Ogden » At the new Amer Sports factory outlet store on Saturday, Genevie Noriega and her husband John walked among the racks of coats and other outdoor wear, pausing occasionally to check the prices on merchandise with brand names like Atomic and Salomon.

As she let a price tag on a coat slip from her hand, Noriega, who now lives in Clearfield, said she is encouraged to see the outlet store opening in her and her husband's old neighborhood.

"We both grew up only a couple of blocks from here -- me on 21st street and him on 22nd," she said. "It's nice to see so much development going on around here. It sure does beat seeing boarded up windows."

The store is the first for the Finland-based Amer Sports Corp., which in 2007 opened its North American headquarters in Ogden's historic American Can Building, a structure that had been vacant for nearly 30 years.

Teresa Leavitt of Amer Sports Winter & Outdoor Americas said the company decided to open its outlet store, which is also in the American Can building, after members of the community expressed interest. The company typically sells its products to retailers.

"This is an entirely new concept for us," she said.

The outlet store informally opened at the end of August but Saturday marked its grand opening. Hundreds flocked in throughout the day. At times, customers were lined up six to eight deep in several lines as they waited to pay for their selections of shoes, shirts and other softgoods.

For Ogden, the Amer Sports factory outlet store represents far more than a new business that has opened its doors, said John Patterson, the city's chief operating officer. It also is another indication that Ogden's long-running effort to establish itself as a hub for the outdoor recreation industry is continuing to pay off.

Amer Sports is among the largest of nearly a dozen outdoor companies that now call the Ogden area home.

"Ogden has done a good job of going after the outdoor products companies and making this an outdoor sports town," said Jared Talbot as he walked out of the store carrying his 22-month-old daughter Mallary, who happily clutched a blue balloon she had received inside.

Talbot, a crusher operator for Geneva Rock Products, said he bought shorts during his first visit to the store. "It's a little cold for them now, but I saved $30. I'll be wearing them next summer," he said.