About Strie Strømmer
Strie Strømmer was founded in 2004 by Kay-Arne Randen and Jon Kristen Garmo. We inherited the name from Petter Granrud's legendary shop in the back of Heidal, which sold quality equipment ordered by fax from the USA with a huge mark-up in the 90s. We inherited the market from Anett at Sjoa Kajakksenter, who chose to drop the shop in favor of course activities after the 2003 season. In addition, Jon Kristen's father had a warehouse full of scrap metal in central Heidal, which could be put to better use. Through sponsorship agreements with importers Voss Ski and Surf (Riot Kayaks), Eian Fritid (Dagger Kayaks) and Sweet Protection, who saw the value of having their equipment for sale in Heidal, we also gained access to goods on commission, as the initial capital was somewhat limited.
Everything was in place for them to become a shop.
It became a shop, and we agree that we both reached the peak of our paddling careers in the 2003 season, but still paddle as often as we can, and advertised with the following when we opened in 2004:
Strie Strømmer Elvesport DA was established by two paddling enthusiasts, Jon Kristen Garmo and Kay-Arne Randen in the winter of 2004. Our shop is located in Heidal, within walking distance of the river Sjoa.
We who run Strie Strømmer are active river paddlers ourselves with a total of over 20 years of experience in river paddling, both competitions and downstream paddling. This experience will benefit our customers, be it when choosing equipment or other paddling tips. We focus on offering high quality equipment at a reasonable price, with a good portion of expertise and service.
The same applies to this day, but add 30+ years of experience, and turn off a bit of familiarity for the degree of the term "active river paddlers", and we are the status quo. We are still a small shop, as a specialty shop for river paddling in Norway must necessarily be. And that's a good thing, because we're still like kids when we get a new kayak model.
With the launch of our new online store in 2020, we are taking the store in a slightly new direction.
Equipment is expensive, much of it lies unused, and far too much is thrown away.
We want everyone who wants to have the opportunity to start river paddling, and have therefore created a second-hand market for river equipment in the online store, which everyone can use for free, regardless of whether you buy something from us or not.
In this context, we also open for trade-in if you buy a new kayak from us. We hope you appreciate this.
