What happened to Cabelas?

[joplinsks]

Once a year... usually in April for a two week period... Cabela's offers Cabela's Club Visa members $30 in free merchandise. There's no minimum spending amount... even if you spend just $30, you get it free at the register. That event usually deserves a spring weekend trip to Kansas City.

Most of my Cabela's shopping is done in their "Bargain Cave" area. They usually have a little bit of everything at savings of 30% or more than their regular merchandise... and sometimes quite a bit cheaper than internet vendors.

 

[Jeffreii]

I am all over the US so I am usually going by a cabelas every day or so. I usually make myself not go in as I will be at LEAST 500 bucks poorer than when I went in. Usually buying a bunch of reloading supplies.

I like going into the one in Wisconsin as I like their cheese balls and orange juice. Some others I go to are ones that give a discount for buying a whole pizza instead of per-slice price multiplied by number of slices.

My last outing into California spotted one in reno area a few miles from the CA border.

I also noticed many outlets quit having/stocking shotgun hulls. Dont seem to see them anymore - whaaaaaaaa!

As far as the prices, yeah, they are a bit high. Look at all that overhead they have though. Sometimes they have good deals on stuff - you just have to shop around in the store. They [smartly] figure you will buy enough of the overpriced stuff while in the store to make it all worthwhile.

Walmarts are all over, so they are obviously going to be more popular. Most though have limited supplies of hunting supplies, and very few offer reloading supplies such as bullets and powders (for regular cartridges, not muzzleloading supplies)

 

[sandwich]

I see tons of posts about Walmart this and Walmart that. I would like to see some posts about Cabelas...I can't be the only one that has noticed they are no longer a store for the real sportsman. Seems like ever since they introduced their Cabelas credit card the prices are no longer competitive.
I still order some things and visit the retail store in Owattona, MN once in a while but only do so armed with a bunch of Cabelas points built up on my Cabelas card or a 20% discount offer in hand. Has anyone elso noticed this?

No longer a store for the real sportsman? Surely they can't be worse than Gander (ripoff) Mountain.

 

[pinetree64]

I order from Cabelas all the time. Lately Basspro has offered more of what i was looking for. There is a Basspro fairly close but historically it has been poorly run. Good prices on guns but inventory is hap-hazard, things are out of place and nothing had prices. I order mostly clothes from them.

I order gun stuff from Grafs or Midway.

Wal Mart seems to have good prices on there Win White Box 100 rds but I order in bulk from Georgia Arms or reload myself.

 

[Sleeping Dog]

we have a Sportmans Warehouse that is closer

I never heard of that store. Their web site shows that there's a retail store 10 minutes from my house. Maybe Cabelas and Gander Mt have some competition.

I'll check it out tomorrow, I'm not working on MLK2 day.

Regards.

 

[22-rimfire]

The nearest Cabelas to me is like 400 miles. I don't think I'll be a regular retail store customer. I shop Bass Pro and Sportsman Warehouse mostly. I'd like to see a Cabelas closer which is why I was excited about the possibility of the NW GA store which did not happen. In the mean time, other retailers are filling that market niche. The Bass Pro store in Sevierville TN is quite successful. It is hard to walk into that store and not spend $200. That is $200 that I might have spent at Cabelas via their catalog.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

The Cabela's in KCK is the second biggest tourist destination in the state.
We go there if we have plenty of Cabela's bucks on the books and a coupon or two with specific items in mind.
Our six year old has fun feeding the fish,the wife and I look for bargins and we get a bite to eat.It is just a STORE...but it is a nice store and everyone shopping there is having a nice time.They pay the workers lousy so don't expect much from them.Think of it as a sportsman's Home Dopey with lots of stuffed animals decorating it and a big aquarium...

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

I am unsure what "happened" - the implication being that something has changed for the worse - to Cabela's.

There is a Cabela's store three miles from me, and I've ordered stuff from them - first by mail, then the Internet - for years prior, even having a Cabela's Club Visa.

I don't find their prices, overall, to be all that high. Some things are a little more than at other stores, others less, and they are excessively "proud of" some of the guns in the Gun Room, but the point is that they have what I want. I've also taken advantage of a couple of discount offers for using the Club card in the store, on different occasions saving $100 off a S&W M&P pistol and $85 off a S&W 3913LS that I found in the Gun Room.

 

[cornman]

Gander mountain used to be good years ago, but how does one justify buying stuff so much more expensive from a big box kind of store? Much of there ammo is 50-100% more than Walmart!

 

[tomh1426]

I go to Cabelas alot because its 5 miles from my house.
I go to look cuz their expensive so I usually dont buy anything big.
Also their always really crowded and I freak out after a while, I wont wait at the counter for 20 minutes Ill go some place else.
Sportsmans wearhouse has a better reloading section their employees are more knolegible and their cheaper so I usually get my bigger stuff their.

