What's up with the Cheyenne Bomgaars? (formerly JAX at Frontier Mall)

Bomgaars banner sign hangs on mall entry - Optopolis

Anyone who has visited Cheyenne's new Bomgaars, formerly JAX, likely has noticed that the store is a bit, "all-over-the-place," and this is largely because the store is still in the process of converting into Bomgaars in spite of their soft opening to the public.

Cheyenne JAX is now Bomgaars, many items on sale

To clear up some confusion Optopolis has observed in the Cheyenne community, JAX Mercantile Company is very much still alive; they still have stores in Colorado and Iowa operating like usual under the ownership of JAX. It was only the Cheyenne JAX store which was sold to Bomgaars. This means anyone who wants to visit JAX can still do so, it just means a trip to Fort Collins, Loveland, or Lafayette in Colorado...or Ames in Iowa, or ordering online from the JAX website.

JAX has stores in Fort Collins (2), Lafayette (2), Loveland (1), Broomfield (1), and Ames (1). Loveland technically still has two stores, but the store pictured above, one of two Loveland locations, reportedly has been announced to close in the coming months. - Optopolis

Cheyenne's JAX Outdoor Gear, Farm and Ranch closed at 5 PM on December 31st, 2024. Bomgaars softly opened on January 2nd, 2025 at noon. The formerly JAX cafe briefly opened on January 2nd, but by January 3rd, it temporarily closed; the cafe has since reopened, however, and is currently primarily offering tea and coffee. Their menu is expected to be expanded in the near future.

Optopolis has been told by the Cheyenne Bomgaars that products normally sold at Bomgaars are mostly using the normal Bomgaars pricing. However, most products previously sold by JAX that aren't typically sold at Bomgaars are on sale, and most of those items are now 50% off (or more) of their original price, starting last Friday, February 14th when the percentage for most products increased from 40 to 50 percent. The general list of products on sale can be seen at and inside of Bomgaar's interior/mall entry.

The following categories have sales of 50% off: ALL footwear, select clothing, camping, military surplus, kitchenware, select sporting goods, backpacks, car luggage carriers, fishing and kayaks, toys, and select skis & snow shoes. - Optopolis

A sizable chunk of fixtures such as small shelving units and mannequins left over from JAX were previously available to the general public, and many of these items have already been sold. Other fixtures like the wooden-looking lining on the gondolas is anticipated to be given back to JAX, which installed said fixtures sometime ago for their Cheyenne store.

Remodel Begins on Bomgaars

Bomgaars wants to shift their new store into an open format where one can potentially see wall to wall when in nearly any part of the store. As such, most of the larger gondolas and some of the walls--particularly those walls that surrounded part of the former Sears Automotive/Batteries area--have already been removed. Many of the walls and larger gondolas are a distant remnant of Sears which had a much-less-open-format sales floor.

The gondola that previously separated the shoe department from other sections including the pet accessories has mostly been torn down. As of February 18th, plastic still surrounds the area where this gondola stood. - Optopolis

As of Tuesday, February 18th, new shelving units had already been installed in the southern portion of the store, mostly running east and west; plastic still separated the main store from the area where a large gondola once stood. Signs seen on products around the store indicated that most of the formerly-JAX merchandise was on sale at 50 percent off of the original price, and the cafe was operational.

By February 19th, a section of the wall next to the former kitchenware department had been torn out, and another portion of that wall was marked for demolition. 

The cafe is operational, although it had already closed for the day at the time that this photo was taken. - Optopolis

Some people including Optopolis have been wondering if the cafe will remain in place; Optopolis has been told by Bomgaars that they do currently plan to keep the cafe operating in its current location in the store, though the dining area may be expanded in the future in addition to potential wall demolition. Chalk boards at the cafe have long-since been updated to rebrand the cafe as Bomgaars Cafe, and Bomgaars is currently looking to hire baristas to help run the cafe.

There is not yet a set date for when Cheyenne's Bomgaars, store #183, will have a grand opening. However, Bomgaars does want to have a grand opening long before summer arrives, and they are hoping to hold the grand opening event around the March-to-April time frame.

This area once housed the batteries and other accessories belonging to Sears' automotive department. The temporary walls and windows surrounding this section were removed, exposing mostly-untouched, white-colored tile on the floor. - Optopolis

Although some JAX branding can still be seen around the exterior of the store, Bomgaars banners have been installed to help indicate that the store is indeed Bomgaars. Currently, Bomgaars store hours are as follows.

• Monday to Saturday, 7:30 AM to 8 PM
• Sunday at 9 AM to 6 PM

The cafe's hours are Monday to Saturday at 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM, and Sunday at 9 AM to 4 PM (closing several hours earlier than the store each day).

At the end of the day, Bomgaars isn't the same as JAX even though the two brands have their similarities. Are you excited to see Bomgaars have a store in Cheyenne? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Originally published: 02/19/2025 at 6:26 PM MT

Updated: 02/19/2025 at 8:03 PM to clarify certain details regarding demolition and sales on products.