Bass Pro/Cabellas merger

[kyratshooter]

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CFPageC?storeId=10151&catalogId=10051&langId=-1&appID=87225


Comments, results, effect on anyone?

Bass Pro and Cabellas are both about an hour drive from me so I only go there if the need is great and they are the only supplier.

I can vouch for the warmth and durability of my 25 year old Cabellas 660 down parka. That thing is like carrying your own micro-environment around!

It does concern me that Cabellas, not founded until I was an adult, is viewed and an old school long established retailer!!!

[madmax]

I liked my few visits to Cabela's. But BassPro in Gainesville, FL is 30 mins away. BassPro in Orlando is 60 mins away. Cabela's is 12 1/2 hours away.

[hunter63]

Gander Mountain is our main store in our area, with Cabalas being next closest...Bass Pro...has a store , just south of us in Il.
Gander Mountain had bought out Herter's some years back, lot of my Duck hunting stuff is Herter's brand.

Was under the impression that Cabalas owned Gander Mountain...looking it up, maybe not.
Now if Bass Pro buys Cabalas.....???
Not sure.

[kyratshooter]

The purchase seems to be a done deal. They have been working on it for nearly a year. Seems the opinion of most was that BP had the better retail stores while Cabellas had the better online market with its own well functioning credit card sales division.

Wall Street Journal states the the merger will result in the new company holding %20 of the retail outdoor sales market.

[Batch]

I used to get all of the catalogs back in the late 80's and 90's. There was one that had bulk fishing baits. 14" and 18" curly tail worms. The sold rubber worm molds. Lead weight molds.

I just don't think it was Cabella's. Anybody remember that place. I mostly bought fishing baits from them. Sling a big ole 18" brown rubber worm up on the edge of the bank and hold your rod tip high and reel like a mad man into the water, keeping it on top. Looks like a snake to them largemouth lunkers and they bust em hard!

We have a Bass Pro 19 miles from my house and 14 miles from my work. Another about 40 miles down south in Miami. And one 9.6 miles from my sister's house, about 5 miles from my brother's house in Port St. Lucie.

We have a Gander Mountain in north Palm Beach County. That's 48 miles away. We hit it on the way to camp if we are hunting a quota hunt or scouting for one. Some decent deals on firearms. I have bought 3 from them. Also a couple of Gander mountain 12' X 12' easy up canopies.

No Cabelas yet.

Now, Dicks is usually over priced and the staff is uninformed and rude in my experience in 4 of the ones we have in the area that I have shopped. There are 6 locally. Everything from miss marked prices that they tell you are wrong at the cash register and have you step out of line while they sort their mistake out. Once with a nice paddle. Turns out after 40 minutes it was supposed to sell with a kayak that was sold without it. As they were sold out. So, I said then sell it to me for the price miss marked as their mistake had cost me more time than I would have to work to actually pay the difference in price for the paddle and they had already screwed some poor customer out the paddle.

Another time the store on Southern Blvd in West Palm. My son-in-law and daughter are trying to buy gator trapper agent licenses. The girl at the counter can't figure it out. She calls a manager and he tells me I am trying to pull a fast one and that the license doesn't exist. I tell him I have both my trapper and trapper's agent license. Now a trapper can act as an agent for another licensed trapper. Back then you couldn't. A kid came up that knew the system and got us the trapper's agent for my SIL and daughter. No apology or anything other than a snide remark.

i really have had a bad experience everytime I have gone to dick's.

One thing also is when you go anywhere out side of this area. All of the hunting stuff is better and way cheaper.

[hunter63]

Dick's is a shoe store.......gun section with no one manning the department....and you are correct .....asshats...
I don't go to Dicks.....
Used to have a Sportsman Warehouse......closed up
Have a Dunham's....used to be my favorite Mosin Nagant and SKS store....none in stock for a while now....

[fjrmurph]

less competition is not usually a good thing for us consumers !!

[tundrabadger]

Hm. If that merger effects their Canadian locations as well it might explain why LeBaron threw in the towel.

[natertot]

Growing up in Northern IA, I would visit the Cabelas in Southern MN. That store was huge, about the size of a small mall. It took a couple hours just to lightly browse the entire place. I was excited when I heard one was opening near me in OH. Turns out, Cabelas became the same thing as BP and the store was small as heck. Not impressed with their used gun prices. Had a Chinese Mosin, typical condition, and wanted $350 for it. Also saw a used 870 for $50 more than a new one at any other gun store. Whenever I am close, I pop in to check clearance. Their store philosophy has changed since I was in college and not for the better.

I agree on Dicks. I always joke that the store wasn't named for the founder, but the employees.

[theJman]

less competition is not usually a good thing for us consumers !!

Agreed; it does seem as though this merger will shrink the competitive landscape. Those are two big players combining to become one even bigger player.

[madmax]

I've never said, "I got it at DICK"S!".

[crashdive123]

I've never said, "I got it at DICK"S!".

Hey ---- what you decide to keep to yourself is your business. :whistling: