# Sportsman's/Bass Pro



## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

Well, the Great American Outdoor Group has purchased Sportsman's Warehouse.

I just hope that they don't screw up Sportsman's like they did Cabela's by filling the shelves with their junk Red Head merchandise.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/com...-by-great-american-outdoors-group/ar-BB1c7FFt


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

As long as no-one buys Gunnies we're ok. Gunnies is still the best gun store around.


-DallanC


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## backcountry (May 19, 2016)

This just popped up in my feed. Will be interesting to see how it all unfolds.


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## Vanilla (Dec 11, 2009)

This is bad news. I’m sorry to see this.


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

If I had the money, I'd open a small Ma-N-Pa sporting goods store and carry what folks really want. Weapons, reloading component's, Archery and have a gunsmith shop in the back. Leave the cloths and "fluff" to the now "chain" stores. 


SW tried to go big opening a lot of stores years ago across the country. Good idea, but they spread out the inventory doing so and couldn't keep the stores stocked with product. You cant sell merchandise and make money if you don't have it in stock. 


The largest profit margin in sporting goods is clothing and footwear. depending on the maker, its a 40-75 percent mark-up. That is what keeps the lights on.


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## Stickboy2 (Sep 6, 2019)

This absolutely turned my stomach when I read it.-O,-


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## Ray (May 10, 2018)

Honestly, I didn’t like Sportsman’s to begin with, after a couple of bad experiences I decided to never shop there again. 

First incident was 2 years ago, I went in to buy a shotgun, the sales rep was literally begging me to buy something in addition to my shotgun, because they are apparently “rated on their upselling” as he put it. He kept trying to walk me around to buy something extra, then he tried guilting me into buy a bronze brush “cause it’s only $3” I told him no and that I had a **** ton at home but he wouldn’t stop. This entire exchange lasted 20 minutes, I eventually told him that I was taking my business elsewhere and walked off.

Last year, my wife went in to buy a .22, she had my baby in her arms who was 3 months at the time, they she stood there for 30 minutes trying to get help as they continued to help other people that showed up way after her, so she left and got the gun at Smith & Edwards, which is where we go now.

Screw sportsman’s.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

Sportsmans has the worst gun counter ever. 

I agree with Ray. They help whomever they feel like. 

At least Cabelas had a ticket system to help people on order of arrival.


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

I'm not thrilled to hear this, as SW is on the way home from work and is very convenient for picking up odds and ends for upcoming trips. I haven't been overjoyed with how "The Great Outdoors group" manages their other holdings. 

Can't say I'm surprised either, as my local SW has been low on inventory for several months. It probably was partially a function of the pending purchase. 

My main fear is that they will close stores as part of a "streamlining effort".


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## backcountry (May 19, 2016)

Their upselling policy was getting old. That said I also used them for a few odds and ends. They have been great for ice fishing lures and such. 

But I mostly use Bass Pro the same way.


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## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

I have a hard time with SW here in Cedar. It seems I can rarely find what I want -- but they sure have a bunch of other stuff that I don't want. Usually it's expensive too. But that goes for all of the stores -- you can't find cheap camo. You can find a cheap beanie. You can't find a cheap surface plug.


but what really gets me is that the last two times I've gone to buy some .270 ammo, they have none. None. Nothing at all.


I stop in to C-A-L Ranch these days if I need something off the shelf. Otherwise, it's Amazon. And that sucks too.


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## caddis8 (Sep 10, 2007)

I kind of wonder if that will pass regulators. I wonder if they'll need to spin off some operations.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

After the Christmas ordering fiasco last year at Cabelas/Bass Pro, I swore I was done with them. Guess what? So far so good, haven't ordered a thing from there or been in the store. It's Scheels for me these days.


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## Ray (May 10, 2018)

I agree with the comments above, my three go-to stores are Smith & Edwards, C-A-L Ranch and Scheels.

Now if I’m in a pinch and I need a bunch of ammo that’s competitively priced, I go to Gallenson’s, they ALWAYS have a butt ton of ammo and there’s no limit.


