Nite Lite Outdoors Closes in Springdale

Nite Lite Outdoors closed its Springdale retail store on Feb. 17. The Little Rock-based mail-order, wholesale and retail hunting supply business has one other store, in Clarksville. The 8,000-SF Springdale store, at 2002 S. 48th St., had been open since September 1998.

David White, manager of the Springdale store, said competition with other outdoor sporting goods stores that recently moved in to the area had hurt sales at Nite Lite Outdoors.

The store marked down goods on Feb. 7 to liquidate stock before closing and moving some items to the other store.

Nite Lite Outdoors opened its first retail store in Clarksville in 1994.

Henry Mariani, owner of the company, couldn’t be reached for comment.

Mariani and his son, Tim Mariani, bought the company in 1988. Nite Lite Outdoors began as a supplier to raccoon hunters. The name stems from hardhats developed by the company that included spotlights and six-volt batteries to spot raccoons at night.

In a 1998 interview, Tim Mariani said the company supplied hunting equipment to about 1,500 dealers. The Springdale retail store carried about 60 percent more merchandise than was featured in the company’s seasonal mail-order catalogs. In addition to hunting equipment, Nite Lite Outdoors also sells fly fishing, archery and camping equipment.

In the 1998 interview, Tim Mariani said the company planned to open a new store every 12 to 18 months, but those plans have apparently changed.