Gander Mtn – bankruptcy

Link to Story by Twincities.com

Figured they werent going to last.

Well if true, they wouldn’t be the first clothing store to go down in flames…

What would happen to gift cards when a place files for bankruptcy? I happen to have one. Thanks.

riverruns wrote:

What would happen to gift cards when a place files for bankruptcy? I happen to have one. Thanks.

SPEND IT NOW! It might not be necessary, but why chance it?

riverruns wrote:

What would happen to gift cards when a place files for bankruptcy? I happen to have one. Thanks.

Use it. Soon. The bankruptcy courts will decide how long to honor gift cards and then they will be worth nothing.

Justin Schneider (Woods & Water Insurance) wrote:

Well if true, they wouldn’t be the first clothing store to go down in flames…

Who was Bass Pro trying to buy, Cabelas?

The whole market place seems to be in flux.

Bass pro did buy cabelas for 5.5 billion.

Justin Schneider (Woods & Water Insurance) wrote:

Well if true, they wouldn’t be the first clothing store to go down in flames…

Boy, ain’t that the truth. Gander, Dicks, Cabelas….go into any of them and see what’s right in your face. Any of these places could get by with 90% less clothing and the footwear selections if they’d focus on putting knowledgeable people on the floor for customer service while shopping for fishing and hunting goods. Then get the clothing/footwear back in a corner if they insist on having it. I seldom go into those three I’ve mentioned.

Around home if I want something fishing or hunting related I go to Fleet Farm first, then maybe Scheels.

Justin Schneider (Woods & Water Insurance) wrote:

Well if true, they wouldn’t be the first clothing store to go down in flames…

Isn’t that the truth? I grew up by the ORIGINAL Gander Mtn in Wilmot, WI. What a difference from the 1970s…..

bigpike wrote:

Bass pro did buy cabelas for 5.5 billion.

Not a done deal, last week it was reported that might be falling apart.
As far as Gander…bankruptcy typically is a reorganization negotiating creditors, rather than shuttering all stores. But then there was Sports Authority?

then maybe Scheels

Unfortunately I’ve noticed them going down this same road as well. I only go in them once every year or two because they are not very convenient for me. However I do notice more and more clothing, nick nacks, and young kids hitting the floor each time I enter.

It sounds like that deal faces major headwinds

I worked the call cnter in the late 80’s in Wilmot. Not the first time they have gone thru reorg

steveo wrote:

I worked the call cnter in the late 80’s in Wilmot. Not the first time they have gone thru reorg

Isn’t that just because they were purchased by Holiday and sold the catalog?

always liked going to the st cloud one when I was going to school up there. back then sportsmans warehouse was up there too

Gander Mountain is building a brand new store in Cedar Rapids, IA. They are moving from across town to a new stand alone store. It is almost done and supposed to open in about a month. Hard to believe they would do this if they were going out of business.

Filing for bankruptcy does not automatically = going out of business. Bankruptcy filing allows the company to negotiate with creditors to reduce debt.

My guess is that Gander will reorganize under Chapter 11 and continue to operate. I hope so, anyway. It’s getting to the point where there’s nothing left except Cabelas and I’m not sure how much I’ll love cabelas if Bass Pro takes over.

Grouse

Bankruptcy filing allows the company to negotiate with creditors to reduce debt.

And the above could be worse then Gander closing it’s doors.
Our favorite lure makers could be out of luck collecting what’s owed to them.

Rapala
BFishN Tackle
Custom Jigs and Spins
Marcum
Vexilar
Strike master
Jiffy

And then there’s the hunting side. I was going to mention the clothing side but I’m thinking I’ll skip that.

Whether a person likes Gander or not, there is a ripple effect here.

Does not surprise me at all!!! I live in Eden Prairie and every time!!!! I go to the store they have empty shelves of stuff I want. Not to mention a huge lack of employees helping our customers that actually have any knowledge about fishing.????

Ben

bendvoracek wrote:

Does not surprise me at all!!! I live in Eden Prairie and every time!!!! I go to the store they have empty shelves of stuff I want. Not to mention a huge lack of employees helping our customers that actually have any knowledge about fishing.????

Ben

Ain’t that the truth. Going into that store is depressing.

crappie55369 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>bendvoracek wrote:</div>
Does not surprise me at all!!! I live in Eden Prairie and every time!!!! I go to the store they have empty shelves of stuff I want. Not to mention a huge lack of employees helping our customers that actually have any knowledge about fishing.????

Ben

Ain’t that the truth. Going into that store is depressing.

The world of retail is changing (or has changed) dramatically. I have worked p/t in this area in recent years. Try to get a qualified applicant in this day and age. The knowledge base is retiring, and being replaced by people who have very little social skills, nor knowledge of the industry.

Prefer to be left alone in stores. I know what I’m looking for and don’t need help, if I do ill come find you. Similar to Home Depot there for a while. “Can I help you find something” almost every 90seconds in there, ugh.

Enjoy GM. Maybe bc I really haven’t seen the change over the years to not appreciate it. Tackle section is way more stocked than any fleet farm, and always great deals to be had. Probably have gotten the whole family shoe wear for average 25% in store.

