Cabela’s?

I just went to the Woodbury store over lunch ONLY because I had a $50 gift card. I had a terrible hard time spending $50. Out of stock on everything. I asked the employee when they were getting Shimano Sienna’s in, He said “we have not put those out yet”….REALLY, it’s freakin April you dip sh#t!

You can absolutely forget about finding a knowledgeable employee there any more. They must be taking the people that get rejected from…well I won’t say, but they don’t know crap about hunting and fishing. The gal at the check out couldn’t even pronounce Berkley.

I am done with them!!

Stopped into one in St. Louis a week ago. Shelves were full of BPS branded tackle, and I couldn’t find what I was looking for at all. Thankfully my local Fleet Farm and B-Fishn tackle websites remain well stocked with the things I really want, because what I feared would happen to Cabelas appears to be happening.

Fyi

“Hello Randy,

I would be happy to help with passing on your comments.

We greatly appreciate receiving your comments.  From what you have described, the experience of visiting our stores has started to fade away for some of our customer.  This is certainly frustrating to hear.  Your feedback has been passed on so it can be reviewed by our Management teams.  Thank you for taking the time to let us know.

Sincerely,
Melanie D.

On the flipside, Mills has improved since their ownership change a few years ago.

That is not the case for the Rochester and Winona Fleet Farms. Their stock in general in those stores has a lot of empty spots. Fishing department is terrible at stocking in the first place let alone restocking. For instance they had Flicker Shads on sale recently. Arrived at store at 10am and every single item in the size and color I use was gone. My experience the past couple of years is that those racks will remain empty for months.

Randy Wieland wrote:

Fyi

“Hello Randy,

I would be happy to help with passing on your comments.

We greatly appreciate receiving your comments. From what you have described, the experience of visiting our stores has started to fade away for some of our customer. This is certainly frustrating to hear. Your feedback has been passed on so it can be reviewed by our Management teams. Thank you for taking the time to let us know.

Sincerely,
Melanie D.

Interesting

greenheadguru wrote:

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?

X2. I must say, it’s definitely changed big time. Frustrating as all get out too.

sticker wrote:

I just went to the Woodbury store over lunch ONLY because I had a $50 gift card. I had a terrible hard time spending $50. Out of stock on everything. I asked the employee when they were getting Shimano Sienna’s in, He said “we have not put those out yet”….REALLY, it’s freakin April you dip sh#t!

You can absolutely forget about finding a knowledgeable employee there any more. They must be taking the people that get rejected from…well I won’t say, but they don’t know crap about hunting and fishing. The gal at the check out couldn’t even pronounce Berkley.

I am done with them!!

I really think they should’ve built a full-size store at that location. This is MN, one of the biggest fishing and hunting hotbeds of the entire country. Of course their smaller format store was too small to support the demand. This store is continually cleared out of stuff, especially for ice fishing season.

I went online to Cabela’s and wanted to order and pay for a $450 trolling motor. I called them and said I would like to order it and have it there when I get back from Arizona in 2 weeks. They said they would not you take a credit card over the phone. I advised them that many businesses make sales online and over-the-phone and he said he was doing it for my benefit!

I also will find a new place to shop.

Michael Johnson wrote:

I went online to Cabela’s and wanted to order and pay for a $450 trolling motor. I called them and said I would like to order it and have it there when I get back from Arizona in 2 weeks. They said they would not you take a credit card over the phone. I advised them that many businesses make sales online and over-the-phone and he said he was doing it for my benefit!
Why can’t you order it online?

I also will find a new place to shop.

