I live near the KCK store and have been concerned for awhile. It is amazing to me how quickly things can change. I used to get frustrated because it took so long to get sales assistance; this because the place was packed. The last few times I've been there, the staff outnumbered customers. Their supplies are generally good, but prices have increased a fair amount. Ammo is very plentiful, probably better than it has ever been. Hard to imagine making a profit with so few customers. Reloading components are sparse and expensive, but most stuff you really need is there. I buy most of my stuff at gun shows...like Varget for $26 lb with no tax when I pay cash. Cabela's just cannot compete with that. Cabela's clothing has also increased in price by quite a bit....some of it is ridiculously priced; just like BassPro. Oh and BTW, Cabela's is not doing away with their points program. They are changing their credit card. Customer service told me that when I get my new card and call to activate it the points will be transferred to the new account. That happens in October.
Local Cabela’s
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kmw1954
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Well here it is, the middle of September and the Cabela's store in Hoffman Estates Illinois has been out of stock on ALL primers since the beginning of March. 6 Months! Tells me what they think of their customers and the reloading end of that business.
DannyLandrum
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Please call *BASS PRO* headquarters, not Cabelas. Bass Pro runs the show - it's their fault and their fault alone that these terrible decisions are being made at Cabelas. If Cabelas had not been bought out by Ross's Dress for More (Clothing Store (BPS), it would still be excellent, as it once was. Tell them to tell Johnny Morris that you HATE the changes, and want Cabelas back the way it was - probably won't work but it's worth a try. And yes, the points system is the same - only difference is that it's a mastercard now (as of this coming tuesday), not visa.
DannyLandrum
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....
somethingbenign
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The trigger guards are really what did it for me. How that trigger pulls is so important to me when I buy any gun. I'm going this Sunday to browse the used section, I heard my local one just got in a bunch of M1 carbines and Savage 99s. I've mentioned the guards to the guys at the gun counter before, an email to Bass Pro does seem in order.
jlmwrite
Member
The two Denver Cabela's aren't worth the time to drive there anymore. There's no more adventure in the roughly 1/2 hour drive to either of them.
Blackpowder and supplies have been reduced to a single shelf. No Uberti BP pistols anymore. The Gun Library has empty shelves, and the used rifle racks outside the Gun Library have gone from 4 rows to 2 rows. Hunting clothing section is almost empty. I saw an entire empty display case where optics were the last time I visited. Even cleaning solutions and supplies have dwindled. The Bargain Cave is nearly empty, save for XXXXXL clothes and low-end boots.
Let's talk about BPS discontinuing the discounts for veterans at Cabela's (just ask any outfitter their opinion about that!). We finally cancelled our Cabela's-branded Visa with the changes to the points sytem. I'm not saying we're boycotting Cabela's, but we have definitely given up our fun afternoons every 4 or 5 weeks poking around one of the local Cabela's.
Blackpowder and supplies have been reduced to a single shelf. No Uberti BP pistols anymore. The Gun Library has empty shelves, and the used rifle racks outside the Gun Library have gone from 4 rows to 2 rows. Hunting clothing section is almost empty. I saw an entire empty display case where optics were the last time I visited. Even cleaning solutions and supplies have dwindled. The Bargain Cave is nearly empty, save for XXXXXL clothes and low-end boots.
Let's talk about BPS discontinuing the discounts for veterans at Cabela's (just ask any outfitter their opinion about that!). We finally cancelled our Cabela's-branded Visa with the changes to the points sytem. I'm not saying we're boycotting Cabela's, but we have definitely given up our fun afternoons every 4 or 5 weeks poking around one of the local Cabela's.
DannyLandrum
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Don't care if anyone boycotts or not (probably makes sense to me), but a couple of points of clarification are in order:
1. There is absolutely nothing different about the new card / points system at all. The only change is that they are going from Visa to MC. All points carry over, etc. The only difference is that BPS will now also have Cabela's excellent & rather generous points system (up side), and that if you shop at CostCo, you won't get any points, because Costco doesn't take anything but Visa (the one big down side). Bass Pro is forcing many of *their* M.O. upon Cabela's, but this is one area where they were smart enough to recognize that Cabela's card / point system was much better than Bass Pro's was.
2. The "empty shelves / empty cases" thing: that is a store thing only (not company wide), and there is no excuse for that. That is a point to complain to *that* store's general manager, who is responsible for using all available space to offer products (there are absolutely no shortage of products).
3. The corollary of that is that it absolutely *is* a BPS corporate thing when all shelves & displays are chock full, but there is simply less selection than before because of the "squeeze" put onto floor and gondo space due to the massive amounts of clothing and such. This is unfortunately a real thing that is actually happening. Complain to BPS corporate on this one.
4. BPS did indeed eliminate military discount at Cabela's, but ONLY for gun and gun-related items (scopes, ammo, etc). You still get the same military discount as before on everything else in the store (archery, hunting, camping, shoes, clothes, gifts, boating, etc). So it's unfair to say they eliminated the discount altogether - they didn't. To me, it makes sense on the guns themselves (lower margin item), but eliminating the discount on scopes etc. does not make any sense.
5. The trigger lock on everything rule is absurd indeed - please complain to BPS headquarters. However, they can and will do two things for you to mitigate the pain of this BPS nonsense: (a) they will take the trigger lock off of a gun behind the counter to do such things as check holster fit for one of their holsters for sale, to a gun that you brought in or is in their display, and to insert the separated bolt on a new turnbolt in those models which require trigger pull to do so (Wby etc) so that you can check bolt travel smoothness etc. - but they will always put the lock back on before handing the gun back to you; and (b) if you buy a gun and simply do not like the trigger pull, they WILL happily accept a return for refund for that reason, as an exception to their general rule.
6. On the upside, many locations do still have a pretty darned decent selection of both guns and ammo.... and they do at least try to (and in most cases do) give excellent customer service - which may justify paying a little more in some cases.... one example of this is the fact that they still do $25 transfers from an FFL you bought a gun from like Buds or whatever (i.e. an intermediary transfer) - this is much lower than many places. They will also mount and bore sight - in a reasonably competent manner (depending upon location) - your scope, whether you bought just the rifle, or just the scope or even just the base or rings only - and if they're not busy, they'll probably mount and bore sight you even if you bought everything somewhere else.
1. There is absolutely nothing different about the new card / points system at all. The only change is that they are going from Visa to MC. All points carry over, etc. The only difference is that BPS will now also have Cabela's excellent & rather generous points system (up side), and that if you shop at CostCo, you won't get any points, because Costco doesn't take anything but Visa (the one big down side). Bass Pro is forcing many of *their* M.O. upon Cabela's, but this is one area where they were smart enough to recognize that Cabela's card / point system was much better than Bass Pro's was.
2. The "empty shelves / empty cases" thing: that is a store thing only (not company wide), and there is no excuse for that. That is a point to complain to *that* store's general manager, who is responsible for using all available space to offer products (there are absolutely no shortage of products).
3. The corollary of that is that it absolutely *is* a BPS corporate thing when all shelves & displays are chock full, but there is simply less selection than before because of the "squeeze" put onto floor and gondo space due to the massive amounts of clothing and such. This is unfortunately a real thing that is actually happening. Complain to BPS corporate on this one.
4. BPS did indeed eliminate military discount at Cabela's, but ONLY for gun and gun-related items (scopes, ammo, etc). You still get the same military discount as before on everything else in the store (archery, hunting, camping, shoes, clothes, gifts, boating, etc). So it's unfair to say they eliminated the discount altogether - they didn't. To me, it makes sense on the guns themselves (lower margin item), but eliminating the discount on scopes etc. does not make any sense.
5. The trigger lock on everything rule is absurd indeed - please complain to BPS headquarters. However, they can and will do two things for you to mitigate the pain of this BPS nonsense: (a) they will take the trigger lock off of a gun behind the counter to do such things as check holster fit for one of their holsters for sale, to a gun that you brought in or is in their display, and to insert the separated bolt on a new turnbolt in those models which require trigger pull to do so (Wby etc) so that you can check bolt travel smoothness etc. - but they will always put the lock back on before handing the gun back to you; and (b) if you buy a gun and simply do not like the trigger pull, they WILL happily accept a return for refund for that reason, as an exception to their general rule.
6. On the upside, many locations do still have a pretty darned decent selection of both guns and ammo.... and they do at least try to (and in most cases do) give excellent customer service - which may justify paying a little more in some cases.... one example of this is the fact that they still do $25 transfers from an FFL you bought a gun from like Buds or whatever (i.e. an intermediary transfer) - this is much lower than many places. They will also mount and bore sight - in a reasonably competent manner (depending upon location) - your scope, whether you bought just the rifle, or just the scope or even just the base or rings only - and if they're not busy, they'll probably mount and bore sight you even if you bought everything somewhere else.
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Then come to the store in Berlin, MA. We (the Bride and I) go for a Cabela's run once a month. She gets clothes and camping stuff while I get my hand loading stuff. I was there a couple of weeks ago and they had plenty of powder, primers and bullets.
