Buy Out

[Skip]

Bass Pro bought out Sportmans Warehouse if anybody interested .  :

[Raider Bill]

IS that also Sportsman Guide?

[Skip]

NO Sportsman Warehouse ,Guide is mail order, WareHouse is bigger out west. 

[Raider Bill]

NO Sportsman Warehouse ,Guide is mail order, WareHouse is bigger out west.

Thanks. SMG has several names just wondering.

[SwampDonkey]

We heard Cabella's was bought out by Bass Pro, that is because someone drove to Moncton thinking it was a Cabella's store. But it was always Bass Pro from the beginning. Funny how facts ain't factual sometimes. :D :D

[K-Guy]

Bass Pro owns Cabalas and White River Marine Group who owns Tracker boats and other sporting goods companies.

[gspren]

I have a year 2000 Kenner Pro Skiff boat, if it was a year or two newer it would say Tracker on it because Bass Pro bought the Kenner skiff line, maybe all of Kenner boats. 

[bluthum]

I dislike seeing giant businesses buy out smaller ones. Cabela's was one of my staples for many years but has gone south since Bass Pro bought them out. Good by close out bargains on great gear.

Same story on Sierra Traders being bought out by TJ Maxx, close out bargains are hard to get there as well.

I wonder where it will all end?  Go big or stay home is the business model for about every thing these days with no end in sight. 

[barbender]

Bass Pro buying out Cabela's made me very sad. Cabela's had really good quality store brand gear, I guess some of it still is, but the atmosphere changed the minute they were bought out. Bass Pro always had kind of a Televangelist feel to it, if that makes sense imo🤷🏽‍♂️

[Larry]

We had a Sportsman Warehouse in Rogers Arkansas about 10 years ago.  They ran into financial difficulties and our store was closed at that time.  They were a great store as they took great care hiring experienced folks for the sales staff.  I could always stop by the store and find out where the fish were biting.  I really miss them.

To fill the void, Cabelas built a new store and right behind them Academy Sports opened a couple of stores.  Academy I think is a Texas outfit.  Maybe a third the size of Cabelas stores. 

[trapper]

I used to buy a lot in the cabelas bargin area that mostly went away with the bass pro buyout.  Buy a lot more at scheels now.

[azmtnman]

Dag-nabbit! 
We just got a Sportsman's Warehouse here a couple years ago. They have been opening a lot of small(er) market stores in AZ.
We have a Bass Pro Shop and Cabela's in Phoenix(Metro). When BPS acquired Cabela's, I noticed their product selection suffered in favor of their store brands. When competition disappears, we pay more for less.  arg-smiley

[barbender]

You could tell Cabela's did a lot of R&D on their products- no they didn't make any of it themselves, but they had quite a few people on staff that developed products that were manufactured for them. I have some of their fly rods that came in sizes you didn't really find anywhere else, like a sweet little 6' 2 weight that is my most used. I think that combo was $150 or so? Anything comparable I've seen was over $500😬

[Corley5]

I always felt that Bass Pro was 2nd rate to Cabela's.  

[SawyerTed]

I agree, Cabela's was a "world class outfit".  I have Cabela's gear from the late 1980's and 1990's I still use.  But I don't buy from them much anymore. 

Bass Pro never really got my attention with the exception of some saltwater gear. Even then some Offshore Angler stuff from Bass Pro is junk made offshore. 

[SwampDonkey]

Bass Pro buying out Cabela's made me very sad. Cabela's had really good quality store brand gear, I guess some of it still is, but the atmosphere changed the minute they were bought out. Bass Pro always had kind of a Televangelist feel to it, if that makes sense imo🤷🏽‍♂️

I have bought some quality outdoor gear from Cabella's in the past when I lived on the Wet coast. I still have them since 1996. They are well made.

[SwampDonkey]

Bass Pro owns Cabalas and White River Marine Group who owns Tracker boats and other sporting goods companies.

It wasn't a recent merger with Bass Pro though was it? The store in Moncton was always Bass Pro because mother was there on opening and got me a Bass Pro T-shirt. Really, those kinds of stores don't attract me. I never did buy the kinds of fishing gear they sell as I was always a fly angler or worm on a hook guy. I've been in a couple of those stores and they don't carry the kind of rods I use for fly angling. Always had to go to a small rod and gun shop for a quality fly pole. Doubt you'll find Orvis or Fenwick in Bass Pros. :D

[barbender]

Cabelas had (maybe still does) top of the line fly angling gear. I always spent a large amount of time in the fly fishing section whenever I visited a store. 

