Why not Cabelas?

[gim]

22 hours ago, PBBrandon said:

Cabelas is nice, but their selection, especially compared to Scheels, is kind of lacking.

Exact opposite here. Cabelas has by far more tackle than any retailer here, and it’s not even close. They have 25-30 aisles of tackle at the one I frequent, and it’s well stocked.

 

Scheels removes all their tackle here in October and replaces it with ice fishing crap. They lose my business from Oct - March.

20 hours ago, Catt said:

I ain't comfortable buying anything sight unseen. Don't order much online, I gotta have hands on.

Same. 90% of my purchases are in person. I wouldn’t even consider buying something like a jacket, footwear, or a rod online. I need to try those things on and hold them before buying. Cabelas fits that mold for me.

[Darren.]

I haven't been in a Cabelas for years, last one was in AZ on a

trip for a family wedding. Was a great trip and a sweet Cabelas.

That said, I always saw them as a northern states shop. I just 

never got much into them, but when BPS bought them I was 

rather sad. IMHO, BPS has gone steadily downhill over the past

10 years. The Spring Classic deals early on were fantastic, no

longer. Employees (at least at the Hampton, VA) BPS were 

knowledgeable, and fishermen on their own right. Not that 

they aren't now, but times have changed. BPS is another Brick

and Mortar retailer. 

 

As others have mentioned, the rise of online retailers has 

greatly changed the playing field. The local BPS/Cabelas just

doesn't carry enough stuff, so online I go! We do shop local

for things, too, we like to keep locals in business, as well.

[Catt]

@gimruis We have 3 local sporting goods stores that are well stocked. I seldom by rod-n-reels, so most of what I buy is replacing what I lost. 

[Smirak]

The BPS around Gatlinburg, TN is bomb (maybe in Sevierville?). Wife travels to Knoxville for work sometimes and I go there. Also, the BPS in Leeds, AL (Birmingham) is pretty good too. I’ve found that the “actual BPS” stores, vs the “Outposts” usually have a much better selection. Also, found that one that is tied to a “mills mall” are lacking. In Nashville, there is one at Opry Mills. 

[gim]

Just now, Catt said:

@gimruis We have 3 local sporting goods stores that are well stocked. I seldom by rod-n-reels, so most of what I buy is replacing what I lost. 

I am the same. At this point I am only buying rods or reels to replace one.

 

I will occasionally buy tackle or lures from Omnia here. It’s a hybrid style business that allows online order and pick up in person. They also have a small retail area at their warehouse with rain gear, rods, and reels so people can look at them in person before making a purchase.

[MichaelN]

The nearest town from where I live is almost 30 minutes away, and it's very small. Buy local means Wal-Mart.  I order my bass fishing gear from Bass Pro/Cabellas. Always have. Beats a two hour drive to the nearest town with a outdoor store. I buy all my fly fishing/ tying supplies online too.

[LonnieP]

Cabela’s /BPS rod selection is very poor, plus they are more expensive than other places. They do sell nice clothes though

[Smirak]

Speaking of…clothings…

 

I always seem to overheat even in just a she’ll. So, I wind up fishing in cold weather in a Lon sleeved hoodie. Which means I often don’t fish in cold (N Alabama cold) weather. Do you guys recommend the guidewear from Cabela’s?

[Spankey]

Over the years I don’t think I’ve ever had a problem with Cabela’s, BPS, TW, ***, Sheels or any other. Sell me what I’m after, ship it and that’s about it. 
I do have a couple of Mom & Pops shops that have and can get me what I want. 
I'm not into Wally World  for my fishing needs,  especially bass fishing because they really don’t have a good selection. But this is in my area. Not all Wally Worlds are created equal. I’ve been in ones that have great huge selections. 
I will not step foot into DICK’S. I hear these days their fishing selection is pretty decent. I will never know. They are anti-gun. They removed hunting and shotgun sports supplies from ones in my area back some time ago. Why? No idea. Deer, turkey, sporting clays, trap/skeet shooting what's their problem. 

