Saratoga News

Any Mountain's Westgate store sets pace for the chain

By Sarah Lombardo

There's a mountain forming near Saratoga, just opposite the Coastal Range. It's a mountain that will serve as a prototype for a select few other mountains across the Bay Area. Any Mountain sporting goods celebrates its grand opening Oct. 15, at the Westgate Mall at 1600 Saratoga Ave., and the redesigned store, Any Mountain officials said, has the look of the store's new image.

"We are kind of reinventing ourselves from a product-mix perspective," chief operating officer Roxanne Smith said. The store, which also celebrates more than 20 years of business this week, not only will sell ski and winter sports clothing and equipment, but will now feature a product line catering to other outdoor sports such as skating, rock-climbing, hiking and running.

Smith said that over the years, Any Mountain has tried to keep up with the changing interests of its customers. The new Westgate store, she added, reflects that.

"We're obviously adjusting our service and the products available to the changing requests of our customers. But we are still maintaining our line of ski wear and equipment for our customers who have depended on us for that. So we're not getting rid of the ski equipment; we are just expanding what we carry," she said.

The physical store itself is also a change for the company. The store's interior will feature a 45-foot-high, 160-foot-long mural, complete with a climbing wall and three-dimensional mountains.

"In a nutshell, it's the best that Any Mountain has to offer," Smith said.

Smith said the store will also feature interactive displays for customers and a state-of-the-art audio and video system.

Store officials said that with the Westgate Any Mountain serving as a model, the company plans to remodel its eight other existing stores and then possibly expand the chain from there.

Any Mountain began as a weekend flea market venture by owner and president Bud Hoffman. The first store, opened in 1976 on De Anza Boulevard, was closed earlier this year. Its relocation to Westgate, Smith said, reflects the company's desire to be more accessible to customers.

"We've been in Cupertino for 25 years, and that facility used to be a stand-alone facility in the middle of an orchard," she said. But with the proliferation of computer and high-tech industry in that area, Smith said, the store just didn't fit in anymore.

"We wanted to locate in an area that we thought was convenient for our customers," she said, "and the demographics were right."

[ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ]