Gander Mountain to file for bankruptcy

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I was in the nearby Gander Mountain last week. I had not been in since Christmas. What caught my eye was that a lot of merchandise had been marked up about 10%, sometimes more. Chinese made steel ammo cans had gone from about $12 to $15! Then today, I get a one-time-use coupon in the mail offering 20% off any regularly priced merchandise in the store.

Yeah, mark everything up and then give people a one-time-use coupon. That's the strategy J.C. Penney's followed and it didn't work out very well for them.
 
Kind of sad. I remember when Gander Mountain went bust the FIRST time in 1996. Left me holding a refund coupon for a small amount.
When I started reloading in the early 1970s, there were some actual local and regional stores with equipment and components, a very good one about 70 miles from home. If they didn't have what I needed, Gander was THE place to mailorder from.
 
here in youngstown we have one in the area.. when they opened here in 99 me and my buddy went crazy.the first 4 years we probally bought a combined 6 guns between us. in the mid 2000s things started to change for the worse. poor service the counter gus not being helpfull and used guns being higher than new ones. the last few years my money goes to fin feather fu. the staff is always helpfull abd if they dont have it they will try to get it.
 
When they only had their store at Wilmot, WI, I would always make a side trip there during the WI black powder championships to buy shot and counting stuff. Prices were great then.
 
I hate to see any sporting goods store fold up. They just opened a Gander Mt.
about 10 miles South of me on route 611 in Pa. Damn shame to see it go out
of business.

Zeke
 
Like a vulture, i'll wait for one within a few weeks of shutting its doors and swoop in, maybe for some closeout deals that finally resemble 'good' prices at other retailers. I went to one in TN recently and saw a swinging steel target for a sale price of $139.99, down from it's original price of $149.99 - I laughed because i had recently bought the exact same thing from Cabelas online for $99 with $5 shipping.

I feel bad for the employess, but such is free market.
 
godale said:
here in youngstown we have one in the area.. when they opened here in 99 me and my buddy went crazy.the first 4 years we probally bought a combined 6 guns between us. in the mid 2000s things started to change for the worse. poor service the counter gus not being helpfull and used guns being higher than new ones. the last few years my money goes to fin feather fu. the staff is always helpfull abd if they dont have it they will try to get it.
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love fin feather fur. I travel 30min one way to support them. prices are fair and service is top notch. Even had the owner come up one day and help me find something they were so busy.
 
Hokkmike said:
Not so as Gander will ALWAYS price match. That is if the dealer actually has the gun you want in stock at a lower price.
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not always. cabelas had a varmint light regular $99 on sale for like $70. Gander wanted $120. I asked if they priced matched and they said yes within reason. It had to be in stock and less than 100 miles away. I told them cabelas had it and they said oh that's over 100 miles away. I said nope 90 miles I already checked. :). He said they wouldn't do it so i said can you get a manager. He came back and said they wouldn't price match it because its online and not in the cabelas paper ad but would bring it down to $99. I purchase it and the light was junk so returned it.

Went in store one day looking for gander mountain brand rain gear it was buy the jacket and get pants half off at gandermountain.com. It was marked up higher than online and i asked the girl if it was the same online and she said yes cause its a gander product. the team lead who i talked to about the light a week before tried taking the difference off and it wouldn't let him so he called the manager who had a hand in the light ordeal and he says no its only an online sale and when his crew and myself questioned it he got cocky and leaned on the counter and asked me if there was anything else he could help me with and i said nope i will go home and order something from another store. He tells me that i can order it online and have it shipped to gander for free to get the buy one get one half off deal. I said no thanks. after that even if they had something i wanted for a buck or two more i would drive a little farther to purchase it from fin feather fur.
 
herkyguy said:
Like a vulture, i'll wait for one within a few weeks of shutting its doors and swoop in, maybe for some closeout deals that finally resemble 'good' prices at other retailers. I went to one in TN recently and saw a swinging steel target for a sale price of $139.99, down from it's original price of $149.99 - I laughed because i had recently bought the exact same thing from Cabelas online for $99 with $5 shipping.