Do wish they still carried bait. Some good dudes who worked at Blaine store for some time there.

nubbinbuck wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>crappie55369 wrote:</div>

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>bendvoracek wrote:</div>
Does not surprise me at all!!! I live in Eden Prairie and every time!!!! I go to the store they have empty shelves of stuff I want. Not to mention a huge lack of employees helping our customers that actually have any knowledge about fishing.????

Ben

Ain’t that the truth. Going into that store is depressing.

The world of retail is changing (or has changed) dramatically. I have worked p/t in this area in recent years. Try to get a qualified applicant in this day and age. The knowledge base is retiring, and being replaced by people who have very little social skills, nor knowledge of the industry.

I imagine so. It’s a difficult situation no doubt but it isn’t an excuse. My service desk has a first call resolution 20% above industry standard and our average cost is 20-50% of what it takes the rest of the industry to do it. How? A great relationship with a college program helps us find less expensive labor but more importantly we provide a lot of training and allow time to develop our employees skills. The two industries aren’t apples to apples but you gotta find a way to adapt and provide the customer with a great experience. Clearly Gander couldnt figure that out in time. Idk, I don’t get the same depressing feeling and lack of support from employees when I go into fleet farm just down the road in carver or even cabelas up in rodgers and I can’t imagine they are paying their employees much more than a Gander employee would make. From what I read about the filing Gander tried to expand too much and stretched themselves thin-add that to their already troubling customer experience reputation and it’s a no go

Brian Klawitter wrote:

Bankruptcy filing allows the company to negotiate with creditors to reduce debt.

And the above could be worse then Gander closing it’s doors.
Our favorite lure makers could be out of luck collecting what’s owed to them.

Rapala
BFishN Tackle
Custom Jigs and Spins
Marcum
Vexilar
Strike master
Jiffy

And then there’s the hunting side. I was going to mention the clothing side but I’m thinking I’ll skip that.

Whether a person likes Gander or not, there is a ripple effect here.

I wonder how that works. You’d think in a bankruptcy you’d have to return the goods. Or I’d expect that they would still have to pay them for goods sold in future still. If not, why would any of those companies do business with them in the future?

crappie55369 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>bendvoracek wrote:</div>
Does not surprise me at all!!! I live in Eden Prairie and every time!!!! I go to the store they have empty shelves of stuff I want. Not to mention a huge lack of employees helping our customers that actually have any knowledge about fishing.????

Ben

Ain’t that the truth. Going into that store is depressing.

It is depressing, especially for those of us that remember them from 20-30 years ago when they were at the top of their game. They seemed to have anything and everything. Many times going in there the place was buzzing with energy
and excitement.

I know there are a ton of haters for Gander Mountain on here, but I like having options other than Cabelas, Fleet Farm, or Scheels. I had a great experience a week ago picking up another Marcum LX-5 at the Rochester Gander with fantastic customer service. So much so I wrote a letter to corporate about it. Never hurts to have more options for sportsman to find deals and convenience.

As someone who works in the fishing department at the Eden Prairie store, all I can say is that at my level (department associates/supervisors) we’re just as frustrated with the company as you guys are. Once you get to the store management level and above, you’ll find very few people that actually enjoy things like hunting, fishing, and camping. Our higher ups are almost exclusively career retail people, who could care less whether they’re working at Gander, Best Buy, Circuit City (we actually have a fair amount of execs from there, because why wouldn’t you take a bunch of people responsible for one retailer’s failure, and put them in charge of another one??), or wherever. The people in charge of marketing and ordering products/merchandise are just as bad, as far as I know the guys in charge of company-wide fishing tackle inventor(unless it’s changed) DON’T fish. Same problem with the other departments. And don’t get us started about how much less apparel we’d love to see in the stores. Every year we have to fight over floor space, arguing that we should be putting ice houses out instead of racks of winter jackets. And we’re well aware that we’re embarrassingly low on the same basic fishing staples season after season. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve complained about not having bobber stops in winter, or quick strike rigs in October or November.

Corporate’s response to these blunders is to try to force us to sell more Gander Mountain credit cards and Summit protection plans, instead of admitting their issues. Having said all that, we did just get new owners who apparently are down to earth and practical (one of my coworkers has sold one of them several guns, and he said the guy seemed pretty decent and outdoorsy), and they released a company-wide survey asking us grunts what’s wrong with the place. So, fingers crossed! For the record, if you guys do want to try and make a difference, please call 1-888-5GANDER or fill out the surveys on our website and complain! If you come into the store and complain to us, you’re either preaching to the choir, or complaining to people that either don’t care or don’t have the power to do anything about it.

Alright, rant session over. Thanks for your business guys, at the very least it allows myself and a few others to get paid to talk about the passions we love!

thanks a lot for the input TMF. its nice to have a voice from the other side of the isle give their feedback!

Some small business that I know are run by CEO/bosses that started out as the grunt and worked their way to the top. They knew what the customer wanted because they were in sales at one time in their career. Now companies want to hire someone with college degree and a years worth of experience and he is in charge of marketing or advertising or inventory. Most middle management doesn’t have a clue about what it takes for face to face contact with customers.