Bass Pro/Sportsmans Warehouse merger....

[Kirtley Howe]

Just read that the Federal Trade commission has blocked the merger of Bass Pro and Sportsmans Warehouse.  Personally, I think that is a good thing, as that merger would mean even less competition in sporting goods stores than there is now.  I have nothing against Bass Pro Shops, and do shop there often, but I hate to see competing retailers being gobbled up by them.  What are your thoughts on this? And.....go!

 

[DaubsNU1]

Several friends worked for Cabela's since the 1980's. College roommate and best friend started on the phones in Sidney, worked his way up to top 50 @ Cabela's. None of them work for BP/Cabela's now.

 

I'm a huge fan of the old school Cabela's gear (coats, pants, shirts, base gear, shoes, gloves, hats, waders, blinds, rods, etc.). Even met Jim Cabela once...

 

After BP took over, went down hill fast. Sadness. 

 

I still have a few hats, gloves, and one pair of Gore-Tex bibs with tags on them...stocked up years ago. 

 

Is what it is...things change. 

 

Glad there are companies out there making quality gear (Sitka, Kuiu, etc.). They are earning my business. 

 

Still shop at BP for some fishing lures...but not much else. 

[Kirtley Howe]

Yes, as you say, it is what it is. Case in point; In 1948, Dicks Sporting Goods was founded in Binghamton NY. It was a true sporting goods store that specialized in fishing (particularly fly fishing, but had everything for any style of freshwater fishing). By the time I was about 9 years old, it was my favorite store in the whole world, and they had 2 stores in Binghamton, NY.  But, things change...now they have over 800 stores all over the country....but now they should be called "Dicks Clothing, Shoes, Golf, other sports, and maybe some fishing and hunting stuff". The largest shareholder in the company is the founders' son, and since he is now filthy rich, I am sure he is very happy with the way the company is going.  For me, it is really disappointing, as they seem to have pretty much given up on any serious fishing or hunting supplies.  Life goes on.....

[FryDog62]

I kind of wondered if the FTC was going to step in during the BPS-Cabelas merger. A bit like GM and Ford merging leaving just Chrysler to compete at 20% their size.
 

But the emergence of online retailers gives this all a big twist since that is largely the direction the fishing industry is going. BPS may not be in the top 10 someday. 
 

[gim]

There is a Sportsman's Warehouse still here about 15 miles away from me.  I believe it is the only one left in Minnesota.

 

I do agree that when BPS bought Cabela's, things went down hill.  I still shop at Cabela's though, as they have by far the biggest selection of tackle in the area.  Scheels would be a close second but they actually remove most of their open water tackle in the winter and replace it with ice fishing tackle which peevs me off.  I went there in October and all of the bass stuff was already gone.  They lost my business that day.

[volzfan59]

I'm a huge BPS/ Cabela's fan, always have been. Normally I feel that the federal government needs to stay out of private businesses, my business and states affairs for that matter, but this was a good decision on the part of the FTC.. Here's my only concern, will Sportsman's Warehouse survive? They will, as long as they find an investor or another buyer. They wouldn't have entered an agreement to sell with Great Outdoors Group (BPS/ Cabela's) if everything was great. I wish S. W. nothing but the best, I wish that there was one near me. We need more tackle/ hunting/ camping/ outdoors retailers, not less.

[Kirtley Howe]

1 hour ago, volzfan59 said:

I'm a huge BPS/ Cabela's fan, always have been. Normally I feel that the federal government needs to stay out of private businesses, my business and states affairs for that matter, but this was a good decision on the part of the FTC.. Here's my only concern, will Sportsman's Warehouse survive? They will, as long as they find an investor or another buyer. They wouldn't have entered an agreement to sell with Great Outdoors Group (BPS/ Cabela's) if everything was great. I wish S. W. nothing but the best, I wish that there was one near me. We need more tackle/ hunting/ camping/ outdoors retailers, not less.

 

I think they will survive just fine. They were not seeking a buyer when BPS decided to make an offer. BPS was willing to throw a lot of money at them to "merge" (read that as to sell out to BPS), and the money was too good to pass up at the time. But, they were not in any financial difficulty at the time. Their sales were down a bit from previous years, but not enough to put them in any danger....at that time almost all retail sporting goods stores were seeing a slight decline in sales, so their situation was not unique. It was a cash grab for SW, and a no brainer (remove competition) for BPS, and expand there footprint without having to build new stores.  BPS had tried that a few years earlier when they tried to buy Gander Mountain, but RV World out bid them (and payed way too much in my opinion) to get the locations.

 

[volzfan59]

I sure hope that S. W. will be okay. You're right about Marcus Lemonis/ Camping World. Gander Mountain seems to have been a drag for them. I know at one time, it was talked about merging Camping World and the rebranded Gander Outdoors into one building and lot in some markets. Not sure if that ever happened.

[Glenn]

In case you missed it.

https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bass-pro-Sportsman-Warehouse-12421.html

 

[Allen Der]

On 12/3/2021 at 12:27 PM, volzfan59 said:

I sure hope that S. W. will be okay. You're right about Marcus Lemonis/ Camping World. Gander Mountain seems to have been a drag for them. I know at one time, it was talked about merging Camping World and the rebranded Gander Outdoors into one building and lot in some markets. Not sure if that ever happened.

 

They took the gander name off most of them around here.  just says camping world and maybe overtons too on the side