I feel bad for the employees, but such is free market.
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don't hold your breath. one near me closed Sunday and started clearance in October. I needed new winter hunting clothes so decided to take advantage of the deals. signs said 20% off but marked up so when you purchased it the price was the original price it would have been. found a pair of bibs and went home to check reviews and they were online for $79. in store was $100 with the 20% off sign. wanted a new tent and it was gander product and it was priced the same. cheaper online, higher in store with a 20% off tag.

They also wont let you return anything at all. guy at work purchased a hat and t shirt combo that was in a bag or box said xl and come to find out it was like a medium and they said no returns. I purchased a limbsaver pad for my shotgun and the package clearly stated fits all Mossberg 500 shotguns and the pad is 2.5 inches too long. I noticed the staples holding the box shut were opened so someone swapped it and it had a plastic piece like its supposed to snap onto a synthetic stock. I was told no return or exchange so $15 in the trash. I hate people losing jobs but good riddance. Sorry-rant over. :)
 
herkyguy said:
Like a vulture, i'll wait for one within a few weeks of shutting its doors and swoop in, maybe for some closeout deals that finally resemble 'good' prices at other retailers.
Click to expand...


I thought the same thing when I went into one closing down a little over an hour from me. Prices were still ridiculous. mark up 100% take off 60% seemed to be the name of the game. I just laughed and walked out.
 
i really started to get discontent with them in 2006. after having a 243 for years along with 22s. i wanted a big rifle.after monts of research i decided on a savage american classic 30-06. at the time it was the best looking savage of the fleet.went gander they had no idea what i was talking about.i asked to speak to the head counter guy as i had the cash and wanted it ordered. no luck they kept trying to sell me a remmy or a browning.. both wre almost 200 more i just walked away.
 
godale said:
i really started to get discontent with them in 2006. after having a 243 for years along with 22s. i wanted a big rifle.after monts of research i decided on a savage american classic 30-06. at the time it was the best looking savage of the fleet.went gander they had no idea what i was talking about.i asked to speak to the head counter guy as i had the cash and wanted it ordered. no luck they kept trying to sell me a remmy or a browning.. both wre almost 200 more i just walked away.
Click to expand...
 
tarosean said:
I thought the same thing when I went into one closing down a little over an hour from me. Prices were still ridiculous. mark up 100% take off 60% seemed to be the name of the game. I just laughed and walked out.
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Liquidators do that
I've seen it over and over

The worst was the K Mary here. They had a Chraftsman tool chest I wanted. It often is on sale at an ok price. I decided to watch it as the closeout. Well one it was in the going out if business sale it no longer qualified for the regular sales. Needless to say I didn't get it as the store was picked over before it got to be a good deal. I'm betting someone got excited in the liquidation "sale" and bought it on an impulse at a price that was actually hire than at the Sears store a mile away.

I mention this so folks think about how liquidations work. Their job is to sell off the inventory at the highest price. The do it first by marking up prices then going 10% off for a time then 15% or 20% etc

They have a set time and the real deals are in the last few weeks but usually people by the desired items way before then in the excitement of the closing "sale"
 
Hokie_PhD said:
Liquidators do that
I've seen it over and over

The worst was the K Mary here. They had a Chraftsman tool chest I wanted. It often is on sale at an ok price. I decided to watch it as the closeout. Well one it was in the going out if business sale it no longer qualified for the regular sales. Needless to say I didn't get it as the store was picked over before it got to be a good deal. I'm betting someone got excited in the liquidation "sale" and bought it on an impulse at a price that was actually hire than at the Sears store a mile away.

