# Sportsman's Warehouse in bankruptcy



## JTW (Feb 19, 2009)

http://deseretnews.com/article/0,5143,705292485,00.html
Looks like SW is bankrupt. A lot has been said on this site about the issues SW has, but it is still sad to see a local company go down hill. Hopefully they can regroup after this and keep their doors open.


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## stick_man (Sep 10, 2007)

It is a sad day when any company files for the protection of a bankruptcy. I don't think anybody could honestly say they didn't see that coming. At least it was a chapter 11 and not a 7. Chapter 11's are reorganizations where the filing company pays off the creditors over time, often at a lower settlement rate than originally agreed to. A Chapter 11 bankruptcy is not the end of the world, and, if they have proper (smart) management, they should be able to come out of this without much negative. If the existing management had been doing it's job and had had a little foresight, they could have been sitting pretty just through the reloading and ammo sales. Their internet sales (or lack of) has to have had a huge impact on them. While the competition has increased their sales and their markets, SW has sat back with a website giving basically only their locations and store hours. Hopefully, they will now be able to focus a little on what is currently hot in the market and do some real strategizing to pull themselves out of this bankruptcy.

I personally shop there as often as I can. The problem lately is they haven't had anything for me to give them some money for.


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

Insolvent = $452MM in debt vs. $436MM in assets. Wow, does not look good. I am sure that they could not sell the stock because there was negative equity in the company. The tough thing is that they will get new opportunities for loans, but if Olin, Federal and Browning get stiffed in the BK that certainly will not help the inventory problems.


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## Gee LeDouche (Sep 21, 2007)

+1 huge!

If they stiff the distributors, the distributors will simply stop stocking the stores..


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## #1DEER 1-I (Sep 10, 2007)

I haven't really read every peace about Sportmans Warehouse but is it staying in Utah and keeping all stores in Utah or are some or all closing?If so which ones are staying open and which are closing?


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## Huntoholic (Sep 17, 2008)

Gee LeDouche said:


> +1 huge!
> 
> If they stiff the distributors, the distributors will simply stop stocking the stores..


Chances are they have already stiffed their supplies to some extent (more than a 120 days out). This is probably going to be the death throws of a once good company. Having seen this type of thing before, the suppliers are going to have them on a very short leash. What we are seeing (or not seeing) at the stores is a result of a short leash. People start looking other places for their supplies and gear. This leads to further drop in sales and low profit margins (trying to get customers back), but they can't keep enough on the shelves because of bad credit and suppliers on a cash and carry type of relationship.

I hope they can survive, but it is not looking good.


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

The scary thing is that the suppliers are considered unsecured creditors, which seems odd to me and indicate that they likely will not be made whole or even close. They will be able to dump those leases or debt on the unprofitable stores, presumably the ones that they are closing; that should help profits a little. Here is a little piece from Dnews http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705292591,00.html


> Utgaard said since sweeping federal bankruptcy law changes in 2005, no retailer the size of Sportsman's Warehouse has successfully emerged from the process.
> 
> "We hope to be the first," Utgaard said.


I wish them the best, competition is obviously good for all of us, unfortunately I think it will be a long road ahead and will likely get much worse before it gets better for those of us who shop there.


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## proutdoors (Sep 24, 2007)

Where is their bail out? They are too important for sportsmen to be allowed to fail!


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## deadicatedweim (Dec 18, 2007)

Went to sportsmans tonight with a friend to get some regular bullets nothing special, outlaw tube jigs, a pointer, a couple blue fox, and a Browning windshield sticker. Who wants to guess how many items I was able to buy...? 

The answer was 0 they didn't have any of the things I was looking for in stock. There prices are better than cabelas but if I cant get at least 50% of the items I went for its not worth the drive. :evil:


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