It's official - Bass Pro acquires Cabela's

[steveo27]

FarmerDave wrote:

I visited the Wheeling store about a year after it first opened hoping for similar experience. It was filthy, especially the food service area. Haven't been to a Cabela's since.

Never been in a BPR.

Basically. Its as clean as anything youd expect in West Virginnia.

The bargain cave is about the only real selling point for me to go any more.

 

[geebee]

Cabelas was better for camping stuff imho.

the one in Cristiana is only 2 years old so I don't see that closing.

I bought one of their fly reels in the spring and I'm very happy with it.

likewise, I hear good things about their fly rods.

imho a merger or takeover doesn't necessarily mean an extinction of a brand, you only have to look at the hotel companies to see that - IHG owns holiday inn, continental and crown plaza, likewise Yum brands owns KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.

where both are 20-30 miles away they'll close one, but hopefully cabelas will live on.

 

[CRB]

NWPA for fishing we have FishUSA and Poor Richards. Field and stream is just too commercial for me. I would rather shop online than go in there and I pass by it every workday. I would have liked a Cabela's with a boat inventory up here.

 

[Chaz]

And fly shops are falling like a spinner fall.
This is not good news, it's the old if you can't beat them buy them out theory of doing business.
****'s suck for fishing stuff, Gander Mt. is only moderately better, forget the others.

 

[Aducker]

I have no facts to back this up but IMO the sale might be because the father (founder) wants out of the business/retire and the kids don't want to deal with running the business and that they may just want to take the money and have none of the worries. Again just my thoughts.

I would hate to see the Christiana store change, it's 5 minutes from my house. It gives me a place to go when I have nothing else to do to walk around. An REI store also opened at the Christiana mall last year. Another place to go shop.

I've seen the clothing line change for the worse over the years at Cabela's too but I still prefer Cabela's to BPS.

 

[pcray1231]

Chaz, FYI ****s started with a new venture called Field & Stream. Basically the size of a normal ****s, but all fishing and hunting. As a separate store/chain. No athletics, golf, shoes, and all the other crap. Just outdoor sports.

It's still inferior to a Bass Pro or Cabelas and far inferior to local shops. But certainly puts it up there with Gander Mountain, maybe above from the one I was in. They had a decent little fly fishing section with some good brands like Sage, St. Croix, Reddington, Hardy, Simms, Korkers, in addition to the normal Pro line, Frog Togg and Hodgeman type stuff that all ****s carry. And an honest to goodness set of fly bins.

Anyway, they are in western PA due to the lack of Cabelas and Bass Pros there, and are expanding, but appear to have the strategy of filling in the gaps rather than competing with the mega stores. Though there is one in Camp Hill, so that's the exception. Altoona, Erie, Washington, and Cranberry PA are the other PA locations.

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear Board,

I sure hope the Cabelas in Hamburg stays open? I only visit it 2 or 3 times a year but I can always find what I am looking for, and plenty of other things as well.

I'm about 20 miles from Bass Pro Shop and 45 miles from Cabelas, but it only takes me 20 more minutes to get to Cabelas because it is all highway.

I'll somewhat agree that Cabelas clothing has dropped in quality over the last several years but I'd really appreciate it if anyone can point me to store where the quality of their clothing hasn't declined over the same time?

Cabelas in Hamburg has at least 3 times the stock of clothing on hand compared to BPS in Harrisburg, and their clothing choices for larger people put the selection at BPS to shame.

As far as the people at Cabelas and BPS, I've been happy with both places. If I had questions I always received courteous and knowledgeable help at both stores. But I've been dealing with Cabelas for over 40 years and I don't want them to go anywhere.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[ebroesicke]

Aducker wrote:
I have no facts to back this up but IMO the sale might be because the father (founder) wants out of the business/retire and the kids don't want to deal with running the business and that they may just want to take the money and have none of the worries. Again just my thoughts.

I would hate to see the Christiana store change, it's 5 minutes from my house. It gives me a place to go when I have nothing else to do to walk around. An REI store also opened at the Christiana mall last year. Another place to go shop.

I've seen the clothing line change for the worse over the years at Cabela's too but I still prefer Cabela's to BPS.

