Gander Mt. Super Dos?

Can any of you Gander Mt. guys help me out? I went to Davenport Ia. store to restock on Dos, and none of the guys in fishing dept. had a clue what I was talking about. I know they stocked them last summer, but not now. Do the other Gander stores still stock them? I will order from the site, but wanted to restock for a day on the water tommorrow. Guess I’ll have to make do with what I have .
Thanks, John

I can’t help you Rooster. Only thing I could offer is to go to a local store and pick some up and ship them out to you. You’d be much better off ordering them from BfishN in that case.

When I worked at Gander, the inventory was controlled at the corporate level, but that was changing when I left. And to be real honest, I was the only guy in the fishing department that knew what a super doo was. I tried telling the other guys how great the kalin’s, ringies and doos were, but most just looked at me funnier than normal. Wish I could help more…..

Thanks John!
That is the kind of look I got also. They did have Kalins still, but not much variety. Lesson learned, order early!!!
John

Hehehe

You guys wanna’ see Mike Little turn beet red and have steam come out of his ears, bring this little issue up to him in person. It’s quite funny, actually!

‘Fowler nailed the problem… orders are placed at the corporate level. And they’re SLO-O-O-O-OW. Many of the stores report getting in fresh shipments, burning through their stock in short order and then sitting w/o product for weeks at a time while each store waits for corporate to place a new order. While that’s happening, customers go to Gander, see the empty shelves and then they look for alternate sources of supply. A sale has been lost but possibly worse, the chance to establish a repeat customer, confident in his/her ability to find the products when and where they want them, goes up in smoke.

*smoke* pouring out of ears. Imagine that. And yes, it’s a tough one this time of year. The fishing department at Gander is slightly overstocked with everything right now. Budgets are spent through spring, unfortunately, so we’re sort of fighting a battle at present.

Being a small company with a fairly local reputation has made it tough to get orders passed through. Fortunately, we’re working on some big stuff for spring, so at least we’ll be getting stock into the stores for next year. Yes, frustrating at the moment. And my very deepest apologies.

A word of support for Gander. Although the stores have a lot more influence in ordering than they used to, there is an overall policy in place that provides for complete stocking of as much product as possible. We’re fighting a few slightly larger companies for shelf space but we do have Gander’s complete and total support and will be expanding what they stock during the coming year. I didn’t know it would be so hard!

In the meantime, feel free to order from BFT. We’ll get product out to you as quickly as possible. And stay in touch with your Gander Mountains. I’ll try to make an announcement as soon as we have some goods in the stores.

On another note, we’re working on something big for next year. A couple of fronts. All I can say right now is please support your local Gander Mountain. Also, any of the tackle shops that you see. Hooked on Fishing and Everts are great to us and carry a good portion of our products. R&R Tackle has some of them. Hopefully the list will expand during the year. Ask for them at your bait shops. If they don’t have them, but might be interested, please let me know.

In the meantime, *steam rising*

Hey Mike, I will still support Gander, definetley. I am like a kid in a candy store there. Was just a little surprised that none of the employees had any idea what I was looking for!? I will probably not count on them to provide dos, ringworms, or Kalins in the near future though. Will be ordering total restock through BFT. Still a great store!
When you mentioned R&R, did you mean the one in Clinton, Ia.? They carry some ring worms, but that is all I have seen. A few small Kalins too I guess.
Gander will still be my “go to” store for crankbaits, terminal tackle, and anything hunting related. Prices are just too much better than other local stores to go elsewhere, and the service is almost always top notch!
Happy New Year!
John

Rooster..
I had the same problem at Davenport, they told me all the stuff they had had been shipped to a different store,I complained to the manager, he said the nomal guy don’t buy this stuff…..LOL I guess were not normal

I also try to buy locally but it is VERY frustrating when you go to Rochester Gander Mtn or Fleet Farm and they are out of stock for the item you want. You can go to these stores and there will be several plugs of every color except the hot river color will be all sold out. It is the same thing with 18 lb lead line (every other weight is in stock) except the one you want. Try getting a regular sized sonar blade bait in the hot color, or 6-8 lb fire line in flame green, 8 lb mono solar Sensation – almost never in stock. Heavy 3-8 oz sinkers – forget it. These stores appear to stock only a few items for river fishermen and when they are gone they are never restocked. Therefore, I sometimes end up ordering from Cabela’s or Bass Pro.

If these local stores would only use some common sense to quickly reorder items when they are sold out it could greatly increase their business. They may also want to consult with some local fishermen as to what items they should stock.