[YellowHammer]

I shop at both, depending on where I was (am). 

Johnny Morris bought out Cabelas in 2017, and for me it was both good and bad.  I think he's one of the top 5 richest in the country.  I speak manly from a fishing background, because I do a lot of it.  Their hunting stuff is decent, and their ammo is overpriced.  However, if I need a box of shells, I can drive there and have them, at a higher cost.  

I bought a Kenner saltwater boat from BPS and it was a great, but the service was poor and I swore I'd never do it again.  However, years later, I have 2 Rangers from Cabelas, bought under BPS, and they have, without doubt, the best boat and motor service shop in the area.  They pulled top mechanics from local private boat dealerships offering reasonable hours and job security, and made an all star mechanics group, and they also give Cabelas/BPS boat owner shop priority.  If I have a problem with one my boats, I bring it in, they pull it in a stall, and get it working within hours, while I shop inside.  As a matter of fact, my boats have wireless diagnostics connectivity to the shop while I'm out the water, so if something goes wrong, they know about it.  One time I had sucked some garbage into an intake, stopped to fish, and the shop foreman texted me to check my lower unit because I was running warm.  I pulled the trash off the intake, and was good to go.  

They have hired other top folks to head up their departments.  For example, the manager of the Fishing department has run a family owned bait and tackle shop, as well as a professional guide service for decades, and is a guy who I see on the water when I'm fishing.  He is one of the top local tournament fisherman around and is plugged in to what's biting, and where.  He likes the job because of the stable pay and discounts in tackle.  Contrast that to other stores where the person behind the desk doesn't know anything.  

The guy in fishing electronics is a retired electrical engineer, and can teach me stuff on high tech Panoptics and Sidescan and gets regular briefing by corporate sponsors.  

They even offered me a job out of the blue, because I spent so much time on the water, to work in the fishing and boating department.  

Tackle wise, their low grade stuff is low grade stuff, and is priced as such.  On the other hand, their high end tackle is tournament grade, and I can find what rod or reel a pro is using, go down to Cabelas, buy it and be out on the water in a heartbeat.  BPS provides tackle to to many of the top tournament anglers.    

Their saltwater tackle ranges from low grade to high grade as well, and I've spent a many a grand on a saltwater reel that was right.  They stock Penn, Shimano, Accurate, etc, as well as their "Sportsman" low budget line.

They do stock Fenwick rods here.  

[Onthesauk]

Here in the NW, the problem Cabelas always had was their buyers knew how to buy for bass fishing but didn't have a clue what people here use for salmon and steelhead.  I bought clothes, waders and boots but bought all my fishing gear from local shops who knew what they were doing.

I use to go to Bass Pro once each winter in Las Vegas.  They had one of the best fly shops there.  But my last trip this last winter was probably my last visit.  More fancy clothes and gifty stuff then fishing or hunting gear. 

[SwampDonkey]

Cabelas had (maybe still does) top of the line fly angling gear. I always spent a large amount of time in the fly fishing section whenever I visited a store.

Yeah, I take that back. I checked more thoroughly this morning at the online store (Canadian) I do see some of  the good stuff.

The only decent salmon fishing these days are on private water or crown reserved by lottery where water flow is not controlled. The Saint John river drainage including the Tobique has been destroyed by electric generating stations/dams. It was once the best and biggest Atlantic salmon you could catch. The old timers 30 years ago that I knew would confirm that, and they fished every salmon river in NB. The salmon were bigger on average. My grandfather had one mounted that was over 30 lbs, it's in a local museum. But that was not the largest he ever caught. He owned the water where he caught it. There was definitely fish over 70 lbs. These are fish that do not die after spawning. The Restigouche had big fish to, but the river is not as big as the Saint John.

[Skip]

The Cabelas here has a decent fly dept. AND a couple guys that know fly fishing. Had some guys in reload sect. that knew their stuff .  ;)

[gspren]

  More fancy clothes and gifty stuff then fishing or hunting gear.

That sounds like what happened to LL Bean

[YellowHammer]

They do carry a lot of clothes, seems like that is way overkill.  Same thing with shoes and boots.  