I live about an hour from cabelas in Prairie Du Chien . Used to be a fun road trip every couple months , first stop was always the bargain cave. Now gone . Always found something to buy , whether I needed it or not . My last trip there I didn’t spend a dime. Wade through isles of yuppie clothes to get to a disappointing fishing department . Reminds me of gander before they went under . That will be my last visit there.

just thinking out loud here,when you buy out the competition and they get to keep their name,they are still competition.
so,you run them into the ground while filling the store with your goods seeing as how you own the real property,take down their signage and put yours up.
that way the store is full with no down time other than enough to change the signs.

in a few years the name Cableas will be a memory and people will once again flock to the store buying the junk that now resides on the shelves thinking they are really getting a deal because they dont know any better.
in essence,the walmart of outdoor retailers.

in the end,ole Johnnie,Bill and other owners or stockholders wont be worrying about what to leave their kids because we financed it.
it is the world in which we live.

Rumor has it the old Cabelas headquarters in Nebraska is going to be auctioned in the near future.

For what it’s worth…..there wasn’t a lot of made in USA stuff left in Cabelas either when they sold out. Same crap, different name.

very true Dutchboy,and just like walmart,the kids were brought up with everything handed to them on a silver platter.
lazy,no work ethic,and uncaring of what mom and dad fought tooth and nail to build only to worry about how much was in it for them.
funny what a damned dollar bill will do to people.

I don’t know if I’ve spent $100 on tackle from a walk in store this year. Almost everything I buy is from the chair I’m currently sitting in. Finding what we need has never been easier. I make almost all my own stuff anymore so components seem to be more important to me than assembled items.

Mike Martine wrote:

I live about an hour from cabelas in Prairie Du Chien . Used to be a fun road trip every couple months , first stop was always the bargain cave. Now gone . Always found something to buy , whether I needed it or not . My last trip there I didn’t spend a dime. Wade through isles of yuppie clothes to get to a disappointing fishing department . Reminds me of gander before they went under . That will be my last visit there.

X 2 you wrote my thoughts exactly! Although I’m sure we will still stop by on our little road trips

On my recent visits to Cabelas in Rogers, I’ve commented how about the decline in the quality of goods and of service and of the demise of the Bargain Cave. Each and every one of the employees that I talk to have told me they keep hearing that time and time again from their customers. I have found the employees at Gander Outdoors to be much more friendly and helpful as well as being easier to find ask questions.
Gander Outdoors, Fleet Farm and Thorne Brothers are my go-to’s now.
I used to go to the the Cabelas in Rogers at least weekly to check out The Bargain Cave. While I was there I would always make purchases from the store and The Bargain Cave. No good reason to go back there now.

belletaine wrote:

On the flipside, Mills has improved since their ownership change a few years ago.

I disagree. Mills used to be my go to from work clothes to fishing gear to vehicle maintenance. This year their ice fishing selection was sub par and the things I would have bought were perpetually sold out, very early in the season too. They rearranged their clothing section and it was tough to find what I was looking for, and not as many options as in the past. My experiences with the automotive center have been even worse.

Scheels is my go to now. Knowledgeable staff and full shelves most of the time.

We are a little over a week away from Minnesota fishing opener, however the shelves at Cabela’s in Woodbury are EMPTY! Don’t expect to pick up anything you need for fishing opener in store, I’m sure they can order that for you.

What was the point of building a brick and mortar location when it’s consistently under stocked? Seems like an incredible waste of money!

Cabelas used to be the go to place before every big road trip fishing or hunting trip. I would make a list and hit Cabelas up for everything for that trip. Then they got bought out by BPS, and man is it different. No good sales like they used to run, even the after ice season sales sucked this year. The staff has been completely turned over when for years it was the same crusty old guys who could answer all my questions. The kids now if their little handheld thing doesn’t help they’re lost.

Now I usually just use it as a place to go and put my hands on something before I buy it online. I order a lot through Reed’s and Marine General now, which is good and bad for me. Good because the prices are better, bad because patience isn’t my best quality so waiting for things to be delivered drives me nuts.

hawkguy wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>belletaine wrote:</div>
On the flipside, Mills has improved since their ownership change a few years ago.

