by Mark Alston-Follansbee
The Outdoor Store at 24 Nason Street has been open for 75 years but is too busy to celebrate this wonderful milestone. Instead, the store has everyone busy stocking the shelves and helping customers with almost everything anyone needs from their local apparel store. Opened in 1950 by Sumner Cotton, the store is now run by a third generation, his grandson, Jeremy Cao, with Jeremy’s mother Amy still involved.
Sumner bought surplus military gear and opened an Army & Navy Store just down the street from their current location. It was one of three stores three veterans opened after returning from World War II. In 1968 the corporation was dissolved and Summer had sole ownership in Maynard; the store moved to 24 Nason and changed their name to the Maynard Outdoor Store.
By that time the surplus materials were becoming scarcer and the store was able to use the much larger space to bring in everything from name brand clothing and footwear to camping and sporting goods. Jeremy’s mother Amy took over from Sumner when he retired in the 1990’s and then Jeremy gradually took on more and more responsibility over the last 20 years.
“The most important thing for us,” said Jeremy, “is customer service and having the products people want at good prices. We have a local customer base that have been shopping with us for a long time and now see people we knew as children bringing their children into the store.”
The footwear department has a large selection of work, hiking, and snow boots plus athletic shoes and sandals. (Did you know they sell Birkenstocks at a lower cost than you can buy them on-line?) Clothing for men, women and children tends to be casual with athletic clothes for sports. They also sell sporting equipment and hats and T-shirts for our professional teams.
It’s not easy having a retail store these days and the Outdoor Store saw many long-time knowledgeable employees retire at once and then lost more staff during COVID. But the store is a well liked institution in Maynard; in fact the town’s Economic Development Committee just gave the Maynard Outdoor Store their Business of the Year Award for all they do and bring to the community.
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