[Smirak]

1 minute ago, Spankey said:

Over the years I don’t think I’ve ever had a problem with Cabela’s, BPS, TW, ***, Sheels or any other. Sell me what I’m after, ship it and that’s about it. 
I do have a couple of Mom & Pops shops that have and can get me what I want. 
I'm not into Wally World  for my fishing needs,  especially bass fishing because they really don’t have a good selection. But this is in my area. Not all Wally Worlds are created equal. I’ve been in ones that have great huge selections. 
I will not step foot into DICK’S. I hear these days their fishing selection is pretty decent. I will never know. They are anti-gun. They removed hunting and shotgun sports supplies from ones in my area back some time ago. Why? No idea. Deer, turkey, sporting clays, trap/skeet shooting what's their problem. 

They removed it from all stores, if I remember correctly. Started with the ARs and they decided to just remove everything. I still shop there, but mine doesn’t have fishing, so it’s for other stuff. I’m a baseball guy, and they have a really good baseball selection…

[gim]

9 minutes ago, Smirak said:

They removed it from all stores, if I remember correctly. Started with the ARs and they decided to just remove everything. I still shop there, but mine doesn’t have fishing, so it’s for other stuff. I’m a baseball guy, and they have a really good baseball selection…

 

They removed it because there's no profit.  I shopped there before they "re-branded" their stores too.  The firearms and ammo areas had minimal selection and there weren't any customers or employees there anyways.  I don't particularly agree with their views on firearms, but its not gonna stop me from stepping foot in there.  The fishing area in the ones near me aren't that good.  But again, they stock what sells and fishing is not that mold.  Shoes, athletic clothing, and other mainstream sporting goods are their primary customer base now; not the outdoors.  I bought my kid a new bicycle there last spring for a good price, and they assembled it for me too.  Win win.

[Spankey]

1 hour ago, Smirak said:

They removed it from all stores, if I remember correctly. Started with the ARs and they decided to just remove everything. I still shop there, but mine doesn’t have fishing, so it’s for other stuff. I’m a baseball guy, and they have a really good baseball selection…

 

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

 

They removed it because there's no profit.  I shopped there before they "re-branded" their stores too.  The firearms and ammo areas had minimal selection and there weren't any customers or employees there anyways.  I don't particularly agree with their views on firearms, but its not gonna stop me from stepping foot in there.  The fishing area in the ones near me aren't that good.  But again, they stock what sells and fishing is not that mold.  Shoes, athletic clothing, and other mainstream sporting goods are their primary customer base now; not the outdoors.  I bought my kid a new bicycle there last spring for a good price, and they assembled it for me too.  Win win.

My wife tells me I should keep an open mind about it. Not take it so personally. She is probably right. Especially in the world we live in today. But dang when they had target grade shotshells on sale they were a real killer price. 
I’ve reloaded my own shotshells since I was 18 years old and still do but that place was great to pick up flats for the kids and new shooters that would come out with us. I can’t reload for everyone. But times are not what they use to be. 

[MediumMouthBass]

6 hours ago, gimruis said:

They removed it because there's no profit.  I shopped there before they "re-branded" their stores too.  The firearms and ammo areas had minimal selection and there weren't any customers or employees there anyways.  I don't particularly agree with their views on firearms, but its not gonna stop me from stepping foot in there. 

My 2nd Local DSG had a Field and Stream in it. Big animal display, huge store. Huge fishing area. It was definitely a competitor to my local Cabelas, minus the aquarium. Had about 50 Kayaks always for sale too, and not the cheap plastic ones either.

The firearms/hunting area had about 5-10 employees, and had about 8-25 customers buying constantly. It was their biggest department in the entire store (aside from clothes, but lets be honest no ones buying a bunch of Nike shirts for $60).

