgeable and very helpful.

Helpful and friendly staff. Well educated on the footwear they carry and nice sized selection. Has an incline/decline ramp for testing the shoes/boots which was helpful. Wasn't looking for anything else in particular but they had a large selection of clothing and gear.

We went boot shopping here; the staff is very knowledgeable. We received good service and learned a lot about what we need specifically for our type of adventures!

Hi quality items, but a little steep for this budget.

The stuff at this store is NOT cheap. Definitely a place to buy the big things you want to invest the money in, but not much else. That said, I've bought high-end stuff here a couple times and had a wonderful experience with the employees. Both times the employee helping me was very knowledgeable about what I was looking at, and had answers to every question I asked. I felt very confident afterwards in spending the money on the product I walked away with, and have not had cause to regret spending the money there.

Great knowledgeable staff and a good selection of clothes and gear!

Beautiful space and reasonable prices. Worth a look around for sure!

Great sized store with a great variety of things for outdoor lovers! Close to trails and other places around the Cuyahoga Valley National Park

They have an amazing staff of well seasoned and experienced Outdoors people. They have helped me through the tough decisions of tent and sleeping bag selection. I find their prices to be good and in fact when they had a sale I bought my Nemo dagger 3p tent four less than any internet price

Good place to visit for your outdoor needs. Not a large selection of Kayaks. Expert staff seems to answer most questions you have.

Pricey but the sales staff is very helpful and accessable.

Really great store, everything for the serious outdoorsman to the casual hiker. Very knowledgeable staff....

Like most have stated on here, the staff is great and they have pretty much everything you would need for hiking in a convenient spot near the national park. However, prices are much higher than the majority of other outdoors stores or websites. As much as I like to support local businesses, I know I can find better deals elsewhere and buy many of the same items for lower prices if I do a little shopping.

This store is fantastic. They carry high quality merchandise and the staff are very knowledgeable about everything in the store. Everyone is so friendly and helpful. The prices are high, but that comes as a given with the high quality of items. Also took a free class there and it was extremely informative. It was NOT a gimmick to sell their stuff which was nice.

I just wanted to thank Appalachian Outfitters for hosting the event this past Saturday for Boy Scouts. They were very generous with their prizes the past two years, and my boys and I were VERY impressed with the goodie bags this year, despite a possible first impression otherwise. I wanted to set the record straight in case anyone misheard my son. The merchandise Appalachian Outfitters sells is AMAZING quality, they have a good choice of products (anything you need for camping and other adventure sports), the customer service is good, and, like I said, they were very generous with the Boy Scouts. My only reason for not giving them a 5 star review would be because their prices are unfortunately too high for me to afford anything there.

When I bought hiking shoes, I completely trusted the store because I'd heard so many great things. It was my first pair & I knew nothing about them, so I worked with an associate for a fitting. After my $120 purchase and wearing them 3 times over the summer, I found they were not the right fit, even with the thinnest socks. After my disappointing experience, all I was offered was 20% off my next pair because it had been more than 60 days. Not happy that I threw $120 away on advice given by this store. Why would I want to spend more money?

This is a favorite outdoor equipment store. The staff is knowledgeable and helpful. I can take my dog inside, always a plus, and I earned a huge discount with my purchases.

I will never ever set foot in there again. You lost a customer for life! Barged into my changing room, accused me of stealing!

i love the place i go here for all my backpacking supplies.

Nice outdoors store near the CVNP. I always swing by when I'm out there.

Awesome spot. Needed a new pair of shoes, bad. Caleb was a great help. Loved that they had exactly what I wanted.

The staff for fitting shoes for various activities was excellent and made the experience well worth the drive.

The salesman was very friendly and helpful. Would definitely recommend.

Great locally owned sports store. They don't always have everything that you need, but the staff is educated in the outdoors and the brands that they carry are good quality stuff.

Best selection of hiking and camping gear in the area. Very friendly and helpful staff.

Really cool outdoorsman store. Great selection. Prices a bit higher than average but proximity to National Park makes it handy.

Visited place for the first time. Customer Service is great and friendly.

They carry great quality brands such as Patagonia, North Face, and Yeti. Also If you're into rock climbing this is the place for you. They carry lots of climbing gear here which is hard to find in our area.

This is my go-to place when I need good customer service and the kind of specialized stuff I've come to rely on. They have the conscience to buy American made and the taste to carry FITS socks. Gotta love em!

Nice store for outdoors gear and clothing. First day of Boy Scout Summer Camp at Camp Manatoc so I took a ride up the hill to Appalachian Outfitters for some new hiking shoes. Zach was extremely knowledgeable an set me up with a nice pair of Keens.

Such a disgraceful, unprofessional experience climbing!!! I have been climbing there for 5 years....UNTIL NOW. Arrived and paid for a daily pass one Thursday evening. About 30 minutes after beginning to climb with my group, I overheard other customers/climbers mentioning a group of ~50 Boy Scouts would be in soon to climb as well. FIRST MISTAKE: climbing staff should have made everyone aware that half of the climbing routes would be occupied, otherwise I would've gone elsewhere. TOTALLY SHADY.