-mike
OK...2nd post to this thread. Went to KCK Cabela's this afternoon to take advantage of a sale mailing that gives me up to $75 off (used to be $100). So I go looking to buy a rod and reel. Had been in there a couple weeks ago and found what I wanted, but didn't want to spend the money at the time. They did not have the reel. Said that since BP took over they are not replenishing anything with the Cabela's brand. So I bought some plastic TRD worms and called it a day. Again, the staff outnumbered customers about 3 to 1. The check out guy says they are getting lots of customer complaints about the changes and swear they'll not return.
So does this mean they are doing away with cabelas brand stuff and now making it exclusively bass pro? I noticed this in the Avon Ohio store i visited a month ago. Nothing but bass pro t shirts, hoodies, hats and not a single stich of camo clothing, used guns are now in the library, fishing and boating has taken over 3/4 of the store, camping is almost non existent but i wasn't harassed over a credit card so that was a plus. With bow season opening Saturday and small game opening sept 1 i couldn't find a box of shot shells for dove, no decoys, chokes almost empty i said yep this will be the last time i come here. I know that everyone knows i despise cabelas but they are the only ones who had my choke tubes in stock and i had a gift card someone gave me.
frankmako
Member
yesterday i stopped by my local cabela's to look for a kick killer recoil pad (their web site shows one). first thing i noticed was the store has turned into a bass pro shop with clothing all over the place, more than i have ever seen. the bargain cave is gone. more fishing stuff and the same items in camping. reloading has got a smaller foot print, way smaller about 10 feet long. reloading item prices were bass pro prices, to high to buy. the shooting area has gotten a smaller foot print. haft of the old shooting foot print was taken up by dog training stuff and dog toys. i got a bass pro about one mile from cabela's that i have been in twice to check prices and i never stop anymore. so now it looks like cabela's is out for me. by the way they did not have the recoil pad and what recoil pads they did have was on ten hooks. a very small poor selection. cabela's has gone the way of bass pro, a clothing store with some camping and fishing stuff. i can not see two stores a mile apart staying open. one will have to closed.
Was in the local store last weekend. No more bargain cave. I did find some everyday/work type shirts that are ok for the money, but I can do just as well shopping at tractor supply, probably better.
We stopped at the gun case to check out .380 carry pistols, there was 5 guys behind the counter and only one was helping a customer. I took a number and had to wait for the guy with a customer to finish. He came over and was very friendly, told him I wanted to compare the glock 42 and lcp II, as a replacement for a kahr p380 we've had some issues with. He very happily handed me guns with trigger locks on them, and eventually had every 380 they had available out on the counter for her to try...trouble is you couldn't try the trigger, he couldn't tell you what was DAO, what was SA, or if anything was DA/SA , you can't tell what the slide is like to rack when the gun is already cocked, and you really cant even get a feel for a firing grip. I didn't push him to take the locks off as I figured it wouldn't happen.
I also couldn't find any .450 bushmaster ammo.
Overall it was kind of disappointing.
We stopped at the gun case to check out .380 carry pistols, there was 5 guys behind the counter and only one was helping a customer. I took a number and had to wait for the guy with a customer to finish. He came over and was very friendly, told him I wanted to compare the glock 42 and lcp II, as a replacement for a kahr p380 we've had some issues with. He very happily handed me guns with trigger locks on them, and eventually had every 380 they had available out on the counter for her to try...trouble is you couldn't try the trigger, he couldn't tell you what was DAO, what was SA, or if anything was DA/SA , you can't tell what the slide is like to rack when the gun is already cocked, and you really cant even get a feel for a firing grip. I didn't push him to take the locks off as I figured it wouldn't happen.
I also couldn't find any .450 bushmaster ammo.
Overall it was kind of disappointing.
frankmako
Member
No hunting or guns stuff. Just fishing and clothing. Turning into another gander mountain. By the way gm close their store here last year.
crestoncowboy
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Update
I went to the store in bristol va. Yesterday (Sunday). Nothing has changed. The bargain cave is still full, too full. They should swap the larger but useless "gun library" with the smaller bargain cave, it's just too cramped. And when the gun library is full of used glocks and m&ps/ 870s and budget rifles.... it has lost focus anyway. Powder was still the same price (27 for unique + 25 for cfe pistol, vs 35 for unique and 35 for cfe pistol at the bass pro 5 minutes away). They had plenty of powder and more bullets than ever for pistol (never had a massive selection) they had Rainer 165 jhp .40 bullets in stock for once (59.99 per 500). Possibly less rifle bullets but I didn't really look at them that long. Primers were scarce but the normal 35 per 1k and one could get a thousand of any size so long as they weren't too brand picky. The shelf for primers was quite bare though. They still have all their camo and hunting and trapping stuff. Ammo aisles were full, still overpriced.
