Gander Mountain to file for bankruptcy

akarguy said:

Article does not say whether they are filing for Reorganization or Liquidation- huge difference. Look how many times Sears has gone bankrupt, those were all reorgs or mergers. I hope its just a reorg, not that I shop at Gander, I just have concerns with Bass Pro buying Cabelas and then having Gander go under. There will basically be only one player in the outdoor store superspace.

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The Bass Pro Shops purchase of Cabela's is on very shaky ground right now. Chances are it's not going to pass muster with the FTC,

My local GM had ten boxes of 22 Hornet, Remington, for $59.99 a box!!! (50) I told them they were never gonna sell that stuff at that price. PPU is $24.99 a box at the store across the city, a local store. GM wouldn't come down, even after I showed them a cell phone pic of the PPU ammo.

Guess what.....they still have it! THAT is why they are struggling.......

It may have something to do with Cabela's ownership of Nebraska 2nd largest bank? I would not know?

http://www.outdoorhub.com/news/2017...ps-deal-cabelas-faces-new-regulatory-hurdles/

I don't see how that has anything to do with this. In any event, Capital One is trying to buy out the bank associated with Cabela's, not the other way around, per the article.

Just a couple years ago they totally reworked the store here in Merrillville, IN. Really nice store and really good guys work there. Unfortunately, the rework appears to have come too late

I think the advent of the interweb is going to make more and more brick and mortar stores obsolete. It's great to walk in and look/fondle/inspect things, but in the end price typically trumps everything. Their issue is that I can go there, look at the physical item, then go home and order it on line cheaper

They offer next to nothing when trying to sell them a gun but charge 2X price when they attempt to sell it.

Havok7416 said:

I don't see how that has anything to do with this. In any event, Capital One is trying to buy out the bank associated with Cabela's, not the other way around, per the article.

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It has everything to do with this assumption of business assets. If you are following this the bank is the main source of Cabela's profits. The merchandising aseptic is continuing to fail.

Catalog and credit card segments of these big stores is often overlooked. Some years ago Cabela's bought out the entire catalog business from Gander Mountain. In effect, they reduced the competition by buying it out. No secret Bass Pro has been eager to acquire the credit card portion of Cabela's business.

Word was that with the passing of Dick Cabela, family wanted an exit strategy for the business.

I was in Sydney in November. Cabela's employed over 2,000 people in this small agricultural community. Many of the Cabela's offices were closed. The locals reported that over 1,200 workers had been terminated. Many motels and restaurants will likely be hurt. These big sales and mergers have sever residual affects.

IIRC I bought Gander Mtn stock several years ago to take advantage of their gun sales. Lucky for me, a couple of months later they decided to take the business off the market and I think back into family hands. So, they bought all the stock back at a good price for me. Glad I got out when I did if they do go away totally.

That said, I haven't been impressed with their stores in years. Too much like a Dicks, not enough focus on things I care about and too much on imported clothing.

Dog Soldier said:

It has everything to do with this assumption of business assets. If you are following this the bank is the main source of Cabela's profits. The merchandising aseptic is continuing to fail.

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Gander Mountain is the company being discussed and the one I was referencing.

That is a business asset and an assumption of these negotiations.

At first I was excited to get their store near me, until I shopped there and saw their prices. They were always the most expensive on everything. Shame to see a gun retailer go but if you are not going to be competitive you will lose.

Wow. I was surprised to find out they were still in business. Sorry to the employees as I am sure is not their fault.

My first visit to the one that opened near me 4 years ago got me a good deal on a semi-rare Mosin Nagant. No visit since has offered anything fairly priced.

The last time I was there, they had a used Mauser that I wanted to see and was likely to purchase.

Ironically, the 3 employees were too busy huddled in the corner, discussing the current bonus incentive they were having for selling used guns, to come over and sell me a used gun.....

I used to like Gander back in the day. There's one near me and it doesn't even register on my radar as a place to visit these days. I don't think their selection is as good as the other big stores in the area, and their prices are astronomical by comparison. These days if I can't find it at a local shop, Cabela's, Bass Pro, or Sportsman's Warehouse, I just order it online. I'm really not surprised to see Gander Mountain go bankrupt.

EDITED TO ADD:

More and more it seems like all brick and mortar stores are being hurt in favor of online shopping. This isn't always possible for gun stuff, but it's still surprisingly handy, even for gun stuff. When I built my SBR AR-15 I tried to buy stuff locally, but just couldn't find any of the parts I was looking for. I bought my stripped lower, my optic, and a barrel nut locally. The trigger, barrel, upper, stock, buffer tube, buffer, spring, lower parts kit, upper parts kit, and iron sights were all purchased online. It's a bit of a conundrum really: if I can't find it locally I buy it online, which hurts the local stores, and makes it harder to find the stuff locally in the future. But, it is what it is. Times are changing. Still, the local stores would do well to have better customer service. I get some of their other issues, but bad customer service is inexcusable, and Gander suffered from this problem for a while, too.

Oh, no!!!....Now where will I go to lay hands on things before ordering them off the internet from some place cheaper?

Reading over the experiences of Gander shoppers, Gander's pricing strategy is inexplicable. If you are offering a 1980's Kmart ambience, you should offer 1980's Kmart prices. For the prices quoted in this thread, Gander ought to offer a Taj Mahal ambience.

They did it to themselves, 2 years ago, I brought them an Ithaca 37 featherweight shotgun in for a trade. It had a slug barrel, bird barrel, Leupold m-8 2x scope, fancy wood and a gold filled engraved receiver. They offered me $100. Last November, they were selling a used Colt defender .45 for the low price of $899.00. Retail for a new one on Colts web site was $899.

There's a GM right next to the Academy in Mesquite. I go to that Academy 3-4 times a month. I go to the GM 1-2 times a year. I hardly ever leave Academy empty handed. I rarely buy anything at GM. Comparing same items Academy is always 25-30% cheaper.

I go to that Academy 3-4 times a month. I go to the GM 1-2 times a year. I hardly ever leave Academy empty handed. I rarely buy anything at Academy.

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Sounds like you like Academy because Gander Mountain has better theft prevention?

Yep! That's the way I read it.
You have the right to remain silent. Everything you say will be used against you!

Rembrandt said:

Catalog and credit card segments of these big stores is often overlooked. Some years ago Cabela's bought out the entire catalog business from Gander Mountain. In effect, they reduced the competition by buying it out. No secret Bass Pro has been eager to acquire the credit card portion of Cabela's business.

Word was that with the passing of Dick Cabela, family wanted an exit strategy for the business.

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it always seems that way. the father spends his life building up a business and before he is embalmed his lazy useless kids are scheming to sell drooling over the money. I seen it a lot with farms lumber yards car dealerships and many other businesses

I was in a Gander store yesterday, Just looking for some MTM cartridge boxes, which per their web site they carried.
No joy, they had Plano which are fine, so I bought some of those. The parking lot, as usual, was almost empty. There may have been 4 vehicles there besides ours.

Even during Christmas season, the lot is never really filled up. I imagine that store would be among the first to get the axe. (Joliet IL)