Scheels – Eden Prairie Location

Over the last year there have been posts bashing the big box sporting goods stores around the metro and for good reason, they are all terrible. I got a gift card for Scheels and being it is 45 minutes from my house it has taken me awhile to get over there. I finally went on Saturday with my son and was very impressed. It is massive which would be the only detractor. However it was nice to finally see a store with stocked shelves. I went in just to look around and check out some products I was checking online and ended up walking out with 4 items just because they actually had stock. Cabela’s and Fleet farm need to take notice. I still prefer the small shops by my house Joe’s, Capra’s and Thorne Bros, but good job Scheels.

Also, they actually had enough people working the cash registers that it there was no wait despite the store being packed.

Scheels is quickly taking over the Cabela’s/Fleet Farm/formerly Gander MTN market. I have never had a bad experience at Scheels.

I couldn’t agree more. Cabelas went down hill right when they were bought out. Even before the pandemic I could never find anything that I needed from that place. I liked Fleet Farm, but the pandemic has made their shelves look like you’re in a former Soviet block country. I never had any problems with Gander, and I sure took advantage of their stock when they went out of business.

Just bought my wife a new hand gun at Scheels. They actually had it. It was priced better there than anywhere else.

I go to fleet farm 1st find price then go to scheels and more times then not scheels is cheaper, if not they always meet or beat other prices within 30 mile radius I am lucky that they are 5 miles apart

@alex fox I laughed at the Soviet block comment, definitely true.

Scheels is awesome, they have a great selection of premium brands. I still try to give business to Joes and Thorne because I like each of those too.

Cabelas is great if you are looking for a $15 flannel that will shrink 2 sizes the first time you wash it. Sad to see how far down hill they have gone.

I am 30 miles west of Chicago. Sounds like we need one in our neck of the woods.

The SCRATCHER wrote:

I go to fleet farm 1st find price then go to scheels and more times then not scheels is cheaper, if not they always meet or beat other prices within 30 mile radius I am lucky that they are 5 miles apart

Scheels doesn’t have a 30 mile cutoff, unless that has changed in the last 9 months. They have matched prices even from online stores for me.

Scheels just price matched online prices for me last week. Never heard anything about a 30 mile cutoff

Scheels in St Cloud price matched anything I found at the St Paul Ice show 3 years ago, from any vendor. Bought 2 portables and a H55. Love that place.

We went to scheels the other day. Long drive from north branch. I though the store was very nice. Especially compared to the gander in forest lake and the 2 fleet farms near me.
They had everything I was looking for and gave us a extra 25 percent off because they shipped us the wrong size boot.

I went to this new EP Scheels in July about 3 days after it opened. Their shelves and pegs were fully stocked. Even some very difficult to find lures and plastics were in stock.

I had a friend that went about 10 days after me and he said half the shelves were empty already.

No retailer is immune to the high demand and supply chain issues that everyone else was having during portions of this pandemic. I haven’t been back there or to any other outdoor retailer since September now so I can’t comment on their supply.

I work across the street from the store….let me just say I’m glad we’re working from home or I would be broke.

They also have bait…..

gimruis wrote:

I went to this new EP Scheels in July about 3 days after it opened. Their shelves and pegs were fully stocked. Even some very difficult to find lures and plastics were in stock.
I had a friend that went about 10 days after me and he said half the shelves were empty already.

They were pulling stock from other Scheels’ for their special grand opening. I’ve been back several times since their grand opening week and they’ve always had what I wanted. Phenomenal selection of local custom ice rods too. Scheels is known for their very knowledgeable and helpful staff as well. Scheels is light years ahead of Cabelas, fleet, and other local sports shops. I should say, I do enjoy stopping by Joes from time to time though.

I’ve forever been grateful for Fleet Farm being the no-frills, low price place to get fishing stuff. I liked the fact that the store hasn’t changed much in decades and it didn’t have to put up appearances or do gimmicks.

But that’s changed over the past few years as their shelves have gone empty. And that started well before the pandemic this year. I’m particularly talking about the Brooklyn Park location. I don’t know how the other ones are holding up.

It was an absolute pleasure to walk into Scheel’s and see full shelves of everything I was looking for — and at decent prices.

tbro16 wrote:

They were pulling stock from other Scheels’ for their special grand opening

I figured they weren’t going to have a grand opening with empty pegs. That would be terrible PR

Haven’t we seen this before… big box stores merchandise their stores with lots of inventory and good choices for the consumer. Time tends to limit the selection and eventually the affect stock levels. Not sure what causes this. Supply chain issues or constrains placed on the buyers when sales revenue don’t meet expectations.

Scheels EP store has so many square feet and vast inventory one has to marvel at the investment required.

Actual experience in the store has been overall acceptable. Always a very well trained and knowledgeable sales person seems close at hand. Great choice and inventory considering other options. I love Reeds as well. I’ll never utilize the sheer size and breath of Scheels.

I had a hiccup with the credit card offering and on site approval process. The delay I experienced with the credit card company was unacceptable in this day and age. I would recommend that Scheels management review the partner ship to be sure that the choices and performance of their banking partner does not dilute the brand.

Kodos to Scheels for jumping into such a diluted market place and my best wishes for them to succeed. Consistency and a sharp focus on customer service is a key to success.

Scheels certainly seems to be the up-and-comer and now maybe even the leader in this area. I REAALLY enjoy their Eden Prairie location. Even for other sporting goods its the place to go. When I take my boys I can barely pry them away from the Hockey and Baseball stuff to get to the outdoor dept.

I’m saddened to see Fleet Farm go downhill the way it has. They too, seemed to degrade after their buy-out a few years back. I will say that there is a bright spot or two with Fleet Farm, though. I live within an hour of 4 of them. I was in their Mankato location a couple of weeks ago and it was PACKED with Holiday shoppers, but their shelves were stocked and orderly. I was pleasantly surprised.

In fact, I was looking to buy a Jerky Gun and the one I wanted was out-of-stock. They had a few other models but not the one I wanted. As I walked to the next aisle, I heard noises like a big box opening and things being put on the shelf. Walked back around to find an employee putting 4 boxes of the model I wanted on to the shelf. I don’t go to that location very often but have been to other Fleet Farms in the last month as well, and it was night and day – like a whole other store.

LOVE Scheel’s, and the EP location is great. Took my Dad there to look at some stuff, even though he HATES shopping for anything, and we spent about an hour there checking everything out which had to be a record for him. Tons of interactive stuff for kids too, I’ll be going there to burn some energy off my 3 year old many times this winter I think. Also, I love that they have people there that know what products they are selling and EVERYONE offers to help you out! It’s like they follow all the quality customer service things consumers want, and it’s good for business. Who knew!?!?!

Can’t wait to go there, I love the st. cloud location. I am just worried that I am going to end up with a 12 helix lol.

The Eden Prairie Scheels is great. They had everything I was looking for in stock. Wish they took Cabela’s club points because the last 4 times I was in Cabela’s they did have what I was looking for in stock.

I ordered on line some items from Scheels later on a Saturday afternoon. It was sitting on my front steps on Sunday morning. I do not know how they could have got it to me that fast.

I can’t agree more. Scheels has taken a huge step forward while Cabelas, Gander, Fleet Farm have really tailed off for me.

Scheels has far and away the best shipping of any outdoors store. It is fast and almost immediate. Yes it still has the clothing and other stuff I couldn’t care less about, but that hasn’t taken away from the hunting and fishing departments.

I still try to support our small local bait and gun shop by buying all my bait, many lures, all ammo, terminal tackle, and usually one or two larger purchases per year (gun, tree stands, more expensive rod combos, etc).

Scheels is KING!