Why is my local Fleet Farm never stocked anymore??

munchy wrote:

“what I found odd was all the tables of “clearance” stuff. never seen that at a fleet farm that I recall!!!!!”

They had a big clearance sale last week.

Yes. I have never seen that either. The Winona store has it. The store in Baxter has this going on as well.

I have to wonder the fate of the FF? Not the store I use to know.

There have been many of times I have gone into the store near me (9 miles) and the store doesn’t carry what I’m looking for or not stocked. It’s hard to not eventually say heck with it. Go on line, order what I want. I like shopping, and the whole experience of the store. Finding harder to justify the disappointment though and not finding what I needed.

I used to go to the one in Waite park as someone else said it is terrible to find anything always out used to be my first stop. Now I want to send there flyers back to them. Where I live there is not much for fishing gear save Wal-Mart cough gasp. A Running’s store is nearby which I never thought I would say but in my opinion is getting better than F/F. I do like Scheels but the thought of some Yuppie in Khakis and a dress shirt just doesn’t make me feel I’m buying from Ed’s local bait shop any more I guess I to am getting old. I hate to say it but for reels and rods bigger ticket items I’m starting to buy online way more then I get what I want. Instead of oh sorry we only have 8 4000 sized Shimano reels but no 2500 maybe next year?

Runnings 👍👍
Fleet Farm 💩💩

travelNFish wrote:

I’m from Nebraska where we aren’t fortunate enough to have stores like Fleet Farm or Runnings. I travel and fish through South Dakota and heard of the Fleet stores selection and thought i would stop in a couple towns and check them out. First store had a selection that rivaled some gas stations, and i thought well its maybe too far south to carry alot. Next one was farther north and centered in the states heart of ice fishing, still no more than the other. Then i went to Runnings in the same town. Wow. I was impressed with selection and prices. They literally carried everything. I see no need to ever stop at any Fleet Farms unless i need a truck battery.

Unless your completely full of crap.. or your driving in circles for hours on end…….. The state of SOUTH DAKOTA only has one fleet farm in the entire state. Its located in Sioux Falls.. which is hardly “center of the state”..???

Also there is not Runnings in Sioux Falls. So “stopping in at the RUNNINGS in the same town” is also made up.

What gives? Is it story time or what?

Sounds like they are going the way of Wal Mart. Lots of empty shelf space there. We have had a independent distribution business for over 20 years. There use to be a lot more independent distributors out there but they are being forced out because places like Wal Mart want the product cheaper and want it to come through their warehouse delivered on their trucks.

This means they rely on their employees to keep the shelves stocked and the product rotated. Guess what? Bad idea because the majority of those employees don’t give a rats a$$! I’m guessing FF is dealing with the same lethargic workers who have no vested interest other than collecting a check.

Our lively hood depends on stocked shelves in the stores. We order and manage our own inventory. Deliver and invoice the store directly and stock and rotate product on the shelves. The store in return gets free labor that’s motivated to do a good job. Those other people you see stocking tools etc. that are not store employees are not most likely independent distributors but a third party merchandising contractor getting paid by the hour. A friend of mine works for one and says he has way to many stores and way too much product to deal with to do a decent job at any one of them.

riverruns wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>munchy wrote:</div>
“what I found odd was all the tables of “clearance” stuff. never seen that at a fleet farm that I recall!!!!!”

They had a big clearance sale last week.

Yes. I have never seen that either. The Winona store has it. The store in Baxter has this going on as well.

I have to wonder the fate of the FF? Not the store I use to know.

There have been many of times I have gone into the store near me (9 miles) and the store doesn’t carry what I’m looking for or not stocked. It’s hard to not eventually say heck with it. Go on line, order what I want. I like shopping, and the whole experience of the store. Finding harder to justify the disappointment though and not finding what I needed.

guess i kinda forgot about the mills family selling out, so kinda explains the bargain tables!!!!! for now i havent had an issue of fleet not having what i need???????

Lindners are just doing too good a job at pimping FF products in Angling Buzz that the stores can’t keep up. That or B-man’s bought everything to resell on the private market

It is a bummer. Like many have said FF used to be my first stop or I’d pencil it in when heading out on a trip. Now I’m almost always leaving close to empty handed.

moustachesteve wrote:

or B-man’s bought everything to resell on the private market

This is all about the new owners, KKR. KKR has a long track record of buying businesses, making deep cuts to cost. In the short term this significantly increases profits. Long term it will also drive away customers. KKR’s secret sauce is to drive out costs and sell the business while it still appears to be healthy and extremely profitable. They have been making an awful lot of money doing this for 30+ years.

It is never good for the business long term. But KKR tried to get out relatively quickly.

sktrwx2200 wrote:

Unless your completely full of crap.. or your driving in circles for hours on end…….. The state of SOUTH DAKOTA only has one fleet farm in the entire state. Its located in Sioux Falls.. which is hardly “center of the state”..???

