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Bad Karma said:
Cabelas was great when the owners were passionate about supplying the needs of outdoorsmen and women. When they went public that focus shifted almost completely to making higher profit. Of course the Cabelas family made money too but that shift in focus is all it takes.

Walmart is the perfect example. I never met Sam Walton but I believe we could have been on the same page. I’ve worked on several multi million dollar projects for his children and grandchildren and they seem to think they exist on another plane far above the one that little people like us inhabit... I haven’t met one I’d cross the street to toss a bucket of warm spit on if they were burning.
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My Dad would RARELY go in a Cabelas, or Sportsmans Warehouse Stores, He always went to the Old Blacksheep, or White Elephant Sport store in Spokane. Blacksheep has ALWAYS had better prices. I remember Dad telling me years ago, “You see all of those Head Mounts in Cabelas, Mountain Displays with Life size Mounts all over them, Fish in Ponds/Creeks, Giant Fish Tanks, Float Plane Hanging from the Ceiling Etc. Etc., You are Paying for that” All of that Fancy stuff meant EXACTLY nothing to my Dad, he went in and bought what he needed and Left. You could drive up the Rd a few miles To the Blacksheep Sporting Goods store and buy the EXACT same thing for Less, Most of the time quite a Bit less.
 
Idaholewis said:
My Dad would RARELY go in a Cabelas, or Sportsmans Warehouse Stores, He always went to the Old Blacksheep, or White Elephant Sport store in Spokane. Blacksheep has ALWAYS had better prices. I remember Dad telling me years ago, “You see all of those Head Mounts in Cabelas, Mountain Displays with Life size Mounts all over them, Fish in Ponds/Creeks, Giant Fish Tanks, Float Plane Hanging from the Ceiling Etc. Etc., You are Paying for that” All of that Fancy stuff meant EXACTLY nothing to my Dad, he went in and bought what he needed and Left. You could drive up the Rd a few miles To the Blacksheep Sporting Goods store and buy the EXACT same thing for Less, Most of the time quite a Bit less.
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I could care less about all that fancy stuff, too. If I want to see a deer or fish, I go hunting or fishing. I walk in, get what I need and leave. I like the small shops.
 
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Cabela's has turned into more of a clothing store. I to prefer Blacksheep now that the White Elephant has closed it's doors. John Conley opened the WE in the 40's in a tent on north Monroe street in Spokane and later moved to where the store was on north division. He was cash only up until a few years before his passing. The IRS hated him, once threatening to audit him and sent in people to do inventory. John sent them downstairs to a barrel full of fish hooks and said start there. They left. He was a great guy, it only lasted about a year or so after his passing when the kids took it completely over.
 
I don't like going in the big stores. There's always that one guy that knows everything about guns, shooting, fishing, reloading. You mention it, he has done it, twice. Within seconds of his babbling, you know he has no clue as to what he is talking about.
 
Back in the 70's Minnesota had Holiday gas stations in the Twin Cities that were huge by six standards for the day and two of these had huge sporting goods departments...fishing and hunting. Those Holidays were bought out by Gander Mountain. The Twin Cities also had a couple of Galyans Sporting Goods stores which were way ahead of their time. Rochester, where I live, got a Galyans. Both of these early businesses were the hallmark of sporting goods, not clothes and boots but Galyans did sell both but not near as much as these later mega stores. Eventually Gander bought out Galyans. When the Rochester Gander opened after the buy out the first thing one walked into was a mess of clothes and you had to go to the BACK of the store to find hunting/guns/fishing/tackle. I told the store manager on the first visit the store would fail laid out like that. That Gander moved from the first location to a new larger store way on the north side of town. Same manager, same store layout only much more clothing. Huge amount of clothing. Same comments went to the manager. Shortly after this store opened all of the employees who had been there for years were phased out and young, school aged kids got those jobs, all part time, none with any first hand knowledge and, as alluded to by LBA, knew everything until they started talking. I stopped shopping there. I could never find what I needed and then there was the brain death among those who wanted to "help" you. Then word came that all Ganders were closing....toast. That writing was on the wall a long time. Then Cabelas took the dive by selling to BP. Dicks took a hit because of their "no gun" policy and many if not all are closed now. And now Sportmans has done down the corporate pipe.

The Scheels in town here has a super gun/shooting/hunting department and the fishing department is equally awesome but both are still located on the second floor and away from the two entrances which gripes me but they do have escalators. One thing stands out about Scheels stores and that is the sales staff has experience in the department in which they work and there's always a specialist on staff at all times, this especially true in the gun, archery and fishing areas. If the store stocks but does not have on hand what you want they will get it from another store and have it there within a few days for you to pick up at no extra cost. This covid crap has reached into my store's ability to keep things in stock but stuff that's prone to fall prey to the hoarders, primers and 209 powder, yet I do not see these items completely sold out. I see some brands sold out but the product has still some offerings. Blackhorn is aplenty. In the hunting/archery and fishing departments the department specialist is responsible for what get placed in stock, not some corporate ninny hundreds of miles away and this has been the secret to Scheels success, regardless of where the store is found geographically. Its a shame that these other stores were not able to figure this out. Every decent sporting goods store, meaning hunting, fishing, guns, reloading, etc, that has gone the way of clothing first is junk today. I hope that Scheels will realize this before this wonderful store is down the pipe with the others.
 