I disagree. Mills used to be my go to from work clothes to fishing gear to vehicle maintenance. This year their <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>ice fishing selection was sub par and the things I would have bought were perpetually sold out, very early in the season too. They rearranged their clothing section and it was tough to find what I was looking for, and not as many options as in the past. My experiences with the automotive center have been even worse.

Scheels is my go to now. Knowledgeable staff and full shelves most of the time.

I’ve been pleased but I basicly only visit the Oakdale location. I’ve noticed improvements throughout the store. The gun dept went from a 6′ counter/case to a large U shaped counter.

I think retail in general is changing quite a bit. Amazon?

My wife likes to put fishing lures into my Easter basket. She has been doing this for me ever since we started dating. This is the first year I didn’t get any tackle. She went to Cabela’s and the shelfs were empty and tried Amazon and said their selection is sh!t. I used to not be able to leave Cabela’s without spending $100. The last 4 times I went I didn’t even spend one $1. It would be nice if Cabela’s would take a look back at what made them great and go back to it. I do not like the road they are going down.

outdoorsmn wrote:

We are a little over a week away from Minnesota fishing opener, however, the shelves at Cabela’s in Woodbury are EMPTY!

I have a feeling that the Woodbury store is on Basspro’s list of stores to terminate. Will Woodbury even make it to the end of the year?

Basspro has a totally different philosophy for stores than Cabelas did. Basspro like big, glitzy, destination MEGA stores right in the middle of tourist towns. Orlando. Vegas. Pheonix.

I don’t think Basspro is down with this “big store in a cornfield by the freeway” philosophy that Cabelas had. And they certainly don’t seem to have much love for the 7-11 MiniStore that Cabelas threw up in Woodbury. Basspro very much wanted a Mega-Mega store by the Mall of America, but that deal collapsed at the last recession. I can see that coming back to a Megamall near you.

I don’t even bother with the Woodbury store anymore. If it something I have to have, I just head for Joe’s first and then Fleet Farm. Otherwise I get it online.

Grouse

Don’t order anything online. I’ve tried to unsubscribe from there constant barrage of emails and have been unsuccessful

Eelpoutguy wrote:

Don’t order anything online. I’ve tried to unsubscribe from there constant barrage of emails and have been unsuccessful

Flag it as spam and it won’t show up in your regular inbox.

Hi, Just wondering if there is anyone here near the Cabelas in Kansas, City Kansas? Thanks

Their latest urine me off move was the Black Friday ad that just came out. The ad says in store only and I know my store well enough to know that they don’t have half of that stuff in stock. Bait and switch much?

Unfortunately Fleet Farm is heading down the same path… I’m doing more and more shopping at Tractor Supply. Scheel’s is even better than Cabela’s nowadays

I was just in the cities and had a $100 Cabelas so I stopped at Woodbury store. I couldn’t even find a decent pair of wool socks.

I stopped at the Scheels in St. Cloud and the service was some of the best I’ve ever had. Ended up buying two handguns, a TUCR power precision and a bunch of Christmas presents.

I’d be surprised if I ever step foot in a Cabelas again.

I was in there this morning. Sad. If you hunt birds with a 12 ga forget ammo.
And I’m not buying red head anything. I am just sour to the place now.

What’s funny is I’ve been saying many of these things for at least 10 years about both Cabela’s and (then)Gander Mountain. Neither stocked anything that was of use to me or a “had to buy” item. Yeah they have 6 aisles of Rapalas, Ugly Stiks, and women’s clothing, but who doesnt?. Everything is overpriced, sales really aren’t sales. The only time I ever go into these stores anymore is to look for useful clearance items, and those are getting harder and harder to come by. Most of my fishing gear is now bought online from specialty stores because NOBODY wants to stock anything that isn’t a corporate name anymore. When are these companies going to realize that most everything available at brick and mortar stores are also available on Amazon? And typically for a better price.

And the comments about Fleet Farm going down this same path are dead on. I also unfortunately can see Scheels starting to go down this path as well.