Also there is not Runnings in Sioux Falls. So “stopping in at the RUNNINGS in the same town” is also made up.

What gives? Is it story time or what?

Yeah I’m confused by this as well. Unless he hit FF in Sioux City first, then FF in Sioux Falls, then Runnings in Brookings or Watertown.

FF in Sioux Falls was decently stocked this winter for ice fishing stuff. Crankbaits got a little too picked over this fall though.

I used to be a store manager for Walgreens. We always had a seasonal set going, V day, back to school, Christmas etc… I’d take copious notes as a guide for the following years ordering. The goal is to have near zero repacks but also remain well stocked. Then corporate started doing the ordering setting up mandatory end stands, pretty much taking the merchandising out of our hands. Demographics were rarely considered. Try selling $1500 worth of Taylor Swift crap on Lake St.

Since we’ve moved up north I go to L&M, Reed’s and other small places. I was excited after they sold and saw the large large gun counter put in. The excitement was short lived.

ptc wrote:

This is all about the new owners, KKR. KKR has a long track record of buying businesses, making deep cuts to cost. In the short term this significantly increases profits. Long term it will also drive away customers. KKR’s secret sauce is to drive out costs and sell the business while it still appears to be healthy and extremely profitable. They have been making an awful lot of money doing this for 30+ years.

It is never good for the business long term. But KKR tried to get out relatively quickly.

Sadly this is the correct answer, which explains not just the empty shelves but the poor employee satisfaction. Private equity is there to wring it dry and walk away from the corpse, nothing more or less.

Unless your completely full of crap.. or your driving in circles for hours on end…….. The state of SOUTH DAKOTA only has one fleet farm in the entire state. Its located in Sioux Falls.. which is hardly “center of the state”..???

Also there is not Runnings in Sioux Falls. So “stopping in at the RUNNINGS in the same town” is also made up.

What gives? Is it story time or what?

Yeah I’m confused by this as well. Unless he hit FF in Sioux City first, then FF in Sioux Falls, then Runnings in Brookings or Watertown.

FF in Sioux Falls was decently stocked this winter for ice fishing stuff. Crankbaits got a little too picked over this fall though

You are correct, it was the FF in Sioux city and Sioux falls with the Runnings in Brookings and Aberdeen, not that i am telling stories, as the previous commenter said. I wasn’t painting an accurate geographical map of the stores, just comparing one inventory to another.

Lindyrig79, Just drive a couple more miles to Thorn Bros, Capra’s or even Vados Bait and tackle in Fridley.

belletaine wrote:

Try selling $1500 worth of Taylor Swift crap on Lake St.

What ???? – I thought Tay Tay would be a huge seller on Lake St.

bigcrappie wrote:

Lindyrig79, Just drive a couple more miles to Thorn Bros, Capra’s or even Vados Bait and tackle in Fridley.

I do and I did and that is the moral of the story I guess. It can only happen so many times before I simply change my habits and shop elsewhere.

Again I understand the seasonal items… but in this market certain things like walleye jigs, split shot weights, and slip bobbers should never run out or certainly not be empty for weeks at a time. They will always sell.

You add all the other disappointment on top of it and we have a problem.

BTW, Gander in Forest Lake was well stocked and had 40% off on all ice fishing lures.

I just bought wax worms from Carver FF gas station cause I didn’t figure it was worth the walk all the way through the store cause I knew they wouldn’t have anything else I wanted.

As long as their profits climb KKR will be satisfied. If you own a business, no matter what size, ONE of the goals is making money. While I’m sure the same store numbers show profit I have to believe customer counts are decining, which will catch up with them eventually. They’re cutting off their nose to spite their face.

Someone else mentioned the perpetual “now hiring” sign in every vestibule. I honestly think that’s a detriment to store. You have to wonder about a business that can’t retain employees.

All this said, the retail biz is changing drastically. We’ve started doing a lot of online shopping and it’s saving us money because it eliminates impulse buying, which is a big thing for me.

P.s. Cabelas, same thing.

JEREMY wrote:

I just bought wax worms from Carver FF gas station cause I didn’t figure it was worth the walk all the way through the store cause I knew they wouldn’t have anything else I wanted.

Do you get 33% less for $1 more like they do with nightcrawlers? The Carver one was out of craw jig trailers for 2 years at one point. Removing the military surplus stuff for groceries no one buys was another brilliant move too. It seems to me like they’re actively trying to go out of business.

two words: Private Equity

This is what happens, always happens and always will.

That is super sad. I used to work there when I was younger. It was great. We always could get new products and they really did treat employees well.

Dennis Williams wrote:

My brother works there. They are understaffed and do not treat the employees the greatest. Many of the folks that were there when it was sold are gone. The “Now Hiring” signs when you walk in never comes down. They have inventory issues as well. When they do their auditing things get even worse. I was in the Lakeville store a couple of weeks ago. Long lines and 3 tills running. I walked out and left the merchandise behind.