Max first started shopping at Anaconda as a teenager, picking up the camping gear that helped get him outdoors, but the new Adventure HQ in Brendale is a big shift from the stores he grew up with. 

 

I’ve been shopping at Anaconda for around 15 years. Back then, it was much smaller and far more straightforward. You went in because you needed a tent, a sleeping bag, a stove, or some other piece of gear before heading away on a weekend away. I was already an outdoorsy kid, but Anaconda was where I got a lot of my first proper camping equipment, and in a small way it helped turn that interest into something that’s consumed my life. 

Fast forward to now and I probably own more outdoor gear than any reasonable person needs. That hasn’t stopped me enjoying a good wander through a gear store though. If there are packs, sleeping mats, sleeping bags, or some slightly over-engineered bit of camp kit nearby, I’ll happily lose time looking at it. 

So walking into Anaconda’s new Adventure HQ in Brendale, Queensland, felt very different to the Anaconda I remembered. 

Signs direct you around the store like a theme park

Bonus brands like Osprey and Cotopaxi are available

It’s Massive

The scale is the first thing you notice when you walk through the main entrance. It feels grand, but more importantly, it feels more like an outdoor experience than a conventional big box shop. There’s an indoor campground, a snow cave, displays built around different activities, and a much larger hiking section that was easily where I spent most of my time. 

 

Heaps going on here

 

Anaconda CEO Chris Lude says the Brendale store carries around 40 brands that aren’t normally found across the standard network, with expanded ranges from names such as Osprey and the addition of Cotopaxi. It also cost an eye-watering $92 million to build and is the second Anaconda HQ after the initial one in Chullora, NSW.

The store is big enough to accommodate fake trees

and a barramundi tank!

The snow cave was probably the best example of what Adventure HQ is trying to do differently. At -10°C, it’s cold enough to replicate many of the temperatures you might encounter in the Australian Alps or on a winter trip to Japan, giving you the chance to step inside wearing the gear you’re considering and get a much better feel for how it performs. 

 

There’s no way the staff aren’t sneaking a few brewskis in there

 

Lude told us the concept was inspired partly by outdoor retailers like Bass Pro Shops and REI in the US and Europe, but the broader aim was to ask a pretty practical question: how do you bring more of the outdoors indoors?

For me, the most interesting part isn’t the theatre around the store. It’s that someone who walks in looking for one thing might leave curious about another activity entirely. 

 

Maybe you’ll get hooked on fishing after trying out the simulator

 

The new Anaconda Adventure HQ is now open at 383-385 South Pine Road, Brendale, Queensland. Our writer Max had an exclusive first look before it opened to the public.

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