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## middlefork (Nov 2, 2008)

caddis8 said:


> I kind of wonder if that will pass regulators. I wonder if they'll need to spin off some operations.


No. Too many competitors still.

Economy of scale only works to a certain degree. It doesn't take much to become sluggish to market changes. And trying to make share holders happy can lead to ruin in a hurry.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

PBH said:


> but what really gets me is that the last two times I've gone to buy some .270 ammo, they have none. None. Nothing at all.


The current run on ammo far exceeds anything we've seen in the past. The huge bottleneck atm is primers, I see people on ksl regularly asking $150-180 per thousand... when not long ago they were $35. And most of what was being offered actually sold (small pistol / small rifle).

If you reload and you dont have alot of supplies you are pretty much screwed at this point.

Its getting worse. I'd highly recommend if you shoot a good factory ammo, get on a site like Gunbroker, find a moderately overpriced case of ammo and buy it. Sure its painful to pay steep markups... but if things continue like they are, that ammo is going to be crazy priced over the next year.

9mm pistol ammo, one of the most commonly produce calibers on earth is over $1 a round now. Over the weekend, I saw a box of plain old green box Remington 22-250 ammo: $35 :shock:

-DallanC


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## Ray (May 10, 2018)

DallanC said:


> PBH said:
> 
> 
> > but what really gets me is that the last two times I've gone to buy some .270 ammo, they have none. None. Nothing at all.
> ...


The armory currently has 1k round boxes of 9mm for $500


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## Brettski7 (May 11, 2020)

Ray said:


> I agree with the comments above, my three go-to stores are Smith & Edwards, C-A-L Ranch and Scheels.
> 
> Now if I'm in a pinch and I need a bunch of ammo that's competitively priced, I go to Gallenson's, they ALWAYS have a butt ton of ammo and there's no limit.


Ray you couldn't turn me on to that little tidbit called Gallensons earlier? Think I found my new favorite store and where I'll be heading as soon as I'm back in Utah.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Gallensons always takes advantage to price gouge. Thats why they usually have inventory... if you can afford it, great I guess. I cant imagine ever setting foot in there again. To each his own.

-DallanC


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## Ray (May 10, 2018)

DallanC said:


> Gallensons always takes advantage to price gouge. Thats why they usually have inventory... if you can afford it, great I guess. I cant imagine ever setting foot in there again. To each his own.
> 
> -DallanC


Prices are a higher than what they used to be in there but I've found them to actually be a little bit below the rest of the price gouging going on. Again, I only use them when I'm in a pinch and need something.


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

I worked at the gun counter part time 12-15 years ago, loved it! Went through the bankruptcy with them. I was the second person to be called back when they fired back up under new ownership. After a couple more years I had a gut full of the crap they were asking us to do. "Up-selling", and wearing a dang trap vest. I logged into the computer to get it ready for the day, opened the pistol wall, unlocked the pistol case and looked at the sales report. 


I was pissed off at the amount they had brought in for the week and hadn't had a raise or review for two years. I shut the computer off, hung up my vest and walked out the door and said goodbye to them. 


Met some great folks and had a great time while there. Just couldn't deal with the "broke sob story" anymore.


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## reb8600 (Sep 8, 2007)

Sportsmans has been disappointing for a long time now. The one in Riverdale has been bad for several years.


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## backcountry (May 19, 2016)

The one benefit to keep in mind is ship to store is normally free. I just got an ice rod faster that way and no cost in shipping as it wasn't in stock at the local store. Sportsman's has more than enough issues but I'll probably keep using the same amount and reel in the benefits of free shipping to store from broader inventory. Allows me to shop online while keeping more of my dollars local. That's assuming the parent corporations inventory will now be available for that option.

And they still do curbside which helps in a "higher risk" household trying to get through the last ten weeks of pregnancy without Covid-19 related complications.


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## Vanilla (Dec 11, 2009)

This "upselling" discussion on Sportsmans is interesting. I've purchased 3 guns there over the last 5-6 years on pretty good deals. The only question I remember getting asked when purchasing the gun was "Do you want to pick up some ammo today to go along with this?" 