The firearms/hunting department had all kinds of stuff, it was beyond overwhelming, add on the atleast hundred thousand dollar animal display that was fantastic.

 

Corporate came in and decided that the several hundred thousand dollar display should be thrown away, the firearm and hunting should go away too, along with fly fishing/tying materials too. They had about 6 aisles of it. And i got bags and bags and bags of their tying materials on sale for 75%.

They removed about 500k-1mil worth of gear. And thats just a guess of what was on display, who knows how much more they had in the storage room.

 

Closed down for 6 months to do renovations, completely gutted the store, removed Field and Stream in the process (since DSG bought them and Moose Jaw, well they just closed both down). Lost a ton of money while being closed, spent another 500k-1mil (or more) to redo the store, just to reduce the fishing section by 75% to a now pathetic sad excuse of one. (these guys had so much fishing gear, about 40% of the stuff they carried no other DSG did.) And after losing/spending several million and upsetting most of their customers they reopened with a free walking trail and rock climbing.

Yes, they did all of this just because someone at corporate thought a free walking trail and a rock climbing wall would bring in a ton of cash....

 

They are ran by a bunch of idiots. And went all in on overpriced poorly made clothes and shoes. I give it 10 years and they will start removing the sports gear too and just be again shoes and clothing.

6 hours ago, Spankey said:

I will not step foot into DICK’S.

Most people wont. I only still shop there because they are ran by idiots who love throwing money away. I got my recent Lews reel for $22, a $1300 Old Town for $600 because the manager noticed it had a scratch, along with tons of other fishing gear for 50-75% off in tons of sales. Its hard to understand how they can stay in business selling clothes no one wants or can afford, while giving away everything else practically for free.

 

And to add, before they did this to the store they had about 20-100 people walking around the store every time i went. Last time i went there after the reopening there were about 10 people in the store the whole hour i was there. Not many people had carts or bought anything either.

[gim]

@MediumMouthBass, I believe you. However, their stock would seem to indicate they made the right business decision. It’s gone from 33 and change to almost 240 in 5 years. Simple math would indicate an increase that’s a whopping multiplier of over 7. Wish I would invested money there. I’d say they’re doing more than just ok.

 

https://investors.dicks.com/stock-information/stock-details/default.aspx

[Rockhopper]

My local Dick's store is always packed every time I go in there.

[Smirak]

There’s one in Knoxville that is huge. Can’t remember what they call It now. Has outdoor sports lessons, batting cages, fields for soccer (mini), tennis, etc… anyway, they have a really good selection for a dicks store at that location…

 

They seem to always run sales, and a lot of the time it’s on 6th sense. I went to that Knoxville one and they had all 6th sense hard baits on special but 2, get one free. Alright, cool! Went to the shelf/aisle they were on, sign said the above, but then below, it said all 6th sense hard baits an additional 50% off…so, even though I have MS public school math, I knew that was a great deal…spent about $150. Can’t remember what all I bought, but let’s say I have the crankbait category covered…only wish they had crush 75x at the time…

[Brian11719]

I have a BPS near me and got the card to get access to the club member specials where you get 10% off or so every once in a while. I don't usually end up getting big ticket items there (eg. a new rod or reel) but it's nice to be able to check some of them out. They also tend to have good prices on certain items (look up 20lb sufix advance fluorocarbon on TW and BPS right now) and I also like their XPS tackle (bullet weights, drop shot weights, etc.). Basically I like going there if I need a few things or more of a selection (roboworms, caffeine shads, etc.) but not $50 worth of stuff to get the free shipping at TW and it's a good option to have in those cases. Also like the fish tank w/ the 10lb bass and alligator gar in it...I also like looking at colors at the local shop vs online (since the colors can look a little different online IMO) case in point I never would have tried out a tequila sunrise roboworm since it's low on the popularity list at TW but after seeing it locally I knew it would be good and now it's one of my favorite lures to throw.