MSalyards said:
Cabela's has turned into more of a clothing store. I to prefer Blacksheep now that the White Elephant has closed it's doors. John Conley opened the WE in the 40's in a tent on north Monroe street in Spokane and later moved to where the store was on north division. He was cash only up until a few years before his passing. The IRS hated him, once threatening to audit him and sent in people to do inventory. John sent them downstairs to a barrel full of fish hooks and said start there. They left. He was a great guy, it only lasted about a year or so after his passing when the kids took it completely over.
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I was only in the White Elephant 2 times that i can remember? Both times with my Dad. The next time i was in the Area it was Closed up? I RARELY get to Spokane, WAY To much City for me. The few times i do go, is really the only times i Carry my Sidearm. Me and my Ruger GP-100 .357 Magnum Feel pretty Comfy the few times we have to go :D
 
I read an article after the Cabelas buyout and the owner of BPS was asked his vision for Cabelas. He said something to the effect that hunting was a dying hobby and he could see it being phased out of his stores in the years to come. I went in the Cabelas in Rogers, MN about a year ago and was unable to find a muzzleloader in the store. Not even a spot for them. Last time i will ever be in one.
 
LBAhunter said:
I don't like going in the big stores. There's always that one guy that knows everything about guns, shooting, fishing, reloading. You mention it, he has done it, twice. Within seconds of his babbling, you know he has no clue as to what he is talking about.
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That's pretty much every gun store I've ever been in.
 
I loved White Elephant. Went there as a kid with my dad, then again when I was stationed in Spokane.
 
SuperKirby said:
I went in the Cabelas in Rogers, MN about a year ago and was unable to find a muzzleloader in the store. Not even a spot for them. Last time i will ever be in one.
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Rochester Scheels has a very good muzzleloader section, CVA, T/C, Remington along with a decent assortment of used muzzies. Our Scheels here will buy and trade with muzzleloaders.
 
Idaholewis said:
My Dad would RARELY go in a Cabelas, or Sportsmans Warehouse Stores, He always went to the Old Blacksheep, or White Elephant Sport store in Spokane. Blacksheep has ALWAYS had better prices. I remember Dad telling me years ago, “You see all of those Head Mounts in Cabelas, Mountain Displays with Life size Mounts all over them, Fish in Ponds/Creeks, Giant Fish Tanks, Float Plane Hanging from the Ceiling Etc. Etc., You are Paying for that” All of that Fancy stuff meant EXACTLY nothing to my Dad, he went in and bought what he needed and Left. You could drive up the Rd a few miles To the Blacksheep Sporting Goods store and buy the EXACT same thing for Less, Most of the time quite a Bit less.
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We used to have a Black Sheep here in Lewiston. It was always the first place I went when I needed something gun/hunting/fishing related.
The only thing that wasn't great about ours was it seemed to be the red-headed stepchild of the Spokane store. Spokane sent the inventory for the Lewiston store, and towards the end it seemed like they only sent down the stuff they couldn't sell in their store. You often couldn't depend on finding a product there for purchase a second time. I think the Lewiston store only survived as long as it did because of their gun sales, it was rumored that they sold them with minimal mark up so the money flow looked good on their books. All I know is nowhere else could beat their price on a gun in most cases.
They closed up fairly quickly after we got a Sportsman's Warehouse and a North40.

Too bad about Bass Pro buying out Sportsman's Warehouse. I have little doubt Bass Pro will ruin it.
Our local Sportsman's actually has a pretty decent "home town store" feel to it and the prices weren't too bad.
I like our North40 for the inventory they have, and their archery section has a couple knowledgeable folks, but they are pretty pricey on a lot of things in comparison to what Sportsman's currently is.
 
When Zinnicks, Wolfs and Sunset sports went out of business the only place to buy any type of hunting fishing gear was a very small store in the corner of a warehouse. Loved the place, they seemed to carry a little of everything. Today you know this little store as Sportsman's Warehouse. They all seem to have had humble beginnings.
 
Jimmer said:
When Zinnicks, Wolfs and Sunset sports went out of business the only place to buy any type of hunting fishing gear was a very small store in the corner of a warehouse. Loved the place, they seemed to carry a little of everything. Today you know this little store as Sportsman's Warehouse. They all seem to have had humble beginnings.
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I had a small part-time gunshop in Kimball just West of Sidney Ne. Knew the Cabela bros when they had a small store in the old John Deere bldg by the railroad track overpass there. A TRUE bargain basement where I could buy offbeat ( to most) cal reloading supplies like 375, 35, 45 rifle, slow moving stuff at very affordable prices. I used to also drive to Grand Island and buy shot by the ton and blem bullets in larger cals at Hornady's by the sack!..Modest beginnings indeed.........Mossie
 
Sportsmans Warehouse.....
The one here is so bad it's hard to believe. I can call and ask if they have something and they will say no. I don't think that's right so I get in my Jeep, drive over there, and the item is sitting on a shelf practically within arms reach of the guy that answered the phone. Last time I was there I went to the muzzleloading powder section and stood looking at the BH209. The gun counter manager came up and asked what I wanted, so I told him. He kept saying "You want black powder?" And I kept saying Blackhorn. I was having a hard time keeping a straight face because his butt was within a foot of about a dozen cans of it.
Here's the funny part....he was training a kid about 18 at the time.
 
shiner200gr said:
Sportsmans Warehouse.....
The one here is so bad it's hard to believe. I can call and ask if they have something and they will say no. I don't think that's right so I get in my Jeep, drive over there, and the item is sitting on a shelf practically within arms reach of the guy that answered the phone. Last time I was there I went to the muzzleloading powder section and stood looking at the BH209. The gun counter manager came up and asked what I wanted, so I told him. He kept saying "You want black powder?" And I kept saying Blackhorn. I was having a hard time keeping a straight face because his butt was within a foot of about a dozen cans of it.
Here's the funny part....he was training a kid about 18 at the time.
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Maybe you should have asked his butt!!!!😀
 

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