Gander bows out

[metricmonkeywrench]

Went into Gander tonight to kill some time. I wandered back to the guns section and the isles were bare, not uncommon as since they re-opened they have re arranged the store a few times. As I was wandering around the empty shelves looking to where it all moved to one of the employees approached me and let me know the at corporate had sold off the entire hunting/shooting inventory to another company and had no intention of selling anything anymore. From what he understood with only 34 stores the sales volume was not enough to keep them competitive.

Though a bit overpriced it was nice to have a local supply for local needs, were now left with Wally World, the LGS bandits and online for any needs. I at least have a good independent shop, but that’s a 100mi round trip and a Bass Pro and Cabellas about the same distance though they haven’t had much useful in the reloading section for a while.

[Mal Paso]

Hate to see fewer choices, even poor ones.

Here the Dicks location was taken over by a chain called Turners. No Primers, little powder but they had Dillons on the shelf. They did have a shellholder I needed. I'll see how they fill stock over time.

[Buck Shot]

There used to be a Gander Mountain not far from here. The guns were all out where you could handle them, and they looked like it.

Before they closed their doors, my brother gave me a gift certificate for their store, which I used to get some components at (almost) pennies on the dollar (back when Bush was in the White House)...

[richhodg66]

Cabela's sucks since Bass Pro took it over. Bass Pro always sucked. The one in Wichita stopped selling used guns and the one in KC seems to have scalled way back on it.

Haven't set foot in a Dick's in several years and won't. I did go into a Scheel's in Des Moines not long ago, pretty good store. We also got a Dunham's not far from here and it's overpriced, but I think will have some reloading stuff and they do have more ammo than most.

[farmbif]

didn't camping world/Marcus lemonis buy out gander mt half a dozen or so years back


yeah here it is

https://www.outdoorlife.com/camping-world-buys-out-gander-mountain/

[BigAlofPa.]

I stopped at Dicks last week. Looking for a Ruger American in 7.62x39. The sales clerk said he had 3 before. But some one bought all of them. Last gun i bought from them was my 10/22 a few years ago. They always had good sales on them around Christmas.

[8mmFan]

Scheel’s is awesome, and they have a dynamite rewards program for their VISA.

I patronized the original Gander Mountain way back in the 90’s for everything from hunting gear to gunsmith services (they had a TREMENDOUS gunsmith department). Bought my Buck Vanguard there, which I still have and which has cleaned a good number of deer.

Not sure who the original family was that founded Gander in Wilmot, WI, but, like many small stores (Potbelly Sandwich Shop comes to mind), they must have sold out to some enterprising merchants that were good at carpet-bombing the land with stores with a good brand and “story.” I’m sure someone made a fortune in there, somewhere.

All I know is that my experience the other day, upon walking in to the local Gander, was the same as the original OP.

Too bad. I couldn’t really say what drove the commercialization of hunting, the need for unneeded “gear,”, the hyped-up TV shows with the breathless kill-shot aftermath dead-animal-approach, the camoflagization of hunting clothes, but it seems that it all came to a head, this boil, with the death of Gander, Sportsman’s Warehouse, Cabela’s, and probably a dozen others.

And I’ll be honest: I’m probably as responsible for their demise as anyone else. When Gander jacked their prices for reloading components to the moon during the last Obama-induced “shortage”, I said to myself, “never again,” and went almost exclusively to places like Recob’s, and online stores, for components. The outfits like Cabela’s (to which my family made a once-a-year pilgrimage in Sydney and dropped a gazillion $$, when it really was Cabela’s) and Bass-Pro, and Gander, lost me when they were taken over by MBA-types that had no more connection to the real spirit of hunting than Chuck Schumer. The final straw for Cabela’s/Bass Pro was having their Cabela’s club card be taken over by the Capitol One of Samuel L. Jackson fame.

8mmFan

[Burnt Fingers]

I stopped at Dicks last week. Looking for a Ruger American in 7.62x39. The sales clerk said he had 3 before. But some one bought all of them. Last gun i bought from them was my 10/22 a few years ago. They always had good sales on them around Christmas.

Why ANY person that's concerned about our Second Amendment Rights would shop at Dick's amazes me.

[BigAlofPa.]

Why would an anti second amed store sell guns?

[farmbif]

besides the politics I can image the bean counters would much rather fill the shelves with cheap junk from china and fabrics from who knows where that turns over quick and makes a handsome profit rather than goods that are hard to source for a limited client base. but that's just the modern business climate it seems

[Cosmic_Charlie]

Could be Gander saw the writing on the wall? How long before the dick tater starts banning things left and right? He has already demonstrated he has no respect for the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

[downzero]

Why ANY person that's concerned about our Second Amendment Rights would shop at Dick's amazes me.

Literally every time I go there, they don't have what I'm looking for. Why anyone shops there at all is beyond me.

[jonp]

What do you expect. The guy who owns them said in no uncertain terms he was not interested in any 2cd Amendment Trump supporter types. I stopped buying anything from them at that point.

Expect Cabela's to go the same way since the buyout by Bass Pro. All of them are overpriced Dick's type for the well heeled Volvo type soccer mom set. If your into soccer, golf or frisbee golf or strolling around Whole Foods in North Face gear like your stocking up for an assault on K2 your in luck. Actual outdoorsman need not enter

[BigAlofPa.]

