Big box stores selection

Hello,

Over the last couple years the big box stores seem to be getting worse at keeping a decent selection of in season fishing/ hunting stuff on the shelves. Is it they just make one blanket order in that off season and when it sells out it’s gone and a success since they have no carryover inventory? Or since most of this stuff is coming from overseas manufacturing we just can’t get it here fast enough? Or is this much product actually being bought and they can’t restock fast enough? Just gets old to keep going in and wanting to buy stuff and you here we can order it for you. If I have to go and order it I am probably going to not come back for a long time for my next purchase because you probably will not have the next thing either.

Just frustrating.

The person placing the order does even ice fish…there’s your answer.

Most stores order what they think they will need for the season and when it’s gone it’s gone. If it doesn’t sell it goes on sale in the spring. Doesn’t matter if it’s Walmart or a locally owned place.

Reminds me of when the clam plate hit the shelves. Stores getting only 2-3 and they would be gone for the season 2 weeks into it. I got the plate. Problem was it took two me season to get the extension due to the same reasons.

Manufactures usually only build a certain amount of goods for the season. Fishing is already a niche activity and ice fishing is an even smaller demographic. Most manufactures aren’t going to waste money on mass production before a customer sale is even made and they don’t want to sit on old product that doesn’t sell. If a store runs out they can see if the manufacture has any in stock but it’s still a limited supply for the season. Nothing like ordering 5 clam plates and sitting on them for years if no one in your area wants them. Seasonal fishing gear is kind of like running a pawn shop. They aren’t buying things they can’t sell and they usually aren’t going to waste money on a hopes of a sale. Walmart certainly has the money to provide a decent outdoor section but outdoorsmen really aren’t their demographic and for stores that do target outdoorsmen they usually aren’t big enough to take a risk on buying too much product.

To be completely honest I’m surprised Walmart even carries fishing/hunter gear at all anymore. Thankfully, I’m in a location where I don’t have to rely on “big box stores” for outdoor gear. If you can’t shop at an actual outdoor store, just shop online and save yourself the headache.

You are mostly right on all counts except the last. Ordering is completely computerized in that they know what they sold last year at a particular store. They estimate the upcoming years sales and order from there. New items are added from their in house buyers but they have no way of knowing how that will be received until after it sells. Thus a hot lure this year maybe in short supply until next year. It’s a very complicated process and expensive. Go to Cabela’s in Maple Grove. How many different SKU’s do you think they have in the fishing department alone? 1000’s I would say. Anyway how are they to know the hot jig color on say LOTW went from Pink to White this year? Or Mille Lacs from Green to Gold? If that happens and everybody rushes to Cabela’s to change colors and update their jig supply you can see where they get caught short. Another example would be if the hot shelter changed from Clam to Eskimo. Would Eskimo be able to keep up with demand overnight? The last part is the most expensive part. Cabela’s, Menards, Home Depot all big box retailers have deep pockets but not deep enough to stock millions of everything. You would think someplace like Cabela’s Maple Grove could order in 1000’s of spare jigs in a rainbow of colors. But when March rolls around and they need to switch over, all the winter stuff has to be kept somewhere. Real Estate is expensive. It’s far cheaper for them to sell something out early then to keep it over a off season.

The part where you are wrong is…..you will return time and time again even if they are sold out once in a while. They got you to spend $1,000’s before with them. Because of that the local mom & pops you use to buy from are gone. You have no choice. You will buy from them either at the brick & mortar or online.

This may suck but the fact that we put saving a buck years ago in front of loyalty to the mom & pops did us in. It happens in many area’s of business. If you are in the Twin Cities how do you think a “Lupient” car dealership ended up on every corner?

Thats the view of this old Curmudgeon. I could be wrong, in fact I likely am.

Looks like me & Ryan were pecking away at the same time.

When did Cabela’s come to Maple Grove? Here I’ve been driving all the way to Rogers!

