Have you heard about Scheels?
Scheels in Eden Prairie originally opened in 2006 as a 20,000 square-foot retail store specializing in sports products, fashion and footwear.
This summer, they moved to a newly built 250,000 square-foot location in the Eden Prairie Center. It’s more than a shopping experience now, and has everything from a 65-foot ferris wheel, a 16,000-gallon aquarium, a cafe, a candy shop, a toy shop, plus many interactive games and activities for the whole family.
We visited there recently and were wowed by everything they had to offer! Many of the attractions and activities were closed though due to COVID, but were impressive to check out.
Scheels is still mostly a sporting goods store, but there was just so much else that no matter how much you like or dislike sports, there is something for you here.
The aquariums (this is one of several) greet you as you enter the store.
Here’s the massive ferris wheel right in the middle of the store – it does run, just not now during COVID.
There are two levels of the store and here is a view walking down the stairs from the 2nd level.
On the first level is a lot of apparel, toys, the cafe and the candy shop. On the second level is guns and ammo, more apparel, the home decor shop, the arcade and the hockey rink. Both levels have sporting goods galore!
The first place we went to was the cafe so I could get some caffeine! It was less than $5 for this yummy vanilla coffee drink. They also had a full menu of sandwiches and other meal items.
Their prices were a little bit less than I’ve seen at cafes elsewhere.
Candy galore at Fuzziwig’s Candy Factory, including old-fashioned candies, fudge and nuts! We bought some roasted pecans (and promptly ate them all).
The toy area was fun and had some unique varieties. The wooden play swords and shields were fun.,
On the second level is a nice home decor area with candles, wall art and much more.
I took this picture on the left of a jacket that made me think of Carmen Sandiego (ha).
There was apparel for men, women and kids. Definitely a lot of warm clothing for Minnesota weather!
Many species of wildlife were displayed on this mountain near the guns and ammo.
They had a shooting range that was closed due to COVID.
A real hockey rink – though small – but it was open!
The video game arcade was small and closed but had a few good options including Pac-Man on the big screen.
Overall Thoughts and Pricing
We didn’t come to shop as much as we just wanted to check it out. We were wowed. By the end of our visit, we didn’t buy much except some masks, but the pricing for items was what I consider lower-end department store pricing. There were good quality items and I’d most likely buy clothing and home decor here, though it was fun to experience all the different themed shopping areas. It was a lot more fun to shop here than most stores!
Curious about visiting Scheels for yourself?
Special Event!
They have a grand opening celebration on Saturday, October 3rd from 9:30am – 1:30pm, and will give out samples of coffee and fudge from 9:30am-11:30am and Traeger grill samples from 11:30am-1:30pm. The first 150 customers through the store will receive an Eden Prairie SCHEELS koozie!
Check out the Facebook event page here.
Visit their website here!