Dave Gulczinski

I realize it may be out of the way for some, but just a reminder that I do carry just about every color of ringworms/superdoos/K-Grubs available from B Fish N Tackle. They take up most of my wall space in my shop! Also, I believe Hooked on Fishing in Rochester carries a pretty good supply of them.

You are right Steve, Hooked On Fishing does carry a real good supply and I’ve seen your supply too and its good. I think between me, James and Dustin we all make sure theres a real good supply or we complain as we hate running low on them. You never know which color will be hot on a given day and we can’t run low on any color. Time on the water is never enough so a guy has to be prepared. Look at it this way: plastics float and I’m a big guy and it takes alot of plastics to keep me afloat if I ever fall overboard so I need lots of them! Thanks, Bill

Hey Steve, ya ever think of setting up a branch store in Illinois ? I’ve talked to most of the local bait shops in my area, trying to get them to try something new, like dos and ringies, but they are very unreceptive. When I told one local guy about how good the dos work for cold water saugers, he told me that “plastic is plastic, use a tube jig!”. He fancies himself an accomplished and knowledgable fisherman, but I don’t believe a closed minded guy can keep up well in the ever changing world of walleye fishing! I’ve even offered to take this guy out and show him first hand how well they work, but to no avail. If you opened a branch, I’d be willing to staff it for you, as long as you could match my current benefits package >
Rooster

I have to laugh about the ‘plastic is plastic’ thing. Oh, really? Actually, the guy should have said ‘colors is colors’. For my own part at this point, I’d have to say that the shops that aren’t contacting us about carrying product are just plain missing out. The Rochester Gander will eventually have as much as we can get into their store because I do know that last year that particular store outsold just about every other one. And Davenport will follow. Grrrr.

In reality, our growth and expansion is tied to everyone who asks for the product. Even though people are stubborn at times, they do have to listen. If someone walks in, asks for a product by name and is disappointed to find that it isn’t in the store, who loses the most? Obviously, the store. Lost revenue. And the owner has to know that any determined angler is going to look for the product elsewhere.

Keep asking. Eventually they’ll get the message. We’re a little short on sales staff, but we certainly have no problem in answering questions.

Springtime brings a few extra opportunities. Trails End Bass Pro in Fridley should have some product. Hopefully Joe’s, too. In the meantime, hit Everts and Hooked On Fishing. We’ll make sure that they stay supplied.

Oh, H20 jigs. We’re doing some retooling. A new, less expensive version is due out soon. Should improve availability and product mix. Packaging will also improve and you can look for them to be hitting stores in the near future. My only concern now is that hooks are not available. Can you believe it? A shortage caused by the manufacturers. I’m not sure what to do about that quite yet, but hopefully it won’t slow us down much.

The frustrations of keeping anglers happy.

Mike

By the way. A little comment and correction here. Gander Mountain has been very supportive of all of our efforts and growth. It’s sometimes difficult to get a new product introduced and moving along and Gander has really been incredible in the way they’ve stood behind us.

Last year wsa a learning year for BFT. We had some problems in the beginning with ‘little’ things like our UPC codes, stocked colors and so forth. Managed to survive those problems and improved our sales. I did not mention in earlier posts that Davenport had only stocked super do kits for the spring and that they were sent back early on, in preparation for bags but that we were slow in getting those bags into the stores.

Look for new mixes and products soon. We’re going to get kits into the stores and also will be working hard to generate product interest. Want to make sure that Gander always carries what you need.

I was at the Gander store here in LaCrosse and they had a decent supply of everything. K’s, Super Doos and Ringies. There were also a decent selection of colors. They are on the end of a shelf kind of hidden away from easy sight. Might be why they are still there . Anyway, just thought I would throw that in there for anybody around here looking for them. I would buy some, but have no idea on how to use them . Without a boat or a fishing partner, kinda hard to fish the best fish in the river. The few times I have been out, I had a blast, just wish I could fish for them as much as most of you do. Life would definitely be good, very good .

interesting note about the jigs. i like them. I do agree that approx. 60 cents each is a bit high. looking forward to the new models. are they going to be available at Gander also?

My understanding is yes, they will, and soon. Plus they’ll be cheaper than the current price.

Corporate America strikes again. Being a river rat, I always feel descriminated against here in Mad town where everyone is a lake dude. Gander Mountain probably would do better staffing those positions if they paid more and gave people 4 days to hone their skills on the water each week. Every store should have a fish pro like golf courses do. I have to hand it to them though, I love their stores even though they rarely have what I am looking for. They did start stocking Ukko crank baits which kick butt for Musky and Walleye.