Visiting SCHEEL’s Eden Prairie

I was invited to attend a preview event of the grand opening of the new SCHEEL’s store in the Eden Prairie mall. I didn’t know much about the store ahead of time – just that it has a ferris wheel inside. That was enough to lure me out of bed early on a Saturday morning – plus it was a great chance to get outside the house on my own (I had a baby recently)!

Here’s what I wasn’t fully expecting: the scale of this outdoors/sporting goods store. It’s massive, and it really does have a full size ferris wheel inside. More on that later.

The aquarium inside a retail store

As I mentioned, one of the big draws for shoppers and what sets the store apart in the retail sphere is the ferris wheel and also the aquarium. You can see live divers in the aquarium a few days a week in the store. It’s impressively sized and is home to 500 fish:

The SCHEEL’s Ferris Wheel

The other main attraction is in the center of the two-story store – the ferris wheel! It’s not currently operating during COVID times, but eventually it will be open for rides. This is a place I can see taking the whole family – there is something for everyone. Other draws include a cafe and candy shop, a Viking created from 77,000 legos, a golf shop and simulator, a synthetic rink to test hockey skates on, and an interactive archery shop.

Shopping

This sizable store has tons of shopping for the whole family including home decor and outdoors apparel for men, women and kids.

SCHEEL’s Eden Prairie Taxidermy Mountain

I thought I’d seen everything the store had to offer when I discovered the taxidermy mountain on the second level. It has a really impressive display of animals. I’m not really a fan of hunting, but I can see that the display has educational value for learning about local wildlife. I did read that SCHEEL’s gets the animals on loan from local hunters and taxidermy artist. I couldn’t resist getting a photo with the moose.

Planning a visit to SCHEEL’s

SCHEEL’s Eden Prairie is located within the Eden Prairie mall, so there are plenty of amenities nearby if you’re ready to spend a day out. It takes a couple of hours to see the entirety of the store, but if you wanted to just stop in to see the aquarium it would be worth a short visit too!