This is partly true. The Cabelas family started getting 'out' about 10 yrs ago when they took the company public and hired a new CEO etc. I asked **** Cabela at the time ( I was and employee) why they were going public, and he basically said it was (paraphrase) to unlock the equity for the family in the future. **** Cablea passed away last year, and his brother Jim was Chairman since 2013 I think. I have not heard of any of the kids getting involved, but they may be. It will be interesting to see what happens with the locations, a BPS was supposed to open in Bethlehem a few yrs ago, but has been tabled do to infrastructure issues. Kind of hope they still open it, I live 5 mins from the location.

 

[GonnaFlyNow]

From what I recall, Cabela's was in trouble about a year ago and hired Goldman to to explore it's options so this is no surprise to me. I am glad someone bought the company otherwise it would not be around long on it's own. They didn't have many options. This industry has over-capacity and Cabela's on line business didn't do much to help. ****'s just recently shut down it's fly fishing section due to it's Field and Stream stores. Oh, thanks again for letting me know about the Patagonia Rio Azul waders from ****'s. They discounted these waders down to 70 bucks. They are dumping inventory. Buy what FF goods you can while they last.

Anyway, most big box retailers go out of business when they face similar circumstances so if you are a fan of Cabela's, this might not be the worst case scenario. This is a tough business to be in.

I wonder why Cabela's or PBS didn't make it into SW PA?

Cheers,

 

[shakey]

TBH,I find the stores to be completely interchangeable

 

[fishbaithohaha]

Cabela' has been selling overpriced junk for the last year. Junk plus a horrible guarantee program was abad combination. Old Navy's clothing is better quality.

Purchase Orvis or LL Bean clothing. Much more expensive but outlasts Cabela/BPS; years v.weeks.

For example, purchased a Bean Baxster State Parka in1985. Still wear the coat, in addition 2 kids wore the coat when it fit them. Purchased same model for brother, 25 years later he still wears the coat. His son, my nephew, wore coat for 3 years it fit him.

 

[franklin]

CRB wrote:
NWPA for fishing we have FishUSA and Poor Richards. Field and stream is just too commercial for me. I would rather shop online than go in there and I pass by it every workday. I would have liked a Cabela's with a boat inventory up here.

At one time one of them (can't remember if it was BP or Cabelas) wanted to build in Erie but there was a squabble about details of the location and it fell through. At the time I thought how stupid it was to quibble over little stuff when the area had the opportunity to add a bunch of jobs.

 

[FarmerDave]

TimMurphy wrote:
Dear Board,

I'll somewhat agree that Cabelas clothing has dropped in quality over the last several years but I'd really appreciate it if anyone can point me to store where the quality of their clothing hasn't declined over the same time?

Dear Tim. Good point, and I agree. The MAIN reason I quite buying from Cabelas was that Cabela's discontinued some of the clothing that I used to buy. It is difficult to buy cloths off the rack, something that you likely understand. Big and Tall is usually false advertisement. Usually meant Big OR tall. Apparently the marketing geniuses ran out of shoe boxes or felt one could not be big AND tall. For waste sizes anywhere north of 42, you were short. Inseam usually maxes out at 32 or 34. But I could order chinos from Cabelas that they would hem them to length, included in the price. And they fit perfect.

Shirts were not as much of a problem. Lots of placed did offer 2XLT and 3XLT (for when I was close to 350). But since we were already ordering pants from cabelas, I we bought most of my casual shirts from them as well.

Basically, come Christmas shopping time, I'd hand my wife a Cabelas catalog with pages and items marked and told her, have at it.

I switched to LL Bean for awhile which offered similar as far as clothing. But I'll be honest, there hem to order slacks were quite a bit more expensive and seemed to be less durable. But at least I didn't look like I was preparing for a flood. Wife said they looked better, but I'll bet they were made in the same factory.

Now that I lost a bunch of weight, it has opened up more options.

Now, the only mail order I hand to wife for Christmas shopping is Duluth Trading Company. Also expensive, but very durable and I can afford to treat myself on occasion.;-)

I did notice that Cabelas has their smokers on sale right now and I dropped several hints. Unfortunately I think she ignored them.

 

[franklin]

I've been buying and using Cabelas camo hunting clothes in Dry Plus for years and haven't noticed any serious drop off in quality. They are still the best available as far as I am concerned.

