Is it just me or has Cabela’s retail experience really dropped off for us northern folks since BPS took over? Haven’t been inside a store for a while but the ads I get in the mail and the online store really seem to be geared towards the southern crowd…
It’s not just you. I go to my local Cabela’s at least weekly and the product selection, which was once pretty good, can only be now described as “disappointing”. The unique Cabela’s shopping experience, which I liked, is gone. They may as well remove any reference to Cabela’s.
It’s not just you. I go to my local Cabela’s at least weekly and the product selection, which was once pretty good, can only be now described as “disappointing”. The unique Cabela’s shopping experience, which I liked, is gone. They may as well remove any reference to Cabela’s.
I agree 100 percent. We used to run to Rodgers at least 1 time a month. Even if we didnt need anything it was a fun experience and there was always a deal to be had. Not so much any more
I’ve went from loving Cabelas to only shopping there on occasion and when they have sales. It used to be a special place to go and shop, and get great service from knowledgeable employees, but that was way back when. Woodbury Cabelas has tried my patience too many times to count. Cabelas is just another big box store now and they usually charge premium prices. I get as much as I can now from Fleet Farm.
I have their credit card and used to get the majority of my outdoor gear through them and would cash in on the points…I haven’t bought anything from them in over a year. Could they be pulling a gander mountain on us?
Cabela’s last friday, everything seemed unorganized from what it use to be, customer service was almost nonexistent,and when you were able to finally approach someone in a department, then seemed clueless on the products in their area.
Was desperate for a few things so I went to a cabelas last week and everything seemed extremely disorganized- more than usual. Employees everywhere but none of them were any help. You could never tell there was a walleye in this state based off of what they’ve got in the store. Minimal selection of classic spring walleye plastics. Selection of northland jigs was awful too. Didnt have a single blue 1/8 oz jig.. very disappointed, but also not at all surprised.
I used to spend heavily at Cabela’s when driving by there. Also ordered quite a bit from them. Lately it’s been less and less. About two months ago, they started bombarding my email every day with adds. After many calls to them to stop the adds, and numerous clicking on unsubscribe, to stop the irritating emails from them, that they just ignore, I finally had enough earlier this week, and marked their email as spam. No more emails from Cabela’s. I’m done with them. There are plenty of other businesses that are respectful twords their customers. I internet order most everything anyway. While I’m just one person, they have lost yearly sales of over $1000 from me alone. That adds up when you consider that every comment on here, is from dissatisfied customers. I will admit that the one thing my wife and I enjoyed though, is that when we traveled past them on on our travels, they allowed us to bring our dog in.
They seem to have more trouble stocking items lately. Especially items on sale. Not sure if that’s a business or logistics issue, or an employee problem.
I’m close to cutting up my Cabelas Club card, which was once our primary CC# to use. We now use Amazon/Chase CC# and earn our bonus $$$ that way!
Much better in my opinion
Never make any purchases anymore
The fish tanks are looking pretty good nowadays. Kids still love going up there to see them every once in awhile.
Still have alot of rods, alot of reels, alot of baits. Certainly wouldn’t want it to go anywhere.
The last few Cabela’s items I bought, (rain jacket, hiking boots, socks) were garbage. Anyone have experience with this new redhead label?
I’m close to cutting up my Cabelas Club card, which was once our primary CC# to use. We now use Amazon/Chase CC# and earn our bonus $$$ that way!
Much better in my opinion
X2
You all forgot the one MAJOR thing missing from Cabela’s…NO MORE BARGAIN CAVE!!! Prairie du Chien and Green Bay WI stores we recently visited and the Bargain Cave were no longer. GB store was cool, fish and whitetail Hall of Fames; PduC is now a disappointment, always found something to buy in The Cave. 
The fish tanks are looking pretty good nowadays. Kids still love going up there to see them every once in awhile.
Still have alot of rods, alot of reels, alot of baits. Certainly wouldn’t want it to go anywhere.
The last few Cabela’s items I bought, (rain jacket, hiking boots, socks) were garbage. Anyone have experience with this new redhead label?
I believe Redhead is the BPS brand.
I stopped at rogers store yesterday, and after leaving, I decided it was my last time there. kind of funny that this topic came up now. they no longer sell Yamaha oil, I guess because tracker boats all have merc’s on them, still not a reason to stop selling other brands in my opinion. fleet farm has everything I need, at better prices.
I noticed this long decline a few years ago. I’ve been a long time online shopper and Cabela’s was always on my go to list. Even before the merger, ordering certain things became increasingly difficult. Quality of Cabela’s branded merchandise declined and customer service was hard to come by. Fast forward to the merger and everything crashed. The stores I visited in Minnesota were impossible to find what I was looking for. The most common line I got from the employees was “We can order it for you.” If I wanted to order it, I wouldn’t have driven two plus hours to go to the store. Since then I still order online but now, if I want to go to a store to see something, I go to Runnings or Scheels. Fleet Farm is still a place I go but Runnings is in my town. I haven’t ordered from Cabela’s for at least two years. I don’t anticipate that changing anytime soon.
Used to have great deals through the bargain cave both in store and online. I used to visit the site daily to see what was on sale. I couldn’t tell you the last time I purchased something from there. Maybe once since the merger and I used to be a regular customer
I used up my points last year. There are much better CC out there that give you better rates back and its cash back to be used anywhere. Cabelas card is basically 1% back and you need to use in their store.
My Cash back CC you get a check when you want and spend where you want and 2X the amount back than cabelas CC.
