Bass Pro buys Sportsman's Warehouse

[Martinjmpr]

Meh. I don't recall noticing that their prices or selection were improved in any way after their big bankruptcy and reorganization in 2010 - 2011 or so (when they closed down the SW Plaza and Aurora locations.) I actually am surprised they came back from that.

The few times I've gone to their new, much smaller store in Riverpointe (Santa Fe and Hampden) I wasn't much impressed by their selection or any of their prices on anything.

Bottom line, it's hard for me to feel bad about this because I don't think they really added much actual "competition" to the likes of BP/Cabela's.

Maybe they had killer deals on reloading components, I dunno since I stopped reloading years ago but their firearm and ammo prices were never any lower than any other big box store and their selection was never any better. Their prices on non-firearm outdoor goods were never that good either.

So I'm not sure what all the gnashing of teeth and rending of clothes is about. If there was enough room in the outdoor market for more than one "Mega-Lo Mart" of shooting stuff, we'd have one but from all appearances it doesn't appear that there is.

EDITED TO ADD: Now that I think about it, SW's only "gimmick" was lower prices than the competition. That was it. Not better selection, just lower prices. And I'm assuming it was the lower prices that drove them to the brink of insolvency back in 2010 - 11. So when they came back their prices and selection were indistinguishable from the likes of BPS and Cabelas (even BEFORE BPS bought Cabelas) so what did they add other than a few more physical locations? As near as I can tell, nothing. Just a Cabelas without the stuffed animals or BPS without the fish tank and the Starbucks.