Written by HLRBO Staff|
Last updated
MeatEater, the hunting and outdoor media company built around Steven Rinella’s writing, television work and podcasting, is taking another step into physical retail.
The Bozeman, Mont.-based company said it will open a MeatEater-branded store this August at 50th and France in Edina, Minn., one of the Twin Cities’ better-known shopping districts.
The store, at 3924 50th Street, will be the company’s third MeatEater retail location, following the flagship Bozeman location in 2024 and Brookfield, Wis., outside Milwaukee, in 2025.
The opening is a small real estate move with a larger signal behind it. MeatEater began as a media property, powered by Rinella’s voice, hunting stories, wild-food ethic, and conservation message.
It has since become something closer to an outdoor holding company, with a portfolio that includes First Lite, FHF Gear, Phelps Game Calls and Dave Smith Decoys. The new Edina store puts those brands under one roof, alongside books, logo wear, food products, hard goods and programming built for local hunters and anglers.
Books, apparel, and gear at the Brookfield, Wis., MeatEater store, which opened in 2025
In other words, MeatEater is testing whether a modern media brand can become a Main Street retailer.
The strategy runs counter to the long decline of many traditional outdoor shops and the broader shift of gear sales online. But MeatEater has something most retailers do not: a built-in audience that already spends hours with the brand through podcasts, streaming video, YouTube, social media and newsletters.
The store is less a conventional shop than a physical version of its media universe, where fans can buy a merino layer, talk deer habitat and perhaps meet a personality they first encountered on a screen.
Minnesota is a logical next market. The state has deep traditions in deer hunting, waterfowl hunting, upland bird hunting, fishing and public-land conservation. MeatEater framed the Edina location not just as a retail expansion, but as a gathering place for that community.
“Minnesota’s outdoor heritage isn’t an accident,” Rinella said in the company’s announcement, citing hunters and anglers who supported conservation and habitat work.
Full hunting kits as well as MeatEater swag to be sold at the Edina, Minn., location
That message is central to MeatEater’s retail push. The stores are not being presented as mall outposts. They are being positioned as local clubhouses for a national brand, places where commerce, content and conservation can overlap.
Whether the Edina store becomes a sales driver or a brand beacon, it shows where MeatEater is headed.
The company is no longer just telling stories about hunting, fishing and conservation. It is trying to own more of the ecosystem around them, from the screen to the shelf to the local gathering place.