Cabela's experience

[DEVIL DOG]

Someday maybe they'll realize that the circus atmosphere & thousands of dollars in mounts does not impress us anymore. The overhead in those stores like Dundee is tremendous. Just try heating & cooling a building of that size with 25 foot ceilings. Having a few of those around the country is a good draw for tourists, but once you've seen it, you've seen it. Never been to any of the satellite stores, are they just as frivolous ?

[dirtmcgirt76239]

Someday maybe they'll realize that the circus atmosphere & thousands of dollars in mounts does not impress us anymore. The overhead in those stores like Dundee is tremendous. Just try heating & cooling a building of that size with 25 foot ceilings. Having a few of those around the country is a good draw for tourists, but once you've seen it, you've seen it. Never been to any of the satellite stores, are they just as frivolous ?

But those stores when cabelas had only 9-20 stores in the entire country were a big deal. The dundee store, up to about 3-4 years ago was from its inception the single largest "tourist spot" in the state. Even more so if you went back 10-20 year to other state.

I have been ordering from cabelas since about 1991 ish, when the catalog was huge and only a few stores.

I think if they use geo thermal heating and cooling and have good insulation it probably is not that big of a deal.

People only care about price now, you cant get them in the door, thats the problem.

They can lookup prices easy.

In 2005 even, if you drove to dundee from an hour or two away, you were dropping some money to make the trip worth it.

[Crawdaddio]

But those stores when cabelas had only 9-20 stores in the entire country were a big deal. The dundee store, up to about 3-4 years ago was from its inception the single largest "tourist spot" in the state. Even more so if you went back 10-20 year to other state.

I have been ordering from cabelas since about 1991 ish, when the catalog was huge and only a few stores.

I think if they use geo thermal heating and cooling and have good insulation it probably is not that big of a deal.

People only care about price now, you cant get them in the door, thats the problem.

They can lookup prices easy.

In 2005 even, if you drove to dundee from an hour or two away, you were dropping some money to make the trip worth it.

Your right, I drove to Dundee with the wife many times and made almost a whole day out of going to Cabela's in years past. I'm only 2 miles away from the Chesterfield store now, been there twice since they opened, both times left empty handed due to price. I won't ever go again. Web prices just can't be beat.

[buskerman161]

Went there just after Bass Pro took over-- Going to buy a rifle on sale.
Normal retail everything is ready when the store opens - no more at Cabelas
One man behind the gun counter -One was getting gun registers set up .
Another doing inventory ( just moving things around).
Five people were waiting for service. After 20 minutes with no discernible progress I left, on the way out voiced my frustration at the service desk.
Informed this is a new policy, staff is called in later saves money - let the customers wait.

[dwcopple]

but, but, but we need brick & mortar stores...

[burninglegs]

Cabelas should own the outdoor and shooting sports world like Amazon does for everything else. They were THE outdoor outfitter during the Heydays of mail order. I remember looking forward to getting the hard cover 2 volume master catalogs every year. They were poised to dominate in internet sales of shooting sports and outdoor lifestyle products. They had incredible buying power and great house branding, but decided to price themselves out of line to the educated buyers. They blew it big time, and the merger is the final nail in the coffin.

Brownells has become what Cabelas should have been.

[Buffman]

I've noticed the few times I've went to Grandville store since the BP merger is the better pricing and even selection of things is gone. I almost see no point in me going there

[WingsFan86]

I’ve never had a bad experience at the Grandville or Dundee locations. Their prices can be high but I enjoy looking around the store and their selection is great.

[darnette]

Brownells has become what Cabelas should have been.

Completely agree. Sad because they had the national footprint with their brick and mortar stores, it only made sense.

[mtdew]

I wanted to chime in here about my not-so-good Cabela's experience today.

I had some gift cards, ordered some lowers Online for in-store pick-up and stopped in the Chesterfield location to do the paperwork and pick up my purchase.

I took a number per the posted sign. I had four numbers to go which seemed like it would be rather quick. Wrong. It took 30 minutes before someone called my number and was able to assist.

I presented my CPL when asked in order to bypass the NICS check and speed up the transaction. My CPL was DENIED and not usable because it was laminated (corporate policy). I did not laminate the CPL myself as it came from the county clerk's office that way. So I had to go through the NICS check which added another 15-20 minutes to the whole thing.

It took me over an hour to pick up an Online firearm order. Ridiculous.

I'm pretty much done with them after today's experience. They can keep their high prices, long waits, and corporate policies.

I will say that the gun counter staff I interacted with were very pleasant and friendly.