Bass Pro has some lower priced breathable hunting gear but it doesn't hold up well.

There are also a number of product areas that Cabelas has branded items such as binoculars and scopes that offer good value for moderate prices. It used to be that you could always count on these to be great quality. Now you have to do a bit of checking as some of the lower end stuff is not too good.

I've never had an issue with returns at Cabelas. Not sure if that because I have the black card or not. But I'd also say I never had an issue with returns at Bass Pro either.

Prior to 2008 I noticed many outdoor stores would have big end of season sales. Since 2008 they seem to control inventory such that there isn't much left at the end of the season and thus few sales.

BTW FD, I still have casual winter shirts from Cabelas I bought in 1978 and a jacket from Gander Mountain from 1976.

 

[FarmerDave]

franklin wrote:

At one time one of them (can't remember if it was BP or Cabelas) wanted to build in Erie but there was a squabble about details of the location and it fell through. At the time I thought how stupid it was to quibble over little stuff when the area had the opportunity to add a bunch of jobs.

I heard similar, but wasn't sure if true or just rumor. Here is what I remember.

A few years back, I heard a rumor that they were going to build a Cabela's in Erie. I was happy.

Next time I heard the rumor, it was BPS. OK, that would work, too.

Then they build a Field and Stream. I was a little bit disappointed, but may still check it out some day.

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear Dave,

I've tried shopping locally for clothes at Casual Male but their stuff is absolute junk. Nothing like paying $ 50.00 plus for a shirt and pulling a loose thread only to have the pocket fall off the shirt

I love going to Cabelas after Christmas and seeing what's on sale. I need the 3XLT stuff still and I can always find good stuff at great prices. I have no such luck at BPS, as they rarely have anything in my size.

I guess I need to lose weight then?

As far as the outdoor gear goes much of the stuff is the identical in brand and price but Cabelas always seems to have more stuff on the floor at all times.

I went to BPS this summer buy hooks and split shot so the wife can bobber fish from the boat. They didn't even have any Water Gremlin removable split shot on the shelf, and their hook selection was pitiful. I left and went to Cabelas and got all I was looking for plus a whole lot more. If that goes away I guess I'll be stuck shopping via the internet and I hate that!

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[FarmerDave]

franklin wrote:
I've been buying and using Cabelas camo hunting clothes in Dry Plus for years and haven't noticed any serious drop off in quality. They are still the best available as far as I am concerned.

I think my two piece camo hunting suite is Dry Plus. Not sure. I wear the jacket a lot when steelheading and when temperatures are between 10 and 30. Very comfortable. Colder than that, I get out the Woolrich (for hunting) or Carhart which are both very warm. I don't wear the bibs as often. This suit is supposed to shed water. It doesn't. But I will give it credit for slowing down the absorption rate.

BTW, I never said they are lower quality than those other stores. As Tim pointed out, nearly all have gone cheap. I would probably still be buying clothing from them, if they didn't discontinue the line(s) I liked. They fit well and were durable.

The LL Bean replacements were thinner material and I knew that before purchasing. Plus more expensive (nearly twice the price). So consequently they didn't last as long. They were just a little less casual and more dressy which my wife liked, but I prefer the durable. That isn't really a complaint because it's really apples to oranges. I mean, if I wipe up a spill with a tissue, I am not going to complain that it didn't do as well as a paper towel.

I haven't bought anything from LL Beanin about 2 years now, but not because of anything they did. It has just worked out that way.

Bought some pants from Duluth Trading company. Not as good of a selection and somewhat expensive. But very durable.

Bought a pair of firehose pants for when I am cutting firewood or working in the brush. I recommend them for that. Also have a pair of Carhart bibs. It is my second pair, but I didn't wear out the first pair. I just outgrew them and gave them to little brother. Now that I lost weight and he gained, I should ask for them back. ;-) Anyway, the Carhart are great, but insulated so they are limited to winter use. Very warm, too.

Most of my more recent clothing purchases have been from "local" stores.

Bass Pro has some lower priced breathable hunting gear but it doesn't hold up well.

Never shopped there. Nearest one is maybe 3 hours drive?