 

[MD_Willington]

I have 2 Walmarts 20 minutes away from my house.. the nearest Cabelas..

Boise ID or Lacey WA.... 3+ hours away....

 

[rhubarb]

What happened to Cabela's? From what I see, they've gone from a leading outdoor catalog mail order business to creating a wonderful website and beautiful stores worthy of a visit even if you aren't shopping. If you are shopping, especially for firearms, the one I've been to has the best selection and pricing of any store I've entered. That includes and especially refers to reloading components and tools.

That's what happened to Cabelas.

 

[Avenger]

I've been to the one near Wheeling, WV, and I have to admit the place is nice. But the prices in the gun/shooting/hunting area were a solid 50% more than local sources, the selection wasn't as good, and sales staff was non-existant. The fishing area was pretty darn good though, and I spent a solid hour watching fish in the aquariums.

 

[Zedicus]

In Boise:

Factory Boxed Ammo: Cheaper at Sportsmans, but they don't have a number of Popular Rifle Calibers.
New Guns: Cheaper at Cabelas in most cases except with Marlin Lever Guns.
Reloading Supplies & Equipment: 2-way Tie.
Scopes: Good Competitive prices at both stores
Holsters & Cases: Better Selection at Sportsmans, But good Competitive prices at both stores.
Cleaning & Maint Supplies: Hoppes is cheaper at Sportsmans, But on everything else they are within a few cents or so of each other.

Used Guns: Pawn Shops are 50%+ Cheaper than Cabelas who usualy wants new or more than new prices for used.

Service: Sportsmans is better, but Cabelas has only been here about a year and they still have some buba's & California moonbats to weed out of their staff.

 

[thexrayboy]

Nothing "happened" to Cabelas anymore than anything has "happened" to Walmart, Sportsmans Warehouse or any other chain of stores. They are a business. As such they seek to provide a product for a percieved market at a price that will induce said market to buy thus creating profit for the company and its owners.

Prices at stores like this are driven by a complex mix of factors including costs of the goods the store stocks, competition, cost of business overhead and the economy in general. If a company does real good at balancing these factors and gives good value for the money they will succeed and profit if they are marginal at this they may stay in business but not do very well. If they suck at balancing these factors they tend to go out of business.

Stores such as these, be they single entities or corporate chains do not usually make decisions based on political agendas when it comes to how they do business, they make decisions with costs and profits as the deciding factors.

While exceptions to this do exist they are just that, the exception, and they tend to be owned or controlled by antis we know about like Turner, Soros, etc.

 

[ndresche]

Cabela's does have things it is good at. From my experience they are fine if they have the gun you are looking for in the store. If they need to special order it you are screwed. I just had a wonderful experience with them and they sold me the wrong gun and tried to charge me the price for the one i ordered ($400 more). So needless to say, their gun department people are stupid, or they think their customers are stupid.
And their customer service does not help unless you are complaining about how they screwed up.

Please note my only Cabela's experience has been with the one in Dundee MI.

 

[CoRoMo]

Posted by Quigley
...the prices are no longer competitive.
I still order some things and visit the retail store in Owattona, MN once in a while but only do so armed with a bunch of Cabelas points built up on my Cabelas card or a 20% discount offer in hand.

Agreed. Most all the money that I've spent with them over the past few years has amounted to reward points from my credit card and coupons. I recently bought about $240 worth of stuff, but I only paid $4.89 out of pocket for it all. Much of the merchandise was at prices that I wouldn't care to pay, but when I have $235 in reward points and coupons that can only be used at Cabela's, I buy their stuff with it.

The best customer service? Meh. Maybe. Their "Best Price Promise" won't get you a better price outside of their retail stores. If you find better prices online, locally, etc. it won't get you anywhere with Cabela's by phone or their website. You'll have to make the trip to one of their stores. In most of our cases, that isn't worth the gas money. It'd be nice to call them up and point them to a website that offers a smoking price and have them match/beat it, but that won't happen.

 

[Guns and more]

The price of everything is going up because the value of the dollar is going down. What did you expect when the government is printing $50 of every $100 they spend.
You wanted change................you got it.

 

[DagoRed]

They ran out of stock and I was put on backorder until they could order more.

Several Cabelas emails later, each pushing the expected in stock date out,

I am experiencing this now on ammo I ordered. Keep pushing the date back over and over.

 

[Quilbilly]

I have been to the Cabelas store twice and ended up at Sportsmans down the street both times. It is sure fancy and they have a lot of cool stuff....but most things are overpriced and dont have a great selection of stuff I actually want.

A pistol I got was $25 cheaper at Sportsmans Warehouse. They didn't have any water Keel duck decoys. They did have electronic duck calls and battery operated decoys though (which are illegal in WA).

 

[Justin]

This thread is pretty old, so you might want to start a new thread in the appropriate forum.