I didn't look at the clothes really to see if they said bass pro or cabelas, I'm not the printed clothing type so I ignore all the outrageously priced "performance" outdoor gear. I work in textiles and deal with these companies daily they are overpriced I assure you.
The only thing I noticed is that in the entire knife/ ammo/ reloading section the are no sales. I seen one sale price tag on some already over priced ammo. This is unusual as there are generally lots of marked down items. Otherwise the store hasn't changed since the buyout. Perhaps because bass pro is 5 minutes away and it would be dumb to have two of the same store that close. Idk
I went to the store in bristol va. Yesterday (Sunday). Nothing has changed. The bargain cave is still full, too full. They should swap the larger but useless "gun library" with the smaller bargain cave, it's just too cramped. And when the gun library is full of used glocks and m&ps/ 870s and budget rifles.... it has lost focus anyway. Powder was still the same price (27 for unique + 25 for cfe pistol, vs 35 for unique and 35 for cfe pistol at the bass pro 5 minutes away). They had plenty of powder and more bullets than ever for pistol (never had a massive selection) they had Rainer 165 jhp .40 bullets in stock for once (59.99 per 500). Possibly less rifle bullets but I didn't really look at them that long. Primers were scarce but the normal 35 per 1k and one could get a thousand of any size so long as they weren't too brand picky. The shelf for primers was quite bare though. They still have all their camo and hunting and trapping stuff. Ammo aisles were full, still overpriced.
I didn't look at the clothes really to see if they said bass pro or cabelas, I'm not the printed clothing type so I ignore all the outrageously priced "performance" outdoor gear. I work in textiles and deal with these companies daily they are overpriced I assure you.
The only thing I noticed is that in the entire knife/ ammo/ reloading section the are no sales. I seen one sale price tag on some already over priced ammo. This is unusual as there are generally lots of marked down items. Otherwise the store hasn't changed since the buyout. Perhaps because bass pro is 5 minutes away and it would be dumb to have two of the same store that close. Idk
No profit in guns, ammo, or reloading compared to imported shoes, clothing, and fishing lure's .
Doesn't really matter if it's Cabela's, Dick's, BP, Academy Sports and Outdoors,,, If it doesn't turn a comparable profit, it won't receive the comparable floor space. Simple 'Business 101', and also why everything at BP is priced at a fat premium.
Won't be long until our options will be limited to either buying online or going to a dedicated Firearms / Firearms-related store.
Doesn't really matter if it's Cabela's, Dick's, BP, Academy Sports and Outdoors,,, If it doesn't turn a comparable profit, it won't receive the comparable floor space. Simple 'Business 101', and also why everything at BP is priced at a fat premium.
Won't be long until our options will be limited to either buying online or going to a dedicated Firearms / Firearms-related store.
kmw1954
Member
Agreed wholeheartedly. Use to be that Cabela's catered to All aspects of outdoors. Wasn't a limited interest as Bass Pro Shop's originally was when founded. They originally catered to the bass fishing community and in particular the Tournament Bass fisherman. Then to stay profitable they learned they needed to expand. They didn't go into camping and guns out of interest, other than expanding their line to bring in people. Their primary business interest is still Fishing, it's what they were built and founded on..
People still constantly bad mouth Gander Mountain. I can understand why, they over expanded and over extended themselves. See I can relate to when there was just One store and it was only about 20 minutes from my home. They carried fishing equipment, camping gear and firearms. They even had onsite gunsmiths! On the weekends the parking lot would be full all summer long. Place was great to wander around and look at all the new items. Then in the early 80's they exploded and the next thing one noticed was the store was full of Great Lakes fishing equipment. Bass fishing and Musky fishing took a big hit to make room for salmon.
At that time they also would stock full lines of reloading equipment and reloading supplies like primers, powders and bullets. I could almost always walk into the store and find Speer cast lead pistol bullets in bulk. They must have had a super deal worked out with RCBS/CCI/SPEER.
As for me, I have been able to only locate 2 dedicated Firearms/Hunting related shops within a 2hr. plus drive and neither are easy to get to. And to think I am within 1.5hrs. or less to both Milwaukee and Chicago! Even the range I frequent doesn't stock reloading supplies, though he will order them in for you for more than what you could order them yourself.
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