That seems like a very reasonable and valid question to be asking, and it didn't strike me as odd or annoying at all. I don't recall getting asked anything else. In fact, for one of the guns, The guy talked me into NOT buying a scope they had in stock that I was looking at and thinking about putting it on the gun. 

Less people in the marketplace is a bad thing for consumers. Cabelas went downhill noticeably and quickly after the acquisition. I can only imagine the same will happen to Sportsmans Warehouse. It has been my go to place for "small" odds and ends when I needed them. I doubt that will continue once this officially goes through and the changes start rolling in.


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

"Upselling" can be beneficial at times. If the sales person can read people, they can actually help the customer out. I had a female customer that was feeling very awkward when purchasing a hand gun. She had a CCP and after spending 10-15 minutes "LISTENING" to her and trying to fill in the gaps she had, I actually had her calmed down and feeling like she were purchasing her 25th weapon. 


I showed her all the accessories that were available for the pistol she was buying. Explained the where with all on every item I showed her. She asked me...."Do I need it now"? That is where I could have taken advantage of her, and was honest and said NO, not now. 


I saw her a month later at the gun counter and she was like a totally changed individual. Not timid, and sitting back in the crowd. Her head was held high and a big grin. She was looking for a few items I had showed her a month earlier. She became a "regular" at the counter every other Sunday after her pistol purchase. She would only work with me and wait patiently if I was with another customer.


By NOT having her spend the money on "Up selling" her the first visit, she felt safe and comfortable and spent much more money in the months that followed.


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## Lone_Hunter (Oct 25, 2017)

Dammit. Say what you want about sportsmans, love em, or hate em, having one conglomerate own the 3 biggest outdoor retailers isn't good. They screwed over cabella's, and they'll probably pooch screw sportsmans. I liked sportsmans, I didn't have to drive all the way to freaking lehi, and I avoided what is basically bass pro by another name.


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## BigT (Mar 11, 2011)

I didn't shop at SW all that much, but after Bass Pro bought Cabelas, I stopped going to Cabelas, and would go to SW if I needed something quickly. I mostly buy directly from the manufacturer now with hunting clothing, or boots. Guns can be purchased at a variety of other places as mentioned! I personally like Scheels. It's a huge store, but they've always treated me nicely. I actually picked up two boxes of 9mm ammo there the other day for $16 a box... Probably more than they ought to be, but as someone else mentioned, Gallenson's in SLC gouges pretty hard on ammo. We'll just check SW off the old list now!


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## JerryH (Jun 17, 2014)

Another good brick & mortar down the $hitter


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## outn'bout1 (Sep 17, 2007)

Who cares? It isn't my business to run, and it's none of my business to tell others how to run their business. Just a thought.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

It may not be your business to tell them how to run their business but the way that they have shown on how that they run their businesses that they have bought out may be. 

If you have followed Cabela's demise you would see what I am talking about. Some still like Cabela's, I however will never walk into another one. And if they change the merchandise in Sportsman's like they did in Cabela's I can add another store to my list not to spend my money in.


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## Vanilla (Dec 11, 2009)

outn'bout1 said:


> Who cares? It isn't my business to run, and it's none of my business to tell others how to run their business. Just a thought.


I wonder how those businesses would do without customers? Just a thought.


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

Vanilla said:


> I wonder how those businesses would do without customers? Just a thought.


There will always be folks walking in the building, doesn't matter what name is on the store front. The building and property itself is worth a substantial amount of money. A corporation as large and rich as who owns them now doesn't care if they loose 10% of the customers to another entity.

There will be a few that don't go back. Also, there will be more that will go in just out of curiosity, and see what the changes are, if any. I don't think you'll be able to buy kettle corn and roasted almond though.

Maybe Bass Pro has learned something since acquiring the Cabela's brand? Hopefully, this is about buying the brand, not a total rebuild of the store.

Look on the bright side....You could see a fish tank and feed the fish. LOL


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