Bass Pro, I crummy way to run a sale.

[xs11jack]

Boy oh boy, am I unset at Bass Pro shops. Yesterday in the main I got a flyer for a Bass Pro "sale" running Dec. 26, to Jan. 1. Notice the flyer came one day after the start of the sale. They listed a 50% off on selected Redhead products. One item was bedroom slippers listed at $30 sale price $15. Today I went to the shop and looked for the sale items. They were scattered around the footwear area to the point I had to find a employee to help me find the slippers I was looking for. There they were tucked up in a corner on two small shelves. All 7 boxes of slippers were size 14. I asked the employee if this was all they had and she said that that was it. I asked how come you advertise a 7 day sale and on the third day this is all you have? She said "Oh, we get all of the slippers from the warehouse for Christmas and this sale just before Christmas. What you see here is the left overs from that. We apparently sold almost all of them at $30 before this sale started. Is there any other slippers I can show you?" When I get done with this rant I am going on line to their catalog and try the "We will ship them to your local store free." feature and see how that turns out.
Ole "Miffed as Heck" Jack

[shoot-n-lead]

They run these after Christmas sales to get rid of inventory that was not sold before Christmas...not to resupply the store with inventory to sell at half price.

[jcwit]

Life is rough in the Free world Jack!

[Beagle333]

Not unusual at all. The main "miffing point" of the sales flyers that they have any time of year, is that they also only had 2 or 3 of the item that I wanted. So they send out thousands of sales flyers and on the big morning, the first couple of guys in the door get those items and the rest is just as you found it.... scattered unpopular sizes. And it isn't limited to just Bass Pro either. Gander Mountain will have a big sale as well, knowing that their seven day sale will be devoid of .22 ammo and the most common sizes of that nice hunting jacket after the first 20 guys through the door at the opening bell. But that's just how they do it.
I have complained to them often that they just can't hold a multi-county sale over several days when they only start out with a dozen or so of the sale item!!! But they don't care, it gets people in the door and those people buy other things instead. If it didn't work, they wouldn't do it.
But I feel your pain. :drinks:

[xs11jack]

Yes I am sure you are right, but I just don't think it is right.
I just went to the online catalog and ordered the pair I wanted which will be sent free to the store. If I have them sent to my home they will charge shipping. The computer order taker said they were in stock and would be sent right out. They seem to have split their inventory between the stores and the catalog warehouse. OK, I been cogitating on this, with the disclaimer that while I worked at very large companies that make military stuff, I don't know how a large store and catalog business works. So... I guess they have to do what they can to get rid of sale inventory, especially after a big holiday. I also would think that before the sales someone has to estimate how much of each item to order from a manufacturer. Not knowing what inventory of slippers there are left in all the stores, I don't know how many customers were disappointed like me. And knowing my own shopping habits runs to wanting to see the item before buying, the stores would probably run out of the popular sizes before the sale has hardly started. If that is sort of the way it works, maybe I was a bit hasty with my criticism. What do you all think?
Ole "Barefoot" Jack

[WILCO]

maybe I was a bit hasty with my criticism. What do you all think?


Mountain out of mole hill. But hey, at least you learned from it.

[beezapilot]

I hate big box stores, "Sales" almost always cost more in aggravation than they are worth. Like driving across town for the "cheap" gas.

[country gent]

Like it or not these sales are desighned for 2 things (neither of which is to actually sell the items listed). One is to reduce inventory on items moving slow, end of season, tax time stocks, or older stock. The big reason is to get people in the stores. While you might not get the "sale" items you went in for, you almost always leave with a few spurr of the moment purchases that werent in the sales fliers either. Alot of sales fliers state someplace limited to in store stock , or something similar. Its all marketing and a way to get the impulse buys in their stores.

[jcwit]

country gent got it. Worked in retail most of my life and YES that is how it works, and YES it works well for the retailer.

[Handloader109]

Yeah, well I was getting emails from bass pro on their sales items between black Friday and first of December. Now I don't have a local BP, closest is little Rock and I go through there about every 6 weeks. Just so happens that I was traveling thru the same day. Good price on 22 ammo, I'll pick up a couple of boxes....
Found them in store and the price was not listed as sale.

Well, no, sale was for on line sales only!!!!!!

Needless to say they didn't sell me anything that day..... And sale price not worth paying shipping and sales tax on.....

[runfiverun]

go to the customer service section and ask for a 'rain-check' on those items.
this is basically calling them out on their ad.
it also says something when they cheerfully give you one because a 50% off sale where they are making money on an item says something about their markup.

[dragon813gt]

Almost all sales are for in store items only. Doesn't hurt to ask for a rain check. But you won't get one most of the time.

[Bad Water Bill]

And don't forget they just bought Cabelas so more junk will be coming to your mail box shortly.

[Four-Sixty]

I think Dennis Leary summed it up best when he said: "Why don't they just call it what it is, the STUFF we can't get rid of sale".

I always laugh inside when I hear women brag how they got stuff "on sale". My thought is you just bought something at a price today, that you would not be willing to pay a higher price for yesterday. I guess you really "NEEDED" that huh?

