AK Outdoors offers wide array of Wisconsin-made products
by Arrielle Eckhardt
The Star News
If you’re in need of fishing, archery, hunting, or any other outdoor equipment, Allan Koffler of Medford, and owner of AK Outdoors is your guy. AK Outdoors is an outdoor sports store located on Highway 13 in Medford. The store has a large variety of outdoor products ranging from fishing poles to firearms.
Koffler decided to open AK Outdoors after the owner of Shay Creek Sports, where Koffler worked for several years, decided to close up shop and sell the property to Kwik Trip. Instead of looking at the closing of his longtime employer as a negative, Koffler saw it as a “blessing in disguise” and took it as an opportunity to open his own store.
“I decided to put my money where my mouth was and open up my own business,” said Koffler when talking about the decision to open up his own store. Koffler had dreams of owning his own store long before Shay Creek closed, and strongly believed that he could do it better. While most people share the idea that they can do business better than their boss, Koffler actually put in the work to make it happen and opened AK Outdoors in June of 2020.
Despite opening up the store in the midst of the Covid 19 pandemic, when it was virtually impossible for any business to get supplies, Koffler opened up shop with a full inventory that he bought directly from Shay Creek Sports.
While being one of the only local outdoor retailers with a full inventory was a great advantage for AK Outdoors, supplies quickly sold out when people became aware of the fully stocked store. After this, Koffler was in the same boat as everyone else and had difficulties reordering products.
Thankfully the store no longer has any issues ordering supplies and even has access to certain brands of archery equipment and firearms that many other outdoor retailers do not have. These brands include Mathews Archery, Mission Archery, and Benelli Firearms.
“I’ve been in the outdoors ever since I’ve been walking,” said Koffler about his relationship and passion for the outdoors. Koffler mostly shares this passion with others through selling outdoor sports equipment, but he also donates many items to the community in order to give others easy access to outdoor therapy and strengthen their relationship with nature.
Koffler does a lot of work with Stepping Stones, which is a nonprofit organization that provides free services to victims of violence. Koffler has donated several items to the organization including fishing poles, archery equipment, and clothing.
Along with making several donations to the community, Koffler is also a part of the Wisconsinbased initiative called Live Today – Put It Away. This program works with firearm stores to help provide those in crisis with a safe place to store their firearms away from home. This program is in place to help prevent suicide and provide support to those suffering with mental health issues.