Ours has pretty good bow shop, the lady who works there trained under an Olymipic archery coach but doesn't know much about deer hunting.  But she can help tune a bow in a heartbeat.

One of the things I really like is their Gearguard protection plan.  I'd always been told not to do that, it was a gimmick, pay an extra 10% to purchase a 3 year replacement warranty.  However, for a heavy user like me, and with Cabelas, they give back a gift card for the same amount, and seeing as how I broke 2 high modulus fishing rods just last year, each $150 or more, all I had to do was bring them in and I could get another just like it, or get a gift card and get anything else I want.  So $30 bucks saved me $300.

I had a problem with a trolling motor this year, maybe a $2,000 unit.  I didn't get the Gearguard and it died on a weeklong fishing trip.  So I worked with the Minn Kota warranty department, and they said send it in and I'd have it back in two months or so.  That was totally unacceptable, I said if the transmission dies on my car, would I be content to wait two months to fix it??  If I had bought the Gearguard I could have simply gone to Cabelas and did an instore exchange and would be back on the water in hours.  But no, I didn't get the replacement plan, so I was out of luck.  

So when I got back into town, I went straight to Cabelas, bought a better, updated tournament Lowrance Ghost trolling motor, and bought the Gearguard.  I was fishing agin.  I took the Minn Kota to a warranty service shop and sure enough, I got it back 8 weeks later.  Ridiculous, but I didn't care, because I didn't miss any trips.  So I put the repaired Minn Kota  on Craigslist and didn't lose too much money.

[K-Guy]

Around here the nearest Cabela's is 2 hours away, so I don't get there often but it is one heck of a grown mans toybox. Recently I bought a used Tracker boat and was so let down by their customer service that I doubt I'll buy another.

[Claybraker]

 More fancy clothes and gifty stuff then fishing or hunting gear.

That sounds like what happened to LL Bean

And Orvis. Fly fishing stuff is best in small independent shops. Bonus if they have a dog in the store to act as the official greeter.

[btulloh]

We have some good independent shops here that I favor over both Bass Pro and Cabelas (which are basically the same now) but I used to buy some of Cabelas branded clothing which I really liked.  Gone now after the buy out.  The Cabelas is closer to me and easier to get to than BP, but other than that not much different.  Just seemed like a better world before BP bought Cabelas, but it is what it is.

Fortunately, there are two big independent shops that are really good and both have knowledgeable staff for both fishing and hunting gear.  Biggest problem is it's easy to buy more gear than I really need.  Just another disease, like sawdust addiction I guess.

[SawyerTed]

 Biggest problem is it's easy to buy more gear than I really need.  Just another disease, like sawdust addiction I guess.

I resemble this comment too much. 
My previous boat was a Walkaround cabin boat.  Among other stuff I removed 18 fishing rod and reel combos from the cabin when I cleaned it out.  This summer for a month I fished almost every day with tackle I had on hand without purchasing anything but a little bait.
For some reason I have thought if I need one, I can use two and I need a couple for backup.  Doesn't matter what it is if it's fishing related I probably have more than I need.  
I remind Emily at least I don't golf!

[Skip]

ANY place with a dog as a greeter is tops in my book . ;D  My new cardiologist has 2.  I'm only 5 min. from Cabelas but use the local shops as much as I can, they have more of a selection of ammo now . Not that I need any . :

[SwampDonkey]

We have some good independent shops here that I favor over both Bass Pro and Cabelas

Around here BassPros is an over 3 hr drive, definitely don't go there, more cost effective to get online if they are your go to place. Where that BassPro is, I don't think I have been to that town more than 6 times in over 50 years. I am more inclined to shop in small local shops. I have to drive past a major shopping centre half way there. I'm actually surprised at the location of that store, it makes sense as that town is a regional distribution hub, but not the fishing and hunting hub. ;)

[tmarch]

Over the years I've went to Cabelas and Bass Pro many times, never bought much, but would go to the archery department and shop just to see what the clerk would know.  I shot a lot and had more experience than most.  It was entertaining to watch to say the least, so generally before I left I'd a question to the clerk that would get him to backtracking or trying to tell me why it worked better his way :.

[mike_belben]

I wonder how long before cabelas/bass pro, walmart etc are getting "too big to fail" bailouts.