I mention this so folks think about how liquidations work. Their job is to sell off the inventory at the highest price. The do it first by marking up prices then going 10% off for a time then 15% or 20% etc

They have a set time and the real deals are in the last few weeks but usually people by the desired items way before then in the excitement of the closing "sale"
Click to expand...
I happened to have been one of those that did this. My k mart was closing and i couldn't justify the $100 for a 6 drawer sheet metal cabinet AKA- tool chest and they went on sale for like $79. sears had them for $100-120 depending on the color. I went there and they had them down to $79 so i grabbed it thinking it was the last one to only see 5-6 sitting on a pallet. It was at the normal sale price but had a big 40% off sing on it making you think your getting a killer deal. I noticed that all the non gander mountain stuff was sold pretty cheap their last month or business but all the gander brand was still 30-40% off and they closed today and started clearance in October.

Last week everything non gander brand was 60-70%.
 
tarosean said:
I thought the same thing when I went into one closing down a little over an hour from me. Prices were still ridiculous. mark up 100% take off 60% seemed to be the name of the game. I just laughed and walked out.
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Reminds me of when Circuit City went out of business. Everything marked up over or at MSRP and then discounted to normal price.

As a side note, I remember twice being shocked at GM. Once when a new SR1911 was less than a used one and when I noticed their ammo prices were more than the mom and pop place across the highway. Asked a manager both times why that was and got the "Corporate makes the prices, " remark.
Sad part is they have/had a good selection of firearms. Prices were just nuts. I use them to look at the new stuff and go across the highway and order from the mom and pop joint.
 
Cannibul said:
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.
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That is the plain shopping truth that I have experienced. After years of not having a GM locally, they opened one. It opened at about the same time as a Cabelas here. There was already a Sportsman Warehouse and Bass Pro was building a new store. So.... I visited GM once in over a year. Like you, I find other alternatives to shop and GM isn't one of them. Multiply that 1000x and you can see why they are going bankrupt.
 
Alte Schule said:
http://www.twincities.com/2017/02/10/report-gander-mountain-preparing-bankruptcy-filing/

I drive by one every work day. Usually the parking lot is deserted. I rarely go in but when I do the employees usually outnumber the customers. Hate to see people losing their jobs or a business go under but unfortunately it's been long time in coming.
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Not surprised. Been expecting that for years. I was beginning to think it was just a front for a money laundering scam.

Deaf
 
Last time I went into GM I had a few gift cards and even with those, evwrything was so much more expensive than LGS stores I had a hard time finding something worth buying.

I normally only go to GM to try out a gun my LGS doesnt stock, then back to the LGS to order it for 50-70% cheaper.

Heck every other guns store and hardware store is so much cheaper than GM I never can understand how they sell any guns at all.
 
Hokkmike said:
Gander will ALWAYS price match. That is if the dealer actually has the gun you want in stock at a lower price
Click to expand...

And, it has to be an "Advertised Price". I tried that once and was met with this loophole.

The irony is, EVERYTHING in a GM is higher than EVERYWHERE ELSE and EVERYONE knows it,...... but, If I have to go to all that investigative effort to prove it to a store clerk, I'll save myself the trouble and just get it from the cheaper source in the first place.

Like others have said, GM serves a purpose for me in that I can put my hands on items that I'll eventually buy from somewhere else. I have never seen a "deal" in a GM. Ever. I have seen multiple examples of prices that should have caused embarrassment to whoever makes the pricing decisions. You have to really want it bad if you get it from GM.

Generally speaking, you can find the few that do shop at a GM in two places: waiting at the gun counter for service or waiting at the check out for service, often with no employees in sight.
 
The normal state of affairs is that the big box retailers beat the smaller retailers on price and selection while the specialized/smaller retailers offer better service/expertise and perhaps some more esoteric items.

I don't know what the strategy is when the big box store is not doing the price or selection or service or esoteric items. A cool logo?
 
Oh GM has a very beautiful interior! It has a huge selection! It has nice clean restrooms!

It's just the prices are bozno.. And like near by, there is Academy Sports!!! I mean, it's ridiculous, right?

Deaf
 
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