Sportsman’s Warehouse acquired by Great American Outdoors Group

[EastTNHunter]

I’m honestly not trying to turn this thread political, but this further concerns me that the changes proposed by the incoming administration will make components acquisition very difficult for me and other sportsmen in my area. Hear me out.

We have limited local options, and this “merger” throws a shadow over our best “local” store (Sportsman’s Warehouse 45 minutes away). And now we have the threat of restricted online gun, ammo, component, and “gun parts” sales. I’ve heard the hardships that this has created for some states that have enacted such legislation, and I hope that it is not expanded to a federal level by congressional bull or executive order.

We have very few “mom and pops” stores nearby, especially when Cabelas AND Bass Pro moved into town a few years back, shutting several of them down. Sportsman’s Warehouse stayed open and thrived, but at least we had two other options for competition or in case Sportsman’s was out of stock on something. Then the Bass Pro acquisition of Cabelas occurred, and the Cabelas shut down. Now I’m afraid for the viability of Sportsman’s Warehouse in our area, but hopefully they will stay somewhat autonomous (doubtful based on recent history).

As Big Fin has advocated in the past, it’s not important who’s “side” you are on, the main thing is that we hold our public servants accountable. Also, vote economically with your pocketbook. I don’t give Bass Pro my business unless I have to. If Sportsman’s Warehouse follows their example of high prices and poor selection and service, then I will go to almost 100% online purchasing for as long as I can.

 

[MO Betta]

I'd love to have a Scheels here, but doubt they make that move, since I live near the BP home office and flagship store. Most of my purchases are from other local shops, or online when availability/price prohibits it.

BP, and more specifically Johnny Morris, does put a lot of dollars in conservation. Outside of this area I'm not sure how much local involvement is done.

 

[Irrelevant]

Our local SW has done more for conservation than either of our "Mom and Pop" stores by orders of magnitude. The people working there generally know more and the selection is better. I hope none of that changes.

 

[cedahm]

I can’t remember exactly, so this maybe an exaggeration but I believe it was only a 10% markup, versus 50% for soft goods. So essentially people come into the store for the hard goods, but you don’t make much money off of them.

basically stores parley their brand for scale.

Correct. Firearms (and ammunition for the most part) are typically loss leaders from a financial standpoint in mixed outdoor retail. They matter little in the context of this genre of companies outside of emotions.

For the record...I try to support local businesses a much as possible, although, such local businesses are scarce.

@wllm1313 comment about parlaying brands for scale is important here. Very few brands are exclusive to a given retailer any more minus private label stuff (and the folks that are actually making private label items are also selling to the competition). That means, since everyone from ‘Joe’s outdoor shop’ to Walmart is selling the exact same stuff for basically the same price, retailers have gone after market share and/or real estate (Virtual or physical) to drive ‘growth’. Acquisition is an easy path to both and as we have seen -the Market rewards it in the short term. And there is already a litigant investigating a suit against the board of SPWH for not getting a high enough price.

I’m not sure I have any inherent position one way or the other on this particular acquisition other than it’s not surprising at all and I would expect more. As a Retail guy, I am interested in how this is seen more broadly.

 

[Bambistew]

We have BP, Cabelas, and SW... the only place I can ever find anything I need is SW, the other two are useless. This sucks.

 

[peterk1234]

The Walmart-isation of the Hook and Bullet industry continues...

Maybe it helps to breath life into our local shops.

 

[SAJ-99]

A good reminder to fight the big and bland and go the extra mile and spend the extra money where ya can to support your hometown sporting good store.

@mtmuley said the same. Is it even possible? Where are you shopping- Bob Ward's? On most things, the bigger names get bigger because they can order in bulk and reduce cost/increase margin. Selection and cost is better for the customer. I don't mind paying a little extra to support a local business, but as I get more specific in what I want/like, I need to turn to the internet. I feel a little dirty about it, but...

Bass Pro's strategy is to sell self-branded stuff, i.e. Red Head, skimp on quality, make it somewhere with low labor cost, and charge a little less than higher quality stuff but still give a higher margin. I made the mistake to purchase that many years ago and won't do it again.

 

[WyoDoug]

Not happy at all. This lessons competition and drives the prices up. Competition is healthy and keeps corporate greed in check.

 

[406dn]

@mtmuley
Bass Pro's strategy is to sell self-branded stuff, i.e. Red Head, skimp on quality, make it somewhere with low labor cost, and charge a little less than higher quality stuff but still give a higher margin. I made the mistake to purchase that many years ago and won't do it again.

They got me for one Red Head item. It was junk, not nearly worth the modest price I paid. They'll have a tougher time getting me to bite again.

 

[sierrahunter]

I haven’t purchased much from Cabelas since they conformed to the cookie cutter cheap junk that is Bass Pro. I guess I better stock up on SW stuff before it too changes all its branding to Redhead garbage.
Thankfully, there is no shortage of sporting goods outlets on the internet. Let your wallet speak on this one.

 

[Nameless Range]

@mtmuley said the same. Is it even possible? Where are you shopping- Bob Ward's?

I do do a lot of shopping online, but when it comes to many things - fishing gear, archery gear, sometimes ammo, etc, I try to shop at Capital Sports in Helena, MT as much as I can.

 

[MTGomer]

Tucker is not always right but he’s right about this

 

[Dave N]

We have BP, Cabelas, and SW... the only place I can ever find anything I need is SW, the other two are useless. This sucks.

Does the Cabela's there have the Bargain Cave yet? Haven't been there for a while.

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

Bummer. We just got a SW in Laramie. Its small but nice to have in town. We'll see what happens I guess.

 

[huntingman121]

I was in Juneau a couple summers ago and went into SW with my brother-in-law. I had on a ratty camo Cabelas hat. The check out girl, told me I could have a new hat if I gave her the Cabelas hat. I went over to the hat rack and got a nice Browning logo hat . Then she said no, it has to be a SW hat. I said okay and went and got one.

We got the car and realized we forgot something and went back in and we were checking out at the same line but a different girl now. I said what a great Cabelas hat is it for sale. She said no some idiot wore it in here and we traded him. We are going to throw it away. I said wow what an idiot to wear a Cabelas hat to SW. She said yeah we get all types in here. We barely made it to the door before I was laughing so hard I about pissed my pants. They won't be doing that anymore.

 

[Trial153]

Eddie Bauer used to sell gun etc. doesn’t any more, same with Orvis and LL bean. Llbean does at the flagship store, maybe Orvis does somewhere not at the ones I’ve been to...

the gun collection at the Orvis Flagship store is very nice. As is the store itself, worth the visit. Dont skip the Orvis outlet also.
Manchester in the Fall is an absoulty beautiful representation of small town New England.

 

[Trial153]

Two thoughts.
First I never could understand the corporate tendency to change the fabric of the retail institutions of that they purchase when they the reason they purchased them because the success they already had. The pillage for profit is too entrenched in our business culture it seems

Secondly sportsmen are their own worst enemy. They are no less likely to patronize for the purpuse of saving a buck the very same companies that they blame for the demise of local small businesess.

 

[338win]

I used to jokingly call it Sportsman’s whorehouse now I guess I’ll stick to local shops.

 

[ShootsManyBullets]

Our local SW has done more for conservation than either of our "Mom and Pop" stores by orders of magnitude. The people working there generally know more and the selection is better. I hope none of that changes.

That's no way to talk about hooked on toys.

 

[Jape]

I hope their supply chain doesn't have the same issues as Cabelas. I haven't been able to find any of my ammo at Cabelas in the past year but find it every single time I go to Sportsmans.