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Gander Mountain Has Been Sold

Well, all the inventory has been sold. Camping World purchased the name and intellectual property rights.

They will keep 17 stores but will change the format. Adding Camping World items.

John Boyd

And in 3 years someone else will buy camping world. The circle of life I suppose.

Some people can see future trends so clearly and there are some who cannot. The move to the suburbs and huge shopping malls in the 50's and 60's now, today those very same malls are closing at an alarming rate.

Currently, internet sales merchants are flourishing while Sears and KMart are closing stores left and right and now so is Gander Mountain. Who's next, Cabela's?

In Winchester Va the Gander Mountain is within 100 yards of Camping World. Neither seem busy.

Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
JR

John, that is about as apt a comment as we are likely to see.

The new owner said they way overextended themselves in the gun market and with new gun friendly adminstration, folks aren't rushing out to buy guns. They want to reduce guns and fishing gear from the inventory. Welcome to the new version of Dicks Sporting Goods. Think the Titanic comment is more then true. The question is whether Cabelas is next.

Rapid expansion, with no clear need for it, is almost always a recipe for certain failure. Just because you can, does not mean you should and with outside investors you get the urge to expand followed by the regret that follows quickly if sales and profits do not soar. Then the panic sets in, as the investors demand fast action or bailout by selling their interest. The next group has no skin in the game and only is interested in getting as much money out of it as they can, as quickly as they can and if breaking it up looks more profitable than fixing it they are going to break it up or sell it off.

Gander Mountain, Cabelas, Bass Pro shop have all gone through a expansion period and now need to figure out if they can make it at this size and do they need stores where they built them. Gander Mountain figured out they can't. If they are smart they will close the stores which are dogs and be more cautious in future expansion. With the decline in hunting a market saturation has long been achieved. If fishing follows the decline in hunting, which it almost is certain to do, any growth in outdoor activities must come from camping and hunting.

Millennials don't do outside too much. Old farts still hunt but we are getting long in the tooth, so hunting interest is rapidly in decline, in many areas. Places I use to duck hunt, in my youth, which had 20 groups hunting them now only have four groups. Sometimes not even enough pressure to keep birds moving. Fishing is the same but not to that extent yet. Even Golf is feeling the decline in interest. Adjust to the market or become the next Gander Mountain.

Total closing, all stores nationwide. GM is history:

http://www.gandermountain.com/?cID=YM

JR

Difficult to have much sympathy.

Prior to about 2005 or so, GM stores were useful.

Before they sold the mail order business to Cabelas, I used Gander frequently.

I blundered across fair used gun deals on 2 occasions, and actually bought 2 new guns from them back then.

They stocked target ammo in quantity, and I well remember a store display with stacks and stacks of WW209 for a decent price and Super-X 22's back when they were good for $9/brick. Does not seem so long ago, but that must have been mid 90's.

Then came the ammo shortage and the profiteering started.

I quit them when they started raping people on ammo, and now buy almost exclusively from online vendors.

Owning the gold mine isn't enough, you have to be smart enough to run it.