MOSES LAKE - High Mountain Hunting Supply chose Moses Lake for a new location to better serve customers in the Moses Lake, Othello, and Ephrata areas.

"Instead of them driving to Wenatchee to see us, we (decided to) bring them the store," said Cody McGowan, the company's Moses Lake store manager.

The new location, at 12238 Frontage Rd., opened this week. The grand opening is today, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The store's owner is Kelsey Hilderbrand, of Quincy. With Hilderbrand running a farm in Quincy, he knew many people in the area, McGowan explained.

The new store is parallel to Interstate 90 and near the corner of state Route 17.

"It's real easy access," McGowan said. "People can get in and out."

Many people are already stopping by nearby gas stations to fill up and use the facilities.

"We will try and pull them off and bring them down here," he commented.

The new location has between 12 to 15 employees. Most of the employees are area residents.

"They know the area," McGowan said. "We have excellent people hired on."

He described the company as having a "family-oriented business philosophy."

"We're not corporate and we enjoy what we do," he said. "We definitely put our crew up against any out there."

Employees specialize in every aspect of the store.

If a customer wants to know about AR-15s or suppressors, employees can help.

The store offers sporting goods-related merchandise, including backpacks, tents, fishing, hunting and archery.

The focus in Moses Lake is waterfowl and fishing, he said.

"I want to really develop some new markets that I think will do well here," McGowan said. "I want to bring in black guns/suppressors, some different things people don't know about here. We'll be doing a lot of classes."

He wants to offer hunter safety classes and seminars on bass fishing, walleye and archery.

"Our crew is pretty well-versed," he said. "We can put them (the classes) on for people."

They are the first occupants of their building in Moses Lake. It was going to be a car dealership, but that didn't go through, he said.

"We have a lot of room to grow," he said. "It seemed really big at first. It got smaller and smaller and smaller."

The store's assistant manager, Dallas Countryman, is a former fishing guide from Alaska.

Now in Moses Lake, he is looking forward to being close to the waterfowl and great fishing, he said.

For more information, find the company online at luvtohunt.com.

Store hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday.