Bass Pro buys Sportsman's Warehouse

[MrPrena]

Was there, did that. Worked out well for my group (Compaq ne Digital). They canned the HP product our product was up against and merged the groups.

...and then we had to put up with seething hatred and non-cooperation for years from the HP employees whose product was replaced by ours.

Management took the approach of "It'll sort itself out" and it did, like 2 to 3 years later. They could have fixed it in months if they had the fortitude to actually manage the groups.

O2

Oh yeah. I remember ibank were praising Michael Capella for that merger. Smaller companies usually benefits in mergers (of course depending on deal structures and etc).

[XJ]

Yes- I would. I go there more the all of their competition combined.

Sometimes you only need a couple replacement Panther-Martins, and don't want to deal with the biggest-box store hassles.

[ANADRILL]

Your store must be much better than Thornton, because the counter service there is shit just like Bass Pro.

Stand in line. Lady calls you up and takes your info, says someone will call you in a few. Lady stares at wall for 15 minutes. Lady walks over and asks if you have been helped, and if you need assistance. (All the same woman) One dude is walking around having casual conversation with the other reps about the pizza he had for lunch.
On the plus side, one of 'em rang up the rifles at black friday prices 3 weeks after that sale was said and done.

It is! I have heard the same about Thorton.

[ANADRILL]

The SW in Parker has always been great with customer service and their store is very well light and organized, unlike the other SW locations that are dark and gloomy. I’m not the type to browse the gun counter often, but when I pass by they always ask if I need help. I hope the employees who are currently at Parker stay through the transition as they are the ones giving the service, not Corporate.

Thanks, we try! Had a lady comment on our service today, saying it was awesome compared to Cabellas...

[ANADRILL]

Sportsmans has sucked for like 2-3 years. They?re Fuddier than a Joe Biden ?buy a shotgun? PSA. The last thing I bought at SW was a Bayou Classic propane burner. I could have bought that anywhere. I just happened to have a coupon. They?re worth nothing because they?ve sold out. Who gives a shit.

Hum not sure on which SW you are going to, but the Parker sees quite a few nice tactical guns come through. Problem is they get bought up quick.

[Rucker61]

Decades later after many diversification and playing around agilent, yes it has.

However, carly's one of biggest failure is still seen as Compaq merger.

Did Carly have any successes?

[.455_Hunter]

Is that because they are closer to you or because they offer something the others don't?

I frequent the Turnpike corridor, so the 84th Ave SW location is easy access for me. I have found SW offers considerably more selection for the things that I buy over Cabela's and BP (general outdoor gear). I sometimes go to JAX, but the locations are definitely not convenient, but I am still annoyed by the magazine pandering from 7ish years ago, and tend to limit purchases there. Scheel's is pretty good, but Hwy 34 is far out of the way.

[theGinsue]

I've always been a fan of the SW in Colo Spr. Good customer service, I like the selection of items available - which differs on some counts (that interest me) from the items found at either BPS or Cabela's, location, etc.

Colo Spr. has a BPS on the very North end of town. Frankly, it's not in the most convenient location for me. SW has a store pretty much in the middle of town; I live just a touch closer to SW than to BPS. Even though I have to go through more traffic/lights to get to SW, I'll make the trip to SW more often than BPS. I find it worthwhile.

One thing about SW I've always enjoyed is the huge board at the front of the store with fishing reports for many of the fishing spots around the state. They do a great job keeping that info updated. Will this continue under BPS? We'll see.

When I'm in a BPS store, all of the things I want to look at seem to be in crowded little spaces. This is rarely, if ever, an issue at SW - they space things out nicely for the customer.

So, what happens if (when) BPS decides that they don't need so many retail locations and decides to close the SW stores? They take over the stock and extra supply contracts and move it all into their BPS stores.

Last I heard, Cabela's was being sued over something to do with ammunition. Under BPS, SW will feel the fallout from whatever occurs from that suit.

Prior to this buy out, if BPS caved to the pressure of the anti-gunners and decided to quit carrying handguns or evil black rifles or anything associated (like so many of the larger branded stores have done), we'd still have the option to find them at SW. Under this buyout, I'd expect SW would have to follow suit and that would leave just the Mom & Pop stores. I wouldn't mind this so much if I lived much closer to Bower's, but I don't. I often tell anyone in the Springs looking to buy a handgun, but not sure what they want, to go to Specialty Sports because of their large inventory. I tell them to handle as many as they can to get a feel for what fits them best - BUT DON'T BUY FROM THEM because their employees are rude/hateful and their prices are higher. I've always told these folks that once they've decided on the gun they want to head over to SW to make the purchase. Even if they don't have the particular firearm in stock, they'll order it for you. I can't imagine that will be the case under BPS.

Now, if after all of this you are left believing that I just don't like BPS you'd be wrong. What Johnny Morris has built up serves a particular niche and I shop at BPS often enough. But, there is something about SW that I enjoy that I believe will be lost once BPS owns them.

ETA: Stu mentioned the stairs. After the Colo Spr. BPS opened I noticed they didn't have an upstairs. I asked the manager about this and he told me that the store in Denver was one of the last that would be built with a second floor. I've come to call the new footprint of BPS "2/3 stores". Sure, they try to include all of the same stock even without a second story, but that just goes back to the crowded feeling within the stores I mentioned earlier.

[hollohas]

40mins to Bass pro
40mins to Cabela's 1
45mins to Cabela's 2

All big ass stores that require a person to wade through a bunch of BS to get what one wants.

10 mins to Sportsmans. Grab and go in a matter of minutes.

Any of the gift/decor/random BS other stuff bass pro/cabela's jam their stores full of, I'm not buying on short notice. I shop at big box outdoor stores for last minute hunting/shooting/camping stuff or convenient/hazmat free reloading stuff. I don't want to make a 2hr+ round trip for that.

I was super sad when the SW Plaza location closed years ago (but my wallet was happy).

Then Dick's turned to the dark side.

That left a hole for convenient outdoor goods in my area until Sportmans opened at River point again.

My guess is in a few years, we'll see many of the Sportsmans locations closed for just the reasons mentioned by others above...to consolidate locations. That will suck.

When that happens, my last minute outdoor shopping will come to an end as there won't be anything reasonably close anymore.

[BladesNBarrels]

Wonder if Sportsman's Warehouse will eliminate the 10% Veteran's Discount now.