Dick’s sporting goods, Keitech, and Googan

[Spankey]

9 hours ago, webertime said:

FYI Googan baits is owned by Favorite.  

Most likely Chinese. 80-90% of most fishing stuff available. Not much of a way around it.  
 

The US has to get China on the hook for high dollar more technical products. 

[Brett's_daddy]

12 hours ago, webertime said:

FYI Googan baits is owned by Favorite.  

Honestly, it doesn't matter much to me who owns who...it's all about the baits. China makes about 90% of the lures out there anyway so it doesn't really matter. I look for quality, durability and good action...if a bait has all of those characteristics I don't really care who's name is on the packaging (yup, I do own some Googan baits, crankbaits and soft plastics...they seem to work well so I'm okay with them being made by Googan).

[Glenn]

While a lot of baits are still made in China, it's not as much as most think.  Many higher-quality manufacturers have turned to Taiwan, Vietnam, South Korea, Indonesia, and even Japan.  And yes, some baits are also made in Mexico, Guatemala, and the good ole USA.  Overall, I'd say little more than half the baits are still made in China.

 

[moguy1973]

On 10/11/2021 at 4:54 AM, Born 2 fish said:

The dicks by my house completely stopped selling fishing equipment.

Same here.  At least at the Dick's in the mall near my house.  They used to have a huge fishing section on the second floor as you came up the escalator. They used to do a fishing classic type of sale every now and then and it was a great place to stock up on things.  Now it's a very small section near the back of the store on the 2nd floor and the selection is very rarely stocked up and there is rarely a sale on things anymore.  Academy has been my go to place anymore to get things.  They are building a BPS about a mile from my house, and I expect my bank account to take a hit from that.  The Goon squad has infiltrated Academy too though and they usually have half an aisle to themselves now.  I just walk by and laugh.

[PressuredFishing]

Don't shop at Dicks much, I buy things time to time but they blatantly UPCHARGE 1-2 bucks for each lure, personally I'd rather just pay the 5 buck shipping cost on TW and get some stuff you can't find in person. As for the googan baits issue the store does what a store does I guess, my local dicks barley has a fishing isle in general and another one doesn't even have one.

[webertime]

My point being.  Dicks, by buying from one company in huge amounts, sells:

Stickers

Tackle boxes

Tackle bags

Hardbaits

Softballs

Jigs

Rods,

Reels

Rod socks

Terminal

Line

 

At a greater margin than buying swimbaits from keitech allows.

 

[Diggy]

The one near me increased the fishing area significantly, it's a pretty big space. They have pretty good selection of items and rods for 95% of anglers. They have   3 full aisles of Googan stuff plus extra end caps. 

[Darth-Baiter]

  my local Dicks has the tiniest fishing section.  It’s downright cute. One in a nearby town is pretty huge and substantial. But they are the only fishing stores and can support the business.  My town we have lots of competition. 

Edited October 12, 2021 by J Francho
Profanity Removed

[Spankey]

1 hour ago, Darth-Baiter said:

  my local Dicks has the tiniest fishing section.  It’s downright cute. One in a nearby town is pretty huge and substantial. But they are the only fishing stores and can support the business.  My town we have lots of competition. 

Are you lucky enough to to have real tackle shops?

[gim]

On 10/11/2021 at 12:23 AM, ABurk said:

I don’t gripe with any bait brands, but I try to steer away from Dicks because they tend to be more expensive than anywhere else.

The one near my house isn’t bad. Although they did remove guns and ammo, their fishing tackle selection is still pretty good. Their prices are often higher but they will price match anything if you ask, even if you find it online and show them on your phone.

[LrgmouthShad]

18 minutes ago, Spankey said:

Are you lucky enough to to have real tackle shops?

I ain't. Dick's is it for here, that's why I had a thread about picking up essentials from Dick's ?. Didn't realize how that mighta sounded when I wrote it.

 

Back home...... ?. Got one tackle shop that's got just about everything from 1960 and beyond. Great business. A little pricey, but they know their stuff and have everything. 

[Darth-Baiter]

1 hour ago, Spankey said:

Are you lucky enough to to have real tackle shops?

I am. A huge fishing store. 

[schplurg]

I haven't bought much from inside any fishing store lately, they don't have anything in stock.

 

I have a Bass Pro 5 miles away. Always out of stock. When they have something I want I order from them online and pick it up at a little door in back of the store. No reason to go inside, it's really dark in this one too so I need my glasses to read anything.

 

Dick's has no fishing gear here, and when they did it was expensive. Never liked them.

 

I just shop online these days. Find what I want at TW, Walmart, BPS, or stores I've never heard of. I'm not loyal to anyone right now because nobody can supply me with everything I need, and I don't need much.

 

Edit:

Last time I saw fishing gear at Dick's they did have a Googan section. I suppose Googan is paying for that and have some deal with Dick's.

 

I'm glad this thread is not locked like most threads that mention Googan. We should be able to discuss all brands of tackle as long as someone isn't blatantly spamming.

[J Francho]

You can discuss them all you want. All it does is add relevance that they need to market to places like DSG. How does it feel to be played?   

[thediscochef]

Googan is king in the marketing world right now as far as I can tell...I see them all over the place. Doesn't help that I live about five minutes from their HQ. I'm not personally a fan of their plastics, they tear really easily and get beat up pretty quick. Then again I'm used to indestructible (by comparison) ElaZtech so my opinion my be flawed.

[gim]

12 hours ago, schplurg said:

I just shop online these days.

I'm the complete opposite.  I prefer to physically select the items I am looking for so I can touch them and look at them in person.  I am able to do that about 95% of the time with a Cabela's, Fleet Farm, Scheels, and yes a Dicks all within 15 miles of my residence.

 

Last year when the tackle shortage started and demand soared because of covid, most of these retailers were wiped out.  So I had to buy online and pay shipping and wait a week for my items.  Hated it.  Luckily retailers are mostly fully stocked again and have been for months now so online shopping is no longer required here for most of what I am looking for.

 

I realize that not everyone has the convenient access to retailers nearby like I do, so online shopping is the only option.

[J Francho]

23 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I prefer to physically select the items I am looking for so I can touch them and look at them in person.

I'm the same, though I've adjusted to ordering online.  The part that helped me get comfortable with it was realizing how simplified returning anything that didn't meet my expectations was.  It's nothing like the old days of "mail order".  Some places even send you a return label with the shipment.

[Spankey]

On 10/12/2021 at 10:27 AM, Glenn said:

While a lot of baits are still made in China, it's not as much as most think.  Many higher-quality manufacturers have turned to Taiwan, Vietnam, South Korea, Indonesia, and even Japan.  And yes, some baits are also made in Mexico, Guatemala, and the good ole USA.  Overall, I'd say little more than half the baits are still made in China.

 

Taking away Japan. Is there that much of a difference. 
 

Put it in a brown bag shake it up and dump it on a table top and it’s all about the same. 
 

Bandit, Bomber and a few others use to have a heck of a product line. What is it down to now?

 

The last few years I’ve been using some products from Japan. Like the quality, the overall differences, and they catch fish. A little more/a lot more pricy but they catch fish. Wish they were more readily available on a local scale. Price may be the reason for local availability. 

[KP Duty]

On 10/11/2021 at 4:54 AM, Born 2 fish said:

The dicks by my house completely stopped selling fishing equipment.

Same here in Tulsa.  Had a reel I ordered during the christmas sale I wanted to exchange in-store.  "We don't have a fishing department" I was told when I arrived.