Community Spotlight: The Sports Mine

Coloradans have a reputation for living outdoors rather than indoors. The number of sporting goods stores confirms this fact. However, gear for hiking, camping, or skiing can become expensive. Golden has the perfect shop for those who want to find bargain prices on outdoor gear, or sell their own.

The Sports Mine, located at 801 14th Street (right next to Higher Grounds), is an outdoor sports consignment shop. In business for about a year and a half, they sell gently worn outdoor sports gear for reasonable costs. They carry name brands such as Patagonia, North Face, Pearl Izumi, Burton, and Marmot, amongst many others.

The shop sells gear for all seasons. Owner and manager Mark Langanke described their best selling seasonal items for summer as backpacks, climbing gear, bikes and bike accessories. Tents also sell more in the warmer months. When the temperature drops, Langanke said that they sell skis, snowboards, and all the clothing to go with them.

Those looking to sell their own outdoor gear are in luck as well. The Sports Mine will take gear that is clean, in workable condition, and seasonably appropriate to showcase in their store. Once the item is sold, the consigner receives a percentage of the sale price. For items under $100, the consigner receives 50% of the final sale price. For $100-$200, they receive 55%, $200-$300, 60%, and so on. The consigner takes that money in check form, or store credit. The Sports Mine will display an item for 90 days and if it has not been purchased at the end of that period, the consigner is welcome to pick the item back up, or items priced under $75 get donated to charity.

Langanke hit home on The Sports Mine’s future. He said that they hope to start up seasonal sales, so that when summer or winter is over they can sell off all the related gear they have. He mentioned that The Sports Mine had a booth downtown when the Pro Cycling Challenge came through on August 25, 2012, and that they have previously worked with the Outdoor Recreation Center on campus. Langanke also hopes to get more activities by partnering with local nonprofit organizations.

The Sports Mine is just a short walk from the Northeast corner of campus and is open from 10 am to 5 pm Monday through Saturday, and 12 pm to 5 pm on Sunday. To learn more, students can stop in and take a look around, or check out their Facebook page to stay up-to-date.