Oh, the horror!

[GunnyGene]

Gander Mountain is going bankrupt. Anybody care? :lol:

St. Paul, Minnesota-based Gander Mountain Co. is currently in the process of filing for bankruptcy. The company is working with a financial advisory firm, Lighthouse Management Group, to file bankruptcy as early as this month.

The financial decision comes after Gander Mountain attempted an aggressive expansion of its stores but failed to attract new customers. To date, the sporting goods chain has roughly 160 stores, 60 of which have opened since 2012.

https://bearingarms.com/beth-b/2017/02/16/national-sporting-goods-store-is-going-under/

 

[Fox Mike]

I have been to ONE Gander Mountain store and was not that impressed. The prices were outrageous and the clerks were anything but professional or helpful. The biggest thing I got out of there, was getting out of there.

 

[Kevin]

Wonder what their prices will be like if they have a liquidation sale? I probably still couldn't afford them.

 

[ditto1958]

Usually they come out of bankruptcy "re-organized." Some under-performing stores may be closed, but in general the consumer will never notice anything different.

If anything, once the Chapter 7 is filed, their stores will have more merchandise. The biggest reason retail chains go into bankruptcy is that their credit is bad and they can't get inventory. Filing for Chapter 7 usually fixes that quickly.

 

[Goldstar225]

Even if they reorganize, they need to start pricing their products competitively or history will repeat itself.

 

[Sin6Sec63451022]

Not to hijack, but I thought I heard a quick blurb on the radio about Cabela's wanted to sell. I thought Bass Pro had already bought them, done deal. No?

 

[redhawker]

I don't think I've ever bought anything from Gander Mtn. Every time I've checked their website for anything it's been so overpriced I've gone elsewhere.

 

[Pat-inCO]

 

[Taterman]

The new Gander near me has a parking lot that's almost empty. Sometimes there's so few cars, that it seems there are not even enough for employees. Having a Cabelas and Dick's within 15 minute doesn't help. But as a few have said, their prices are outrageous.
20+ years ago, we used to drive over an hour to WI to the only Gander around and it wasn't that bad back then.

 

[Acorn]

My local GM has been in the process of liquidating their inventory since the fall. They are currently advertising discounts up to 90%. Probably still high. I must confess I did score some great used firearms deals there. Supposedly they are/were going to open a new "super" store somewhat locally. I don't know what will happen to those plans.

 

[pete44ru]

Not to hijack, but I thought I heard a quick blurb on the radio about Cabela's wanted to sell. I thought Bass Pro had already bought them, done deal. No?

The merger isn't a done deal, as the merger first ran into Federal anti-trust issues around Christmas 2016, then the credit card company that was to service the consumer debt (Capital One) withdrew from the deal last month (IIRC).

Cabela's - also a company with high-prices & fancy stores - has been faltering, losing $$$ for their stockholders.


.

 

[smoke-eater]

No GM stores near me. I had bought a few items through their mail-order catalog, but not since the early 1970's.

 

[pruger45]

Way overpriced!

 

[Kevin]

I was at Cabela's last week and asked the cashier about it. She said everything is on hold until October of this year.

 

[redhawker]

Just for the halibut, I checked a random item on GM and Cabelas. Same scope was just under $300 at Cabelas was over $500 at GM.

 

[Cholo]

I heard we had a Gander Mtn. store north of me but was told no by several people. Yup, we do. Today I drove the 35 min. or so to the store. I was greeted by 2 friendly people as I made my way to the gun section. Nice store! They had more handguns in stock than anyone else in the greater Chattanooga, TN area. To price shop I have to look at Rugers. They had 3 SR1911's. Each hang tag just said Ruger SR1911 and a price :? The std. stainless 5" was $799, about the same as the other stores. The LW CMD was $849, also like the other stores. They had a regular all steel stainless CMD for---$999 :shock: Huh? The new MKIV aluminum framed Target .22 was $499, $50/$60 higher than 2 other stores locally.

I realize that that was a very limited sampling, but it was enough for me to not go the extra distance to their store. The place was nearly deserted, unlike their competitors. Competition is good, but not when you're not competitive.

 

[Acorn]

Just for the halibut, I checked a random item on GM and Cabelas. Same scope was just under $300 at Cabelas was over $500 at GM.

And they wonder why they're losing business

 

[6GUNSONLY]

We have a store here, but when I go there knowing what I need they never seem to have it. I bought one gun there a few years ago and it took a ridiculously long time to complete the transaction. If they closed I wouldn't miss them.

 

[chm270]

I live about 2 miles from a GM store. The last time I went there, they had some 22's on sale (when they were impossible to find). They had ONE box left.
They were on the counter behind the gun shelves and the one employee behind the counter was trying to sell a gun to someone. I was just a few feet away.
I must have waited a good 10 minutes. Now another guy comes in and stands at the counter, the gun "buyer" leaves, and the sales dork walks right up to the this other guy.
The guy says he'll take the 22's and the sales guy hands them to him.
I told him I was there first and had wanted them. He knew full well I had been patiently waiting. He just shrugged his shoulders as if to say "tough @$%*.
I don't remember my exact reply, and quite loudly to boot, bur I doubt I'd be welcome there again.
Told the other "AH" what I thought of him as well.
Another time, they said they'd match anyone's price on a firearm so when I went there with quote for a pistol, they said they couldn't go that low so it was 50 bucks off or nothing.
Needless to say I'll be waving good bye when they leave.