Here’s my current big box store dilemma… I’m trying to get a Strikemaster Lite Flight 8″ auger. I have $200 in gift cards to this store, so it’s really the only place I want to buy it from. They have been sold out for weeks and always say they’ll be getting more in any day. So each morning I call and ask if they have it. Yesterday I called and the guy said, “we only have the 10″ in stock.” I tried explaining to him that this auger isn’t made in a 10″, only a 6″ and 8″ and I want the 8″. He argued back that there is a 10″ and said, “I’m looking at it right now, Ion 10″.”

To further complicate issues, the fishing department manager has a budget on what he can spend on gear and tackle for his department. He can only buy so much of anything and he has to spread out the allocation. Hence, when things run out they stay out. When I worked retail many, many years ago, we just reordered when we had enough items to meet the minimum order with our supplier. It apparently doesn’t work like that anymore.

Consider me a guy who doesn’t get everyone who rants on Cabela’s, gander, etc. on stuff in stock.

They all do a pretty good job on having what I want when I want it. Cabela’s is pretty great nowadays imo. Last couple times I went to Joe’s they didn’t have what I was seeking for fishing, which is no beef for me since I was there for clothing anyways.

Wish there were more ganders around, really enjoyed those and spending there felt good after the huge amount of open water fishing shows they peppered us with in Ido this summer. Still haven’t watched most of em, the gloom of winter will make em ever so sweet in the coming months.

Ice fishing gear is particularly in flux. I remember the winter of 2015-2016 was really warm and so ice fishing was terrible. Because of this, the Cabelas Rogers had a massive amount of ice fishing gear well into the summer they were trying to get rid of.

The winters since then have been pretty typical, cold winters and ice fishing gear was pretty much all sold out by February.

So this is the challenge they have when figuring out how much to order. Unless their suppliers will buy merchandise back, they are stuck holding that inventory until next year or putting it up on the Bargain Cave and dealing with it for months.

I buy online 80% of the time. You get most items in a day or so. I recently placed an order on Amazon in the evening and it showed up the next morning.

Eelpoutguy wrote:

I buy online 80% of the time. You get most items in a day or so. I recently placed an order on Amazon in the evening and it showed up the next morning.

I also order a lot of my tackle online and from non big name sources. What bites me in the ass is when I order $10 in terminal tackle and pay $8 for S&H. I do order from Amazon Prime when possible but the S&H has already hit me a couple of times this Winter.

With the internet sales so strong the big box stores are tightening their belts. Most of the complaints come from people who wait for sales to get things cheaper and then not be able to find what they want. That’s not the stores’ fault. In most instances anymore you’ll have to pay up for it or go without. Like Eelpout and Superdave have mentioned, they buy on line and probably get bit by fees or postage but they get what they want and don’t have to come here and snivel.

Think Ive become to picky on the tackle for the box stores to carry what I want. Most times it quicker and a lot more selection just to order from the manufacturer.

I found a place to get tungsten jigs on line.
amped outdoors has a very good deal on tungsten jigs.
I ordered them and got them four days later but that was over new years day.
tungsten jigs under $2

Eelpoutguy wrote:

I buy online 80% of the time. You get most items in a day or so. I recently placed an order on Amazon in the evening and it showed up the next morning.

This is precisely why you see the downward spiral in box store stocking. I repped for quite a few years and watched this unfold. Most of the info above is spot on.
Most Spring Goods are being worked on from May through Aug by the buyers. With ICAST being the big show in July, its a mad scramble to to get all the orders in by the end of Aug for a March/April delivery. Ice fishing is ordered but delayed shipping to Nov/Dec.

Most Distributors are trying like heck to do everything on drop ship so that they carry little inventory. Manufactures are gauging what they make based on the early orders. So when you have the big box stores cutting back and distributors holding very little, manufactures also cut WAY back. Look at the Rippin Rap craze and how difficult it was to find them at times. I placed a Rippin Rap order with a distributor I work with in July and it was only partially filled in Feb. The B/O items were filled in late May.

Point is that even when stores re-order, fulfillment may not be available