Many winter visitors to Yuzawa often note that there is no big sports shop in the town, which is surprising for such a thriving ski destination. There is a small one on the east side of the station and a couple of boutique shops at some of the resorts, but for a big shop with a wide range of equipment you have to travel up the road to Muikamachi. Just by the Muikamachi IC is a large Aeon shopping mall and on the other side of the car park is Xraeb - heaven for anyone who loves sports gear. Quite why it has such an odd name and a crab for a logo is a bit of a mystery. Xraeb shares the building with the jeans shop, Amerikaya
Every autumn the summer stock get put into storage and a large part of the shop is given over to winter sports gear. Rows upon rows of garish snowboard wear, racks of skis and snowboards, floor to ceiling shelves full of ski boots and masses of goggles. The display of goggles have white cloth gloves for you to wear when you try them on so you don`t leave grubby finger prints on the pristine lenses. Xraeb also run many of the rental departments in the resorts in the area and have a couple of own brand accessories. They produce the Yukizaru clothing range and also the SGR8 gloves, which are a rather neat pipe glove with a waterproof over-glove stashed away in a pocket which you can slip on if it starts to snow.
For those on a budget Xraeb also has a section of second hand gear. People can bring in their old gear to sell when they upgrade to the latest model. There are some great bargains to be had if you are lucky. The second hand section is between the two shops just by the Restrooms and there are all sorts of things for sale, not just skis. [In the same complex as Aeon and Xraeb is a Hard-Off which is also a great place to have a look if you are looking for some bargain winter sports equipment.]
