Last Friday I finally got to go to the 5.10 Outlet store in California. My local climber friends and I had been hearing about this shop for awhile and we talked about stopping by on our way to Joshua Tree, but there was always this one catch…
It’s only open on Fridays, it’s only open from 1PM to 6PM. That’s it.Â
Well, one of my friends was finally fed up with missing the store, he announced that he was going out on Friday, going to REI and the 5.10 outlet, climbing in Joshua Tree on Saturday and coming back late Saturday night (he was busy Sunday). I decided to tag along.
The details:
The 5.10 Outlet is hosted in the front room of the 5.10 distribution center.
Address:Â 1419 W. State St., Redlands, CA 92373
Phone: Â (909) 798-4222.Â
The Layout:Â
The small store is set up with shelves and a few bins lining a room about 25 feet by 40 feet with a few free standing shelves in the middle and a sitting area to try on shoes. They also have some climbing holds along one corner of the room so you can test out climbing shoes on it.
The Selection:
It’s a 5.10 outlet so they mainly have climbing shoes but you can also find approach, hiking and even casual shoes. Additionally there were two bins of sample shoes and empty baskets which I believe must have had more sample shoes in them at one time. They have limited shoes in “the back” but  I asked for a  size check on two shoes and they didn’t have it, a store guy said mostly what they have is out already. They also sold a small selection of t-shirts and climbing gear ( for example, they had a Petzl GriGri there but it was regularly priced).
When we went there the sample bins consisted of men’s size 9 shoes (no climbing shoes in there)  and a bin of size 7 women’s shoes (which I didn’t really check through as that’s not my size). My friend wears men’s 9 and he picked up some unusual water hikers from the bin for $15.  The store guy didn’t even know if they had a name as  they weren’t a line that went to mass manufacturing. Unfortunately my friend tried them out in Josh the next day and “fell” out of them. They have neoprene as a lining and the shoes stuck on the rock but his feet (both of them) slipped out as he tried to step up.
The Deals:
I was charged with finding climbing shoes for a beginner who wears a Men’s 9 and picked up some Spires for $60 (retail around $95). I was also charged with scoping out what they had for Men’s size 11. I got Anasazis for $60 (retail varies with sales but I think normal price is around $90), a pair of Anasazi VCSs (the newer and more agressive version) for $70 (retail around $135), and a pair of Prodigy hiker/approach shoes for $45 (retail around $95).
For myself (being on a limited budget at the moment) I got one pair of women’s Insight’s for $45. Â These were similar to a pair of shoes I saw on sale for $60, regularly priced around $100.Â
While we were there, another group of 3 climbers were also shopping and I noticed they all went away with a pair of climbing shoes each.
All in all it was a fun experience, the staff was friendly (one even apologized for “the mess” of shoes in the racks) and I got a great deal on shoes I needed.
If you’re shoe shopping in the Southern California area I highly suggest stopping by this shop. It’s still over an hour away from Joshua Tree National Park but if you can work it into your route (it’s near the 10 and 210 Freeway intersection) it’s quite worth it.
