Crowd Turns Out for Stages West Homecoming in Pigeon Forge

Stages West, located in the heart of Pigeon Forge, Tenn., “returned home” with the grand reopening of its beloved store on Thursday, June 30, 2016.

In August of 2015, fire heavily damaged the store’s infrastructure, causing it to close its doors for nearly a year. After months of rebuilding and preparation, Stages West officially reopened today, and it’s bigger, better, and bolder than ever. The ceremony featured live music, food, giveaways, and exclusive first tours of the store. Those in attendance included government officials, members of the media, long-standing Stages West customers and vendors, and key East Tennessee business leaders.

“When we were thinking about a possible theme for the reopening, ‘homecoming’ seemed obvious,” said Stephen Houser, third generation owner of Stages West. “Homecomings are about remembering good times with good people, they’re about celebrating the past and present, and for us, it’s also about coming back to our home of Sevier County.”

The Pigeon Forge Chamber of Commerce was on hand to help celebrate the re-opening of Stages West in Pigeon Forge.

Family-owned and operated for over 40 years and the nation’s largest independent Western retailer, the reopening ceremony focused on Stages West’s community ties and its long standing, loyal customers. Rather than the standard cutting of a ribbon, Stages West opened the store by tying together bandanas, a symbol of everyone involved, threaded together as one. Each bandana had messages from Stages West employees, and those in attendance had the opportunity to add their own bandanas and messages to the strand throughout the day.

“We built our store on faith, family, and country,” said Houser. “We’re going to give our customers an experience that is unlike anything else in the United States. Stages West is a landmark and a destination. With our fully engineered concert stage, and locally sourced, reclaimed materials from Sevier County barns, Stages West is a landmark and a destination.”

Stages West is located at 2765 Parkway in Pigeon Forge and store hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday.