Bass Pro Plans to Keep Cabela's Front and Center

Is this good for outdoors? Good read on history of both

http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/2016/10/03/bass-pro-plans-to-keep-cabelas-front-and-center.html

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

will not know for awhile —

Thanks for the links. I am hoping with the combine buying power of both companies, we will see better pricing on some items. I don’t think they will raise prices because of the competition in the industry. Only time will tell.

Tuma wrote:

Thanks for the links. I am hoping with the combine buying power of both companies, we will see better pricing on some items. I don’t think they will raise prices because of the competition in the industry. Only time will tell.

A couple of thoughts……

There is one less competitor to BPS then there was.
They have $5.5 billion to pay off.

I doubt we see price reductions. You will see firings of duplicate office staff, pro staff ect. I also wonder how long BPS keeps sponsoring a Walleye circuit? Maybe forever, who knows.As I posted elsewhere there will be vendor contracts BPS will have to honor before anything drastic could happen anyway. I just don’t see why a year from now you will even know BPS owns Cabelas. Why mess with a successful company you just shelled out $5.5 billion to buy?

For what it’s worth the sale was for 5.5 billion.

This won’t end well for the consumer. When do prices ever come down? We have aluminum at a ten year low, steel is about the same and labor costs aren’t rising, yet the price of a new car or boat just keeps on spiraling higher.

Cattle and hogs are at six year lows, wheat is at a ten year low and meat prices are within a fraction of their highs from two years ago and bread prices haven’t come down from 5 years ago when wheat spiked up.

Reducing competition will lower costs for BPS and they’ll keep prices the same and keep the profit for themselves and then they’ll begin to raise prices. We are seeing that here in the Twin Cities. Notice how both Target and Cub are reducing the number of different items in their stores and they are ratcheting up the prices. Good for business but it sucks to be us.

gordonk wrote:

This won’t end well for the consumer. When do prices ever come down? We have aluminum at a ten year low, steel is about the same and labor costs aren’t rising, yet the price of a new car or boat just keeps on spiraling higher.

Cattle and hogs are at six year lows, wheat is at a ten year low and meat prices are within a fraction of their highs from two years ago and bread prices haven’t come down from 5 years ago when wheat spiked up.

Reducing competition will lower costs for BPS and they’ll keep prices the same and keep the profit for themselves and then they’ll begin to raise prices. We are seeing that here in the Twin Cities. Notice how both Target and Cub are reducing the number of different items in their stores and they are ratcheting up the prices. Good for business but it sucks to be us.

agreed

I just don’t buy much stuff from Cabelas anymore.

Now that every retailer, even the smaller guys, has a website to order from, I get almost everything from specialized smaller retailers.

For example, I get all my reloading supplies from places like Precision Reloading out in Mitchell, SD. They have vastly better selection and prices compared to Cabelas. Optics come from NY Camera or OpticsPlanet. Etc, etc, etc. Better selection and better prices than Cabelas.

IMO, Cabelas is a laughing stock for their gun prices. Yeah, I know they sell a lot of guns, but I just cannot stop laughing at the people who insist on getting hosed this way. I just look at thier used gun prices and laugh. I can stand in Cabelas, go online on my phone, and find a similar used gun for 10-40% less all in including delivery. Yes, they have some sales that offer reasonable prices, but their full retail and used gun prices are laughable. Reeds beats them hands down.

Also another trend I see is for hot brands to eliminate the retailer entirely and sell directly. KUIU clothing, for example, has gone “retailer free” and only sells direct.

I’ll still use the Woodbury Cabelas as a convenience store for quick items or to scoop up a decent sale price on something, but for regular and higher $ purchases, the UPS or FedEx guy brings them all for far lower price and all from the comfort of home.

The days of massive growth and “we can do no wrong” moves for Big Box retail are over. The only thing they can do now is to consolidate and slow-burn open one/close one. Just look at Target, they were the darling of Big Box retail for years with their whole cheap chic thing and now they’re just another cheapie-cheapie discount/grocery store because the internet ate their lunch and Canada kicked their ass. Building big cubes isn’t the recipe for instant success the way it was once.

Grouse

I agree on that buying online has become very big…..except there are still some things I want to get my hands on before I buy them. Clothes and boots come to mind immediately. But it’s also stuff like fly tying materials. Yes, thread is thread, but there is huge variation with items like bucktails, marabou plumes, patches of deer hair, and saddle hackle. I want to handle it before I waste any money on it. There’s a good fly shop in St. Paul (Bob Mitchell’s) and Cabelas still stocks some fly tying material. But if I had to go exclusively via the Internet I’d either have to quit tying or accept the fact that I’d be tossing a lot of inferior materials.

I predict the next couple of years are going to be interesting. I tried to explain to a manager at the Woodbury Cabela’s that they were sitting right on top of a Walleye destination, that pool 2 is a big deal with a lot of guys and maybe they should stock B-Fish-N plastics and jigs. The guy looked at tme like I was nuts. I can see this conversation being much more difficult if the Big Bosses are focused on Bass fishing gear.

SR

When it comes to camo and such Cabela’s is hard to beat. I try to buy local, and farm and fleet ,usually if they don’t have it, you don’t need it.
DK.

belletaine wrote:

For what it’s worth the sale was for 5.5 billion.

. (Dot) fixed it, thanks.

Cabelas IS expensive compared to some other retailers. The thing is, unlike other retailers Cabelas also has a bargain bin that is often stocked with hundred upon hundreds of items that are often as much as 80% off. I just bought a jacket that went from retail $89 to $11 in the bargain cave. That’s where Cabelas outshines all its competition as far as im concerned. I do shop at Cabelas, I NEVER pay Cabelas retail prices, I always look around the web first to see if I can find it cheaper elsewhere, and in most cases, I end up purchasing at Cabelas.

The only thing I can’t see is BP allowing non-Trackers to be sold in Cabela’s. I bet Alumacraft is worried that this might be their last year being sold there. Cabela’s represents a huge percentage of Alumacraft’s sales. Will be interesting.

One thing I’ve always noticed with cabelas in rogers is when I’ve needed something random. They’ve always had it in stock. Haven’t ran into going there and having the shelf empty. Probably not the cheapest but eliminates going to numerous stores. Would assume that advantage wouldn’t change with the merger.

can we get some love for Gander Mt ?!!!

big_g wrote:

can we get some love for Gander Mt ?!!!

I hate that store. Service and selection is some of the worst in the industry IMO.

the don’t like you either Francis…..

big_g wrote:

can we get some love for Gander Mt ?!!

Well, compared to the Cabela’s Woodbury Mini-Mart, I guess I love Gander for their huge selection.

I’m so disappointed that we didn’t get a real Cabelas and instead have this sucky mini-mart.

Maybe now Bass Pro will pull the finger out and open up a SuperMegaStore at the MOA. One of the dumbest things Cabelas ever did was pass on opening up a MOA store. Now, no offense to the fine metropolis that is Owatonna, but there are 300 million bored husbands a year wandering around the MOA waiting for women to finish shopping expeditions Why would they ever want a store there?

Grouse

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>big_g wrote:</div>
can we get some love for Gander Mt ?!!

Well, compared to the Cabela’s Woodbury Mini-Mart, I guess I love Gander for their huge selection.

I’m so disappointed that we didn’t get a real Cabelas and instead have this sucky mini-mart.

Maybe now <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>Bass Pro will pull the finger out and open up a SuperMegaStore at the MOA. One of the dumbest things Cabelas ever did was pass on opening up a MOA store. Now, no offense to the fine metropolis that is Owatonna, but there are 300 million bored husbands a year wandering around the MOA waiting for women to finish shopping expeditions Why would they ever want a store there?

Grouse

I agree on the MOA store. Cabelas missed out on a few hundred from me earlier this year. Wife took my to IKEA and you can’t just simply leave that place without looking at everything. Anywho after getting dinner we did not have time to reach cabelas in time so I bought the item at my local scheels.

From KSTP Today.

http://kstp.com/business/bass-pro-shops-cabelas-future/4289167/?cat=12685

Bass Pro CEO Talks to Cabela’s Workers About Future

October 12, 2016 02:06 PM

Bass Pro Shops’ CEO has told Cabela’s employees that he won’t plant false hopes about their jobs after his company completes its purchase of the company. But he repeated earlier statements that some operations will stay in the Nebraska town where Cabela’s was founded.

Last week’s announcement of the $4.5 billion deal to buy Cabela’s raised questions about the roughly 2,000 people the company employs at its Sidney, Nebraska headquarters. The combined headquarters will be in Springfield, Missouri.

Bass Pro CEO Johnny Morris told about 250 Cabela’s employees at a Sidney meeting Tuesday that there will be some “slimming down” because of function duplication. Morris said without details that “important, significant jobs” will remain in Sidney. A Cabela’s representative didn’t immediately return a call from The Associated Press.

The company has committed to keeping open Cabela’s call centers in Grand Island, Kearney and North Platte, but Bass Pro spokesman Jack Wlezien said Wednesday that he couldn’t yet say whether there will be any employee cutbacks.

As for the Sidney staffing, Wlezien said, “We don’t have an exact forecast yet.”

Capital One will take over running Cabela’s credit card unit as part of the deal, which is backed by $1.8 billion in financing from Goldman Sachs and another $600 million from private equity fund Pamplona Capital.

I know they won’t drop their prices. No company has, but one could hope. I also do a lot of online shopping and price comparison. Most of the time you can find better deals online. The online only stores just don’t have as much overhead. Cabela’s bargain bin is hard to beat. I am sure this merger will bit us in the end. But on a bad weather day, I love walking through a big box outdoor store. There is nothing like seeing the item in your hand before buying it there or online later.

Bass Pro gets green light by FTC.

http://www.outdoorhub.com/news/2017/07/05/breaking-news-bass-pro-cabelas-merger-receives-green-light-ftc/