Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Wide Open Spaces Takes On Deals For Hunters, Fishermen

A new, Austin-based startup, Wide Open Spaces, debuted its products today, saying that it will bring exclusive, curated offers aimed at sportsmen looking for hunting and fishing gear. Wide Open Spaces said it is backed by $1.75M in seed funding from Mercury Fund, RPM Ventures, and Dundee Venture Capital, along with other angel investors, and is headed by Denis O'Dwyer (Yelp, Clover, Yahoo!) and Chris Mitchell (Spredfast, Zilliant, SocialSmack). The new site is a members-only, flash sales site which offers up all kinds of gear, clothing, and other products aimed at hunters and fishermen.

Wide Open Spaces' site operates on a similar model to a number of flash sales sites, sending daily emails with limited time deals on brand-name gear to its members. Those deals typically offer steep discounts on different outdoor products from well known brands, but only in limited quantities. Those deals are popular both with consumers, eager to get a great deal on products, as well as manufacturers, who use those flash sales to reduce stock or clear out items from their inventory, without impacting pricing or their retail channel.

Wide Open Spaces also said it launched a new offering, openseason, which offers up clearance deals on gear 24/7, with deeply discounted products for members. The company said it has worked with more than 325 brand partners in the outdoor industry.

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