BUT IT GETS UNDENIABLY WORSE... Probably a third of routes typically available to all paying customers were tied differently to allow the boy scouts to clip in/out easily. No problem, but since only 6 boy scouts were in the building -- none donning a harness nor gear -- we decided to hop on the route before it became occupied by the troop. Upon descending, staff member Gordon -- the most deplorable person I've ever met -- tried to read us the riot act. He scolded us for using the rope, sarcastically saying "that's why I tied a carabiner on this side" to which we responded "that's why we used the other end of the rope; to not disturb your set up." Gordon continued to mouth off at which point I reminded him that THE THREE OF US ALSO PAID FOR DAY PASSES. SECOND MISTAKE: why is a staff member EVER arguing with paying customers? Gordon kicked us off the route, but even 30 minutes later the boy scouts were not ready to climb. So, walls closed off & policed by staff members for no reason.

BUT IT GETS EVEN WORSE....Now, we're kicked off the rout. Irritated by the employee's rude tone and total lack of professionalism, we climbed on a different route that was not set aside for the troop. Naturally, my group was complaining. Gordon proceeded to bring a boy scout & his dad to the same area we were already occupying. Upon hearing my group's conversation, rudely telling us he can take any route he wants for the boy scouts. I told him he should butt out of our conversation since we were not talking to him. He snapped, "I'm staff and it's my gym so I can do whatever I want." This puts me in a tough spot because the employee IS ARGUING AND INSTIGATING WITH PAYING CUSTOMERS IN FRONT OF OTHER PAYING CUSTOMERS (THE CHILD AND HIS PARENT)??!!! I would've liked to rip him a new one, but did not want to curse in front of the young boy. Gordon continued to harass my group and argue with us, so much so that MY PAYING GROUP had to walk away AFTER GORDON FOLLOWED/PICKED A FIGHT WITH US.

I would NEVER go to Kendall Cliffs, nor will I be returning. Staff is incredibly rude, immature, argumentative, authoritative and downright unprofessional. I cannot believe Gordon would pick a fight with my group in front of a child & his parent, let alone any paying customer!? Absolutely shameful.

I really liked the store. Awesome selection of hiking boots and winter boots. I will definitely be back soon. A huge selection of camping and outdoor activities. I am happy to find a local company to shop.

Very clean place and pleasant employee. I would recommend the place to other people.

My favorite hiking store in summit county....wish there were more made in America apparel.

Great products! Even better service! The young lady who helped size me for my new hiking boots was so very thorough. She took great care to make sure my purchase was one I would be happy with. A year later I still love slipping into them!

I love this place it's got some of the best selection of outdoor hiking camping mountaining just all around great outdoor outfitters prices are a little high but the quality is excellent I almost gave a four star because I stood waiting for somebody to help me for about five minutes and then finally a young lady came and help me another young man just seemed to be staring at me hoping I would go away but I gave him a five star because everything I've bought from this place has always been excellent quality and kept me very warm during some extremely cold months going all the way back to when they used to be on Britton road by chapel Hill I might not buy a lot from them but I've been a long time customer highly recommend them for specialized equipment coats socks boots etc

Nice personal honest service. Lots of knowledgeable staff

Decent outdoor shop. Some upscale brands that you dont see everywhere (Kuhl, Sherpa, etc). Selection/sizes can be spotty. No gift boxes. Prepare to pay full price on everything.

If I could win a shopping spree to anywhere on the planet, including Tiffany's, I would choose here. Well, perhaps Tiffany's and sell everything so I could spend the money here. But you get the point.

Simply the best store in existence for adventure clothing and equipment.

This store is such a great resource for outdoor gear. They have a really good team that will answer any questions and are very friendly. They have a great selection of boots and sandals, and they also have a bridge with different terrain to walk on and test the boots. They let you use their socks while testing boots to get a true feel.

They have a great selection of climbing rope (additionally there is a climbing gym on the back of the building). The whole upstairs of the store is dedicated to camping gear.

What makes this store go above and beyond are the classes they offer. Most are free, and subjects include winter camping, coffee in the wilderness, gear testing, and much more. These classes are a great way to wet you feet and learn in a group environment. Thank you for offering these!

Great place to get a hands on look at gear. This makes the trip out worth it.

Everything is expensive Everything!!! But most importantly it is all top of the line stuff.

Had another great experience at AO today. Once again, we were taken care of by very knowledgeable and friendly staff, this time to get climbing shoes for my son. From there, we headed next door to Kendall Cliffs and experienced even more fantastic customer service from super friendly and helpful staff. AO's great customer service plus their dedication to local parks and trails makes them a phenomenal team!

They have a huge selection of outdoor goods. Also next door there is a huge indoor rock climbing wall. Check out this guy climbing in the picture!!!!

Helpful, knowledgeable sales person helped with boots for my new to hiking daughter.