doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Bass Pro buys Cabela's

King, I won't further banter words on this thread and participate in causing it to become another political trash heap. I already made the mistake of saying something that could lead into a debate of idealogical beliefs, rather than the intended topic.

My apologies to James.

SRH

IMO,Cabela's was better before the company went public. It's my understanding that Bass Pro is still privately owned. Maybe better?

Buying guns from Cabela's . . . assuming you have a store anywhere close to you, you don't have to rely on the Internet description. You can have the gun in question shipped to your nearby store for $25. That's what I've almost always done when I've spotted something of interest in their on line inventory. Unfortunately, they made some changes in how they organize the Gun Library inventory on the Net. "Shotguns" is now all one big category--60-some pages worth. Used to be broken down so that scrolling through side by sides didn't take nearly as long.

One thing about buying guns at an out of state Cabela's or any other large chain, if they have a store in your state , and even if they are not shipping the gun to the store in your home state, you will still be subject to paying sales tax.

Local gun stores seem to survive the crunch of a large brick and mortar chain store better than local fishing stores. Usually there is more knowledge in the local gun shops and they have loyal customers. The LGS's often have a gunsmith. I trade with two local shops one of which has a gunsmith who will tell you his limits. They have all the business they can stand. What I lament is the death of the smaller fishing shops, especially fly fishing, in my area. The small mom and pop shops were often outlets for local fly patterns, handmade specialized accessories and artwork from local craftsman and artists. Bass Pro offers the same mass produced products as does Cabelas as does any number of online merchants. Prices rarely vary.

Understand your position, Stan. Things go adrift when a thread started as a discussion by Shotgun and Jim of concerns of less competition is confronted with a notion that less is eventually good. All members succumb similarly in expressing their opinions at one time or another.

I would say that prices at local BassPro are better and not every piece of attire is in "ChinaFlage". Perhaps because our local Cabela's is smaller one. I don't know. Anyhow I get sport clothing at Steinmart or from LL Bean. If both Cabela's and BassPro went away I would not miss them at all.

BPS is owned by Johnnie Morris. He is a local Springfield boy who I went to school with. He started with a bait station as a kid, added rods and reels the next year and now the Mother of all BPS's is here in Springfield. Johnnie is a true visionary and usually gets things spot on but not in a hurry. Of course there are some folks who don't necessarily like his visions and others who are very jealous of his sucesses. I think there's a very good chance that this will be good for Cabelas and that changes you see will be for the better. But the jury is still out.

Well said, Oh King of "Canucks?" Well said.

Having worked with entrepreneurial companies still controlled by their founders as well as those owned by investment funds or public, I'd always choose the former. I think the slide at Cabela's was related to the Cabela family selling control and I think this may turn out well for the chain.

Latest reports are that Morris intends to keep the brands separate while combining appropriate back office functions.

Companies need vision and investment funds rarely provide that.

Investment funds are all about short term not long term they sell off parts, spin off parts and sell out to make money all in the short term. There is never any long term plan it is all about getting in, maxing out what they can and get out with as much money as they can get. Does not matter if shortly after they leave the wheels come off everything. They don't care. Blood sucking ticks come to mind when I think of them.