[xs11jack]

Ya, a rain check, getting senile, didn't even think of one and the lady shoe person didn't mention it. I don't buy much clothes stuff from BP, in fact the first time was two years ago at Christmas time they had a super sale on hunting boots, in fact you could choose Rocky or Redhead, same price and same spec's. I went down there knowing that it would be zoo time when I got there, but I really needed a good pair of boots. Went in to the shoe dept found plenty of stock on the shelves and plenty of my size. Grabbed a pair of Rocky and went to the end of the line which was very long but with a lot of people friendly people to talk to the line went quite fast, I was happy. I guess the point is that is the same service I expected today. Oh well. live and learn. Thanks guys.
Ole Jack

[Down South]

I just went to the online catalog and ordered the pair I wanted which will be sent free to the store.
You did right. You could have called the store in advance to see if they had your size. It would have saved you a trip.

[308Jeff]

And don't forget they just bought Cabelas so more junk will be coming to your mail box shortly.

Please, please tell me that's a joke.

I despise Bass Pro for their ridiculous prices. Cabela's was actually reasonable.

[Duckiller]

Not a joke Jeff. Bas pro bought Cabelas. Employees don't know how it will effect them or even if the two stores will operate independently. We live in interesting times.

[308Jeff]

Well... Bummer. I don't see how that buyout can be good for anyone, except BP and their ability to raise prices in their retail market.

[jcwit]

Well... Bummer. I don't see how that buyout can be good for anyone, except BP and their ability to raise prices in their retail market. Right as the rain, it's called buying out the compation, company I worked for did it a bunch.

[kingstrider]

Unless I'm going to kill time by looking at the various animal mounts of live fish in a tank, I never go to Bass Pro anymore. I don't care for box stores much at all but this one ranks at the lowest in all I have shopped.

[dragon813gt]

Not a joke Jeff. Bas pro bought Cabelas. Employees don't know how it will effect them or even if the two stores will operate independently. We live in interesting times.

I can't imagine why they would merge the brands. Both already have established customer bases. And in many places the stores don't directly compete. If they killed the Cabelas brand they would be shooting themselves in the foot.

Now if they go and change the product quality it will be a slow death. Cabela's started this process a long tike ago and have been slowly losing customers. If Bass Pro speeds up this process it will be a mass exodus. Obviously this is all IMO.

Cabela's did this to themselves by expanding to rapidly. Their small stores are what did them in. The adage "if you're not growing you're dying" can lead to your death.

[Down South]

Unless I'm going to kill time by looking at the various animal mounts of live fish in a tank, I never go to Bass Pro anymore. I don't care for box stores much at all but this one ranks at the lowest in all I have shopped.
Yup, I drive by a Bass Pro every week. I can't remember the last time that I stopped in.
Sometimes they do have decent sales but as mentioned above the sale items are usually gone by the time I get there.
I do just about all of my buying online.
There is a Mom & Pop store that I buy shot, powder and primers from at about half the price of Bass Pro.

It's been news for a long while now that BP was buying out Cabelas.

[osteodoc08]

I have a Cabelas that I pass from time to time. I'll stop in and look around but typically if I find something I like, I jot down the product info and just buy online. It's typically cheaper. When they had a sale on primers a while back, I just had them shipped to my house (free shipping on orders over $150 promo as well).

[Electric88]

Just recently I heard from employees of Cabelas that the brand will remain, as will the visa and flyers and such. Cabelas will not be ditching their credit card or importing all sorts of Bass Pro gear.

I've not found Bass Pro to be too different from Cabelas pricewise. I would buy ammo there, or maybe some clothing when on sale. I wouldn't ever buy a gun from them though. The store to watch out for is Gander Mountain. They gouge on just about everything.

[Electric88]

Additionally, if memory serves me correctly Cabelas is/was run by the son after the father passed away. He has been steadily running it into the ground.

[country gent]

This "merger" may gain Bass Pro Shops the cabellas guide service and firearms contacts that its lacking. You can go into most Cabellas and book a complete hunt almost anywhere in the world. You can go into most Cabellas and buy firearms from used to new budget grades to standard and even antiuque and collectables. I believe this merger was so BP could aquire these contacts also. Alot of mergers arnt for the stores or merchandise but for the contacts network systems already in place.

[308Jeff]

I received a $100 BP Gift Card this year for Christmas. I started looking at their prices and they are as much at 50% higher than almost any other retailer. I did find that they were fairly competitive with their cast iron cookware so I decided to make a purchase. Unfortunately the frugal side of me won out and I decided to choose the "Ship to Store" option as they offered a $10 gift card on any online purchases of $75.00 or more with S-T-S. I foolishly thought they'd just send me an email saying come pick them up since all of the items I bought were in-stock at my local store. No dice. I placed the order on 12/21 and it still in the "In Process" status.

Yeah, the long wait is probably on me for trying to get an extra $10.00, but it's still irritating. Lesson learned though.

[dragon813gt]

Ship to store items are not picked from store stock. They are picked from the central warehouse and shipped to the store. While it does save you shipping costs it's just another ploy to get you into the store. After waiting twenty minutes to pick up my order at Cabela's I decided it was worth the extra money to have it shipped to my house.