Denver’s Wilderness Exchange outdoor specialty store will close its doors after its final day on March 29.
The store, located at Platte and 15th streets, has served the Denver and Greater Front Range outdoor community since 2000.
“For 26 years, our customers and our staff have shared so many wild experiences — from our vast backyard playground at the foot of the Rockies to the ends of the earth,” said owner Don Bushey in a blog post. “Having adventures — finding our place under the sun — writing our own epics; it’s a story that has been told and keeps writing itself in mountain shops — around campfires — from generation to generation.”
Bushey said that for now, Wilderness Exchange‘s online store will continue operating.
The store, which sits just kitty-corner to an REI, made part of its mission to make the outdoors more accessible and affordable to explore, and it was well-known for its consignment and used gear section.
In 2024, the store closed for renovations and reopened in 2025, rebranded as Black Diamond Wilderness Exchange.
“The vision for the Black Diamond store in downtown Denver is to create something beyond the standard mono-brand store,” Bushey said in a statement when the store reopened. “This will be a full-service specialty mountain shop, with other complementary brands that complete the kit.”
The Black Diamond portion of the store is also slated to close, according to Denverite.
Comments poured in from the outdoor community on Instagram thanking the store and its employees.
“You’ve been a major supporter of Colorado outdoor recreation for over a quarter century,” said one commenter. “You should be proud of that, Don! Always one of my favorite venues to present avalanche awareness with Friends of Berthoud Pass. I’ll miss the standing room only crowds.”
“The wilderness teaches us a timeless lesson that lies at the heart of what it means to be human and alive,” Bushey said in his blog post. “In this sense, Wilderness Exchange has always been way more than just a shop; it’s been a living and breathing community.”
