About Us
It started in the fall of 2008. Mike Keller stepped into an old house in the middle of Two Harbors, MN, and said, "This will do". So they tore down some walls and threw some paint on the ones that were standing. They asked a friend to cut up some local pine for shelving. By May of 2009, the doors opened to this new store in town called The Canoeist. From the outside, it appeared to be somebody living in an old home who liked canoeing (obvious from the canoes stacked up outside).
Once you walked inside, though, you found a store that catered to the canoeing type: canoes, canoeing and camping gear and outdoors gifts in the summer time, with the addition of snowshoes in the winter.
Due to the convenient location before heading up north to Ely, Grand Marais, or somewhere in between, people also took quickly to renting gear from The Canoeist. They rented a canoe and pack, and picked up their permit for the Boundary Waters. Or they tried a canoe trip on the Cloquet River and rented a filter for their hike on the Superior Hiking Trail. In the winter, Snowtrekker tents and wood stoves were rented out, pulled on toboggans loaded with sleeping bags, an auger, and other gear that they picked up at a little shop in Two Harbors.
But it wasn’t long before people from around the world realized that they could take advantage of such a unique, little store by visiting TheCanoeist.com. People from Croatia to Ontario to Tennessee joined the online community to share photos and stories about their canoeing adventures. Paddle socks were being shipped to Japan, Duluth Packs to Germany, and other gear to all over the United States and Canada.
The Canoeist is a small business with a lot going on. It is our goal to make this a "one stop location for the adventurous paddler". When you make a phone call or stop by the shop, these are the people you’re likely to meet.
If you stop by the shop, there’s a good chance that you’ll meet Mike. Bring up your last canoe trip, the big fish you caught, or just bring your dog in the shop and it won’t be as quick of a stop as you thought it would.
Every business has a pretty face, and we would like to thank Erin for being our beauty queen. But don’t let that smile fool you, if a 75 pound canoe can’t slow her down, then what can.
You might mistake Doug for being a chimney-cleaner when you stop by, but don’t worry, he just got done cleaning the wood stoves from last weekend’s rentals. If you were to ask us what Doug’s job description was, we wouldn’t be able to give you an answer. He simply does it all.
Lena is our greeter. Just know ahead of time that our answer is no, you cannot take her home with you.
