GRITR Sports & Outdoors partners up with Universal Rock to build a super realistic CLIMBING WALL inside its retail store in North Richland Hills, Texas.
The Birth of GRITR's Climbing Wall Concept
While COVID wreaked havoc on the economy and lives of millions of people – it also had an intended effect of pushing people to pursue outdoor activities above and beyond their typical comfort zones. Many who were content to sit by the pool or on the beach – decided it was time to get on a bike or get a back pack and venture into the mountains. Many have taken it even further by signing up and learning how to rock climb and boulder.
GRITR Sports & Outdoors have supplied outdoor enthusiasts with top notch performance gear for over a decade. And while equipping people is satisfying in its own right – inspiring people to see themselves doing things is just as important. That’s how the idea of bringing a climbing wall inside GRITR Sports and Outdoors facility was born.
Searching for a Solution
Climbing walls come in all shapes and sizes – some are simple pine wood construction with climbing holds, others are made from specialized boards that allow route changes and still others are built to withstand the use and abuse of a climbing gym. GRITR team looked at all those options, but did not find any of them to be the right fit for what we had in mind. We even went as far as asking local masons that work with large natural rocks to give us ideas for what could be created. In the end, we were coming up blank.
We almost gave up on the idea, when we were introduced to Stuart Dunne from Universal Rocks (https://www.universalrocks.com) in Dallas, Texas. Stuart came to our facility, sized up our 25 by 27 foot predicament and asked us to meet him at his office/manufacturing plant. Little did we know, but his office looks like the movie set of a Jurassic Park. We knew – we found our wall builder.
Once we got on Stuart’s schedule – it was a waiting game. His company is busy building zoos, museums, kids playgrounds and so much more. When our turn came – Stuart’s team came with all the necessary equipment and materials and three days later we had our CLIMBING WALL. To say that it looks and feels realistic is an understatement. In time, we plan on adding a mountain sheep or goat to complete the look.
To ensure safe climbing we installed a True Blue Auto Belay system provided by Eldorado Climbing Wall company out of Louisville, Colorado.
The process of thinking of what our customers may want to see inside our retail store, researching possible ways to accomplish it and finding a perfect partner to complete the project taught us that sometimes visions take time to be borne out. As much as you wish you could will something into existence – being patient with the process is key. Every day, we are getting compliments from our customers about the unique feature we added to their retail experience. We could not have done it without the artists from Universal Rocks.
GRITR Sports and Outdoors is a sporting goods retailer located in North Richland Hills, Texas. It specializes in serving the customers pursuing active lifestyle, adventure and experiences in such sports as: hunting, shooting, fishing, boating, climbing, snow sports and more.
Universal Rocks (https://www.universalrocks.com) is a designer and manufacturer of unique outdoor spaces, ranging from zoos and museum quality aquarium and pet environments to unique pools, spas and climbing walls.
