Fleet Farm

I went to Scheels the Oct 1st and the the guy had to go in the back room to get what I wanted. They were in process of switching to ice season.

BigWerm wrote:

Stop by Carver Bait, just have to plan for when they are actually open

I drive by there every morning and every afternoon during the week and occasionally on weekends. Never once have I seen that place open. I do see alot of people looking in the windows that have probably never been inside either.

Side Note:

The Milwaukee Deal Days ad has some pretty good bargains for those who do shop Fleet Farm.

You can buy x2 6.0 AH batteries, and get a free 5.0 AH for $199 total. I haven’t seen them any cheaper than that.

I really like the St. Cloud scheels and shop there often but their fishing area is very small compared to some other area stores and I would guess that’s why they can’t keep everything out all year. I was at the scheels in Fargo a few years ago and that store is probably 3 times the size of St. Cloud scheels. Their hunting and fishing section alone was the size of the entire upstairs at st. cloud.

I like some of the medium shops in the area. Alexandria and Battle Lake both have legitimate tackle stores. Nice thing about them is they can choose what to carry. The bigger stores even Scheels end up in contracts requiring them to carry lures that are going to be the new hotness, but don’t get out in time, or have end caps and displays for things that aren’t even on sale. I can honestly say that dealing with some of the reps was never a good time, especially when they would pull out the tape measure and check if they have the correct amount of facing space.

Reed’s is well stocked year round.

I’ll second the comment about Bass Pro. While we grumble that it’s not the Cabela’s we once knew, you can’t argue about the stocked shelves every day of the year with any tackle you could ever want.

Last February my winter boots finally fell apart. Cabela’s was out, zippo. Minnesota in the middle of winter and they’re out of stock. So now it’s November, and they still don’t have anything in stock. I just want a pair of boots

Not so long ago Cabela’s private label gear was top of the line. If you bought something that said “Cabela’s”, it was very good stuff. Those days are long gone.

SR

Fleet Farm sell a large bird seed cylinder that will last all winter and I want to put that feeder out so this morning at 9 I drove out there thinking it shouldn’t be too busy. Damn, every woman with three screaming kids was out there and the last minute deer hunting shoppers rounded out the frenzy. I got my seed block and left that outfit shaking my head. What a rat race.

Jimmy Jones wrote:

Fleet Farm sell a large bird seed cylinder that will last all winter and I want to put that feeder out so this morning at 9 I drove out there thinking it shouldn’t be too busy. Damn, every woman with three screaming kids was out there and the last minute deer hunting shoppers rounded out the frenzy. I got my seed block and left that outfit shaking my head. What a rat race.

doesnt FF have some crazy big shindig the friday before deer hunting too!!!!

glenn57 wrote:

doesnt FF have some crazy big shindig the friday before deer hunting too!!!!

Yes they do. It’s called Orange Friday. I’ve never been there myself but I had a friend fight that crowd once. He snagged me a free hat. They give hats to everyone and have a lot of random drawings for prizes, but there’s obviously a lot of people too. Almost as bad as Black Friday shopping.

gim wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>buckybadger wrote:</div>
Cabelas = Don’t get me started.

Cabela’s has WAY more tackle than anyone I know of here. They must have 30 aisles of stuff that’s out all year and their pegs are always full.

As opposed to Scheels which is only out seasonally (and currently not even there now as someone posted) and Fleet Farm, which is mostly empty pegs year round.

When I shop for tackle I do it in person. For half the year Scheels cannot fit that bill and for most of the year Fleet Farm cannot do it either.

To the OP, fleet farm has been operating that way for years. They have spots for their stuff, but its quite often just empty. My guess is no employees to replenish it with any regularity.

I agree- Cabelas AKWAYS has more tackle than any of the others. The only time I buy it online is when they do t have it.