There are also a number of product areas that Cabelas has branded items such as binoculars and scopes that offer good value for moderate prices. It used to be that you could always count on these to be great quality. Now you have to do a bit of checking as some of the lower end stuff is not too good.

I've never had an issue with returns at Cabelas. Not sure if that because I have the black card or not. But I'd also say I never had an issue with returns at Bass Pro either.

Again, none close. Not driving an hour and a half for that. Never had a problem with Cabelas mail order return. But doesn't the fact that I need to return something, reflect on quality?

Nobody beats LL Bean return policy, or the free shipping. The best anyone can do is match it, and when they do, it is usually a temporary thing, or has a minimum order requirement.

BTW FD, I still have casual winter shirts from Cabelas I bought in 1978 and a jacket from Gander Mountain from 1976.

Apparently you didn't like them?;-)

Either that, or it is because you are management and don't like to get dirty, so that doesn't count.;-)

 

[bigjohn58]

franklin wrote:
I've been buying and using Cabelas camo hunting clothes in Dry Plus for years and haven't noticed any serious drop off in quality. They are still the best available as far as I am concerned.

Bass Pro has some lower priced breathable hunting gear but it doesn't hold up well.

There are also a number of product areas that Cabelas has branded items such as binoculars and scopes that offer good value for moderate prices. It used to be that you could always count on these to be great quality. Now you have to do a bit of checking as some of the lower end stuff is not too good.

I've never had an issue with returns at Cabelas. Not sure if that because I have the black card or not. But I'd also say I never had an issue with returns at Bass Pro either.

Prior to 2008 I noticed many outdoor stores would have big end of season sales. Since 2008 they seem to control inventory such that there isn't much left at the end of the season and thus few sales.

BTW FD, I still have casual winter shirts from Cabelas I bought in 1978 and a jacket from Gander Mountain from 1976.

I also agree with what you are saying here. I feel that Cabelas brand clothing is definitely of higher quality then the BPS Redhead stuff. I have had little issues with the Cabelas clothing holding up. I feel Cabelas has quality hunting apparel. I used to like their waders but they constantly change them and now there is nothing I like. They do carry a decent amount of fly fishing gear compared to BPS. I do a lot of coneventional fishing for smallies and whatnot and BPS makes quality baitcasting rods especially for the price. The conventional gear though at BPS is always more expensive then Cabelas for some reason. BPS always has higher prices then everyone else.

Too me LL Bean is just way too expensive. I tried a pair of their waders and boots once and everything from them was way too tight. At least they accepted the returns.

Oh and as for free shipping I think EVERY company out there has free shipping these days. If they don't you just have to wait a few weeks and the free shipping special appears.

 

[FarmerDave]

TimMurphy wrote:
Dear Dave,

I've tried shopping locally for clothes at Casual Male but their stuff is absolute junk. Nothing like paying $ 50.00 plus for a shirt and pulling a loose thread only to have the pocket fall off the shirt

For lack of a better description, Casual Male sucks. I haven't been to one of those in years.

I love going to Cabelas after Christmas and seeing what's on sale. I need the 3XLT stuff still and I can always find good stuff at great prices. I have no such luck at BPS, as they rarely have anything in my size.

Still buying some 3XLT, but it seems I can get away with 2XLT for some shirts.

I hear that. We sometimes do the same thing at other stores, and I would probably do the same thing at Cabelas if they were closer.

I never viewed BPS as a place to buy regular clothing. Good to hear I haven't miss anything. ;-)

I hope it works out for you.

BTW, I bought a couple pair of jeans the other day at Menard's for next to nothing. They put in a new one in Warren OH. That place is huge. Verdict is still out on quality, but I probably got what I paid for. Made in Madagascar I think.

 

[franklin]

I visited LLBean one time and bought a matching pair of sleeping bags for myself and the wife. Kept them in the camper. I hadn't pulled mine out to use for a couple years and when I did I found that the bag had been ripped and safety pinned together at the bottom. It was obviously a return that they never checked. It ripped out as soon as it used it. Of course this was on a long camping trip up in the Maine boonies with no chance to buy another so I had to endure with it.

On the way home I stopped at LLBean and complained. They no longer made the bag so they offered me another model as a replacement. Well it didn't match the wife's bag and they wouldn't replace both of em. So no more LLBean for me.