About Us

       In 1946, shortly after his discharge from the U.S. Army, founder Lee Connelly purchased less than $100-worth of army surplus, then drove around Idaho, Washington and Oregon selling it out of the back of his pickup. This was the humble beginning of Tri-State Distributors.

       It wasn’t long before Connelly’s burgeoning business venture outgrew the back of his pickup and was finally forced to settle into the building it occupies today, on the Pullman Road across the street from the University of Idaho.

       Moscow, Idaho’s “Tri-State” is now known as “Tri-State, Idaho’s Most Interesting Store”, which features superior-quality brand names in Footwear, Clothing, Sporting Goods, Hardware and Housewares. Three smaller stores, with more of an outdoor focus, were open over the years. These stores were to be called Tri-State Outfitters, to reflect that emphasis. In 2010, the surviving members of the Connelly family sold the four stores to employee-owned Crown Enterprises, Inc., doing business in Kalispell and Whitefish, Montana, as Sportsman and Ski Haus. The sale was a good fit. Crown Enterprises is now parent company to a chain of six stores, with locations in Kalispell and Whitefish, Montana, Moscow, Lewiston and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and Moses Lake, Washington.