I’ll hold onto my cabelas CC and not cancel it. Use it a couple times a year. It really doesn’t affect Cabelas if you cancel your card. It can affect you though through credit ratings.
Cabelas in PDC stated slipping about 3 years ago. Was there and the spot for the line I needed was empty. 6 weeks later it was still empty. ??? Since Johnny bought it is going downhill faster than ever. The Cabelas guidewear line is expensive but most of what
I see of it is a quality product. Pricey but so is Simms, Blackfish, etc.
Down here in Omaha it’s been really sad to watch. We have all three of the big boys:Cabela’s, Bass Pro, and Scheels. Sheels has become my go-to…which is alright because it’s closer and has amazing selection. But my go-to used to be Cabela’s. They had the best in-house brand quality wise. I’m not saying Bass Pro is all bad but it certainly focuses more on cheap. I give it two years until the Cabela’s brand is no more. Particularly sad for us here in Nebraska.
Really wish cabelas would have just shut the doors and folded up the tent and gone out of business. Sad to see what John Morris is doing to the Cabelas name. Just get ride of the Cabelas name and turn it into the Kmart of outdoor stores that is BPS. Bass pro shops, or more accurately, Big Pile of Schnitzel.
BPS is like the Kmart of outdoor gear. If you need something cheap, where quality doesn’t matter at all even kind of, it’s ok at best.
There’s a few employees left that are very knowledgeable and helpful. The new crew is clueless.
I’m also from the Omaha area, and i have quit going to or ordering anything from Cabelas. There brand name items were all complete junk made overseas, and it was always an extreme pain to return defective items from ice augers to boots. The wife and i used to shop religiously for all 5 kids from Cabelas exclusively for all of their Christmas gifts, birthdays etc, to the tune of several thousand every year. I have always had great luck with the Redhead brand from Bass Pro and hopefully it doesn’t cheap out, and have Cabelas drag them down to their level of junk. I have given all my online and in-store business to Scheels, FishUSA, etc, since they actually employ knowledgeable staff that can recommend the best items or answer questions without using google. I disavowed Dicks shortly before the Cabelas bad customer service experiences.
I miss some of the Cabelas aspects, but I think the fishing selection has improved since the takeover was first announced several years. Then again I fish bass, so I enjoy the new additions to the fishing department. 
I was there Saturday morning, still busy as heck. I do think they should just change it over to BPS and just get rid of the Cabelas name at this point.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Bob Carlson wrote:</div>
I’m close to cutting up my Cabelas Club card, which was once our primary CC# to use. We now use Amazon/Chase CC# and earn our bonus $$$ that way!
Much better in my opinionX2
X3
About two months ago, they started bombarding my email every day with adds.
Yes, this gets old fast. Especially the email offering deals to get the Cabelas credit card. Ummmm, I’ve had one for like 20 years…..
-J.
Obviously, there is some gratification in expressing our disappointments among other sportsmen that share the same opinion.
Best place to express ourselves is a letter to:
Cabela’s, Inc., 1 Cabela Dr., Sidney, NE 69160
BPS is like the Kmart of outdoor gear. If you need something cheap, where quality doesn’t matter at all even kind of, it’s ok at best.
Perfect description of what’s happened to Cabelas.
Bass Pro has thrown almost all the best Cabelas clothing overboard and replaced it with single-use Readhead crap that is junk. And the stores are FuLL of this Kmart crap, the few decent lines that are left from the Cabelas days must be ordered.
Unless you need some cheap commodity items like a hoodie or a hat, Cabelas is dead. Honestly, I think Walmart has better quality stuff than Bass Pro now.
Grouse
Well, interesting discussion. Part of my problem with Cabela’s is that I really have almost everything I need these days. I really liked their dress shirts but honestly that part of the business went away long before BPS bought them. Besides I am close to retirement and don’t really need them any more. I agree with a previous post, their decline was going on years before and probably they would have shut down if someone larger would not have bought them. My store is the Roger’s store and give it another 9 months, it will be all BPS. I think their fishing department is much better stocked. Granted they have a different way of organizing it. I do miss the bargain cave, this was Cabela’s outlet for customer returns or slow moving, obsolete inventory. Big Companies like BPS just tell their suppliers to take it back so that space really wasn’t making any money for them, just a nice feature for Cabela’s that only cost floorspace. Fleet Farm is close by but last fall they were sold and as a result jacked up many of their prices, like a #5 shad rap, now I think they are at least $1.00 more. Cabela’s/BPS did have a nice spring fishing sale last month and their were some pretty good deals. Things change, yeah, I wish I was still 40 as well! Personally there is going to be more changes as this next generation is a different and the next one is way different. More boat brand consolidation, Less tackle manufacturers. Scheels is nice but they seem to be moving to the team style sports. Gander is a joke. I still like to walk around Cabela’s however. `
No doubt things change. I guess I’m just pouting. I used to love walking around Cabela’s. I would never even consider driving by one without stopping until the last two years, but disappointment after disappointment has lead me to barely consider stopping. I tried to buy a handgun there last summer and their customer service, which has historically been phenomenal, was terrible! I guess I’ll just have to settle with reminiscing about the great “don’t let the women know” sneak away trips to stock up on gear I don’t really need…
Grouse nailed it. My main deer gear is Cabela’s and it is going on 12 years old at least. In fact I have a lot of Cabela’s clothing because it was (is still) good quality. I don’t know If I could say that for the stuff they sell now unfortunately. I wish BPS would just leave current Cabela’s stores alone nd let them be run like they were a few years back. If not, at least split off Cabela’s for their hunting side, similar to how World Wide Sportsman is their saltwater side.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
