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BCOutdoors now open for business in Noble Hall with gear, taproom

Bryson City Outdoors, a company that offers a variety of gear for outdoor recreation and a taproom for craft beer fans, now has a location in Western Carolina University’s Noble Hall.

Also known as BCOutdoors, the campus store had its official opening Jan. 11 in space that was previously occupied by Blackrock Outdoor Co. Ben King, a 2011 WCU alumnus, founded Bryson City Outdoors in 2013 and is now one of three partners operating a home store on Main Street in Bryson City and the new outpost on the WCU campus.

Lager models the new cap offered by BCOutdoors in WCU's purple and gold colors.

The campus location’s selection of merchandise includes gear for camping, backpacking, mountain biking and climbing, plus shirts, hats and stickers with original designs created by BCOutdoors staff, King said. In honor of its new location at WCU, the store also is offering caps in the university’s colors of purple and gold, and shirts in those colors will be available later in the spring semester, he said.

The taproom provides craft beer, wine, cider and nonalcoholic beverages. There is seating for 45 people, including a “community table” that seats 20 for those who want to bring in food from anywhere on campus, work on group projects or host a club meeting, King said.

Members of the campus community are invited to stop by and check out the store, he said. BCOutdoors offers a series of special event nights, including “WHEEopardy” at 7 p.m. on Tuesdays and a team trivia competition at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays. The store also provides loyalty points to thank customers for shopping locally, with those signing up earning 1 point for every $1 spent. Points can be redeemed for a discount off a future purchase, with, for example, 100 points being worth $10 in store credit.

Updates are available on the campus store’s Facebook page. Winter hours are Monday through Thursday, noon until 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Sunday, noon until 8 p.m. The phone number is 828-736-4480.

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