Campers buying tents in the 1970s likely had a different shopping experience than those looking for them today.

Before the Internet and massive discount retailers, locally owned outdoors stores had the edge as prime places to buy hiking, camping and other outdoor supplies.

Today, bargains on outdoor gear abound online, from Internet retailers' Web sites to online auction business eBay. And a local outdoors retailer says it has fallen under the pressure of competing with this low-price-hunting game.

Blue Ridge Outdoors, founded in 1977, closed its Roanoke and Blacksburg stores this week. The stores at Valley View Mall in Roanoke and on North Main Street in downtown Blacksburg sold apparel, shoes and equipment for hikers, boaters and other outdoor enthusiasts.

The news comes at a time when at least three new outdoors retailers are planning moves to the Roanoke Valley.

At Blue Ridge Outdoors, hiking and backpacking were the focus. The stores were well positioned -- in their time -- in a region that boasts the Appalachian Trail traversing Southwest Virginia's mountainous terrain along with other outdoor attractions, including hiking trails and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Bill Wilson, owner of Blue Ridge Outdoors, said it was increasingly difficult to sustain a competitive edge next to some larger retailers and, namely, the Internet.

"The consumer has been more interested in price and a lot less interested in service and quality," said Wilson, a Roanoke resident. "Often a customer will come in and spend hours trying on shoes ... then they'll go and order it off the Internet. It's a statement that I think every retailer hears more and more, 'I buy everything online.' That's an unsustainable explanation."

Wilson, an outdoors lover who canoes, hikes and rock climbs, has invested much of the past 27 years at Blue Ridge Outdoors. In 1980, he began working part time at the Blacksburg store while he was a student at Virginia Tech.

Wayne Sayer, now of California, started the retail chain with the first store in Blacksburg. In 1983, he opened a store at Tanglewood Mall in Roanoke County.

Wilson and business partner Gene Kistler bought the business in 1993, and they opened a third store in Fayetteville, W.Va. Wilson eventually bought the company from Kistler in 2001. Kistler still owns and operates the West Virginia store, now called Water Stone Outdoors.

Wilson later opened Valley View Mall's Blue Ridge Outdoors store in 2002.

Two years later, business became a challenge. In 2004, Wilson had to shut down the Blacksburg store for about 10 days because of a fire there. And in 2005, he closed the Tanglewood Mall store.

Those changes, coupled with increased pricing competition, "made it difficult for us to keep the momentum up and to grow," Wilson said.

At least eight people worked at the two stores, although some were part time. Wilson hasn't yet decided what he will do with the merchandise that's left at the stores.

Competition from the Internet is a driving challenge for small retailers, and others in the outdoor sector, such as Back Country Ski & Sports in Salem, can attest to online sales pressure.

Pat Metheny, a manager at the store, said he increasingly finds that shoppers buy skis online and bring them to Back Country for service work. Back Country charges a higher price to service skis if customers buy them elsewhere.

For example, there's a $35 service charge for Back Country to mount binders on skis and boots and test them out if a customer buys the skis at the store. But the charge rises to $70 if a customer does not buy the skis at Back Country.

"That's what we have to do to stay in business," Metheny said. "It's getting to the point where I'll be surprised if there are more than one [locally owned outdoor retailer] in the Roanoke Valley in the next few years."

Kirk Miller is taking a stab at the Roanoke outdoors retail market. He's opening Walkabout Outfitter on Market Street in downtown Roanoke next month.

Despite Blue Ridge Outdoors' closing, Miller said he's confident that his new store will be successful. He already owns a Walkabout Outfitter shop in downtown Lexington.

Miller said his store's prices for apparel and equipment for hikers, backpackers and travelers match those of the same products found online, such as North Face tents. And he said customer service makes his shop competitive, but he added, "We are not a cheap store."

And Miller's brand of customer service isn't just smiles and chitchat.

"We will put the backpack on you and have you load it up with your stuff and have you walk around for an hour in the store. You can't do that online."

Two more outdoors retailers could land in the Roanoke Valley. Gander Mountain and Camping World has proposed an outlet in Roanoke County, near the Hollins University area, just off Interstate 81.

As for Wilson, even he hasn't abandoned a career in outdoor product sales. He's now working as director of retail operations with Blue Ridge Mountain Sports, a retailer based in Charlottesville. Blue Ridge Mountain Sports has stores in Virginia, Tennessee, New Jersey and North Carolina.