That was the 1st time i was at Dicks since i got the 10/22. It was a few years since. It was a last ditch effort to the rifle im after. None of the LGS'S have them. Unless i want an AK or SKS. But im interested in a Bolt action. A CZ or Ruger. So the search continues.

[Bmi48219]

Twenty years ago there was a Dicks in Michigan near our home. They actually had a good selection of firearms and reloading components at reasonable prices. There’s one near us in Florida. Never had much I’d want. Several years back they dropped anything that wasn’t rimfire. A year later that went too. The two Walmarts in our area are also non-firearm. Gander down in WPB too. Bass Pro was always way over priced. Haven’t been there in years. Nobody other than BP within 100 miles sells reloading components. And our area of Florida is strongly conservative. You guys with a Scheels and the like nearby don’t know how fortunate you are.

[BigAlofPa.]

I been ordering Stuff from Scheels lately. I got a new tumbler and 45 colt brass from them. And i have 7.62x39 brass on the way now from them. I bought rifle bullets from them for my sons .243 and 6.5 creedmoor.

[GregLaROCHE]

Most stores selling a variety of items are looking for big profit margins on what they sell. If their prices weren’t competitive, they probably didn’t sell the volume needed to justify the floor/shelf space.

[PhilC]

You guys with a Scheels and the like nearby don’t know how fortunate you are.
That's for sure!!

[1Hawkeye]

I guess it finally caught up with them. When you try to sell Firearms and related stuff at 25 to 30 percent above retail nobody's gonna buy it from you. They use to be good for selling and trading but they put a stop to that the last time I tried dealing with them I got cussed out by some self proclaimed gun expert named Jim because I wouldn't sell him the 2 glock 35 race guns for 125.00 bucks and that was for the pair not each. I took it up with the store manager and he didn't give a hoot so that was my last trip to gouger mtn.

[jonp]

I will say this for Bass Pro. I went in and walked through the empty reloading space to the counter and asked for some BP. Guy asked what i wanted it for. Uh...43 Spanish and to try some 45 LC loads? Guy said sure and got it. He said they had to make sure i didnt want it for pipe bombs and stuff and was laughing about it. Ok.

[bakerjw]

Scheels rocks IMHO. They've had bullets (I know a bad word but I do reload with them) in stock at good prices for the last 18 months.
Now if only I could get primers from them.

[megasupermagnum]

There's still Gander Mountains around? I used to love that store. St. Cloud used to have both Gander and Sportsmens warehouse, and they were great until maybe the mid 2000's. Sportsmen's closed, and Gander more or less become a clothing store. I still liked gander enough to check it out. There was one in Brainerd that had a cool trophy room. Then about 10 years ago they pretty much did the Cabela's route, sold their soul to China, dedicated 80% of the floor to cheap garbage clothes, and stopped selling anything good. They did have a good enough fishing section to make it worth while if you didn't have a good bait store nearby.

Finally a few years ago it seemed they all more or less rode off into the sunset. As far as I knew, Gander Mt. shut the doors for good, but maybe not some places. Sportsmen's warehouse is pretty rare, I'm only aware of one store hundreds of miles away. Fleet Farm sold out, prices instantly went up 30%, and they got rid of everything good in the stores. Cabela's got rid of a lot of things, seem to hardly have any used guns, got rid of the bargain cave, food isn't good anymore, their reloading supply's and prices were atrocious before the pandemic.

I still like Runnnings, but they aren't cheap. The only outdoor type store that truly impresses me anymore is Fleet Supply.

[imashooter2]

Strange… the salesman seemed to imply that once upon a time Gander thought they were competitive. :veryconfu

[megasupermagnum]

Strange… the salesman seemed to imply that once upon a time Gander thought they were competitive. :veryconfu

They were, just not this decade, and barely this century.

[alamogunr]

The Gander Mountain near me went out of business over a year(may have been more than 2 years ago) only to be replaced by a store called Gander (something or other). I haven't been in but it looks like there is no parking because the lot is overrun by motor homes and travel trailers.

[1Hawkeye]

About 2 years ago gander did go out and were bought by the guy who owns camping world who brought it back as gander outdoors. The prices were higher, products shoddier, and help even more clueless.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

We had a Gander open in 1993. Bought my first reloading setup from them. They were once a great place for the outdoorsmen to shop. Scheels is an interesting story. I bought my soon to be wife a fishing pole at their original store in Mankato MN back in 1984. Hard to believe they parlayed that into the chain that exists today.

[Texas by God]

Re: Gander Mountain
My view;
Bye, Felicia.

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[hoodat]

I live in Mayberry, and work in a larger town about twenty miles up the road. (large enough to have a Home Depot, and a WallMart)

I'm not a rich guy, and have always tried to get the best deal I could, and often bragged about it when I did. -- Nowadays, I'll shop every chance I get with a couple locally owned shops, where I know my money stays local. I'll pay more to do it, and if I can order from them, I'll do it instead of ordering from one of the big on-line stores.

I don't spend a ton of money on my hobby, and ten or twenty percent more isn't gonna break me. I also work for a locally owned building supply business, and I appreciate the folks who shop with us as opposed to Home Depot.

I doubt that I'm making a big difference in the big picture, but sometimes I get that feeling that a do-gooder gets when he does good.:-P jd

[Thundarstick]

The Gander Mountain near me went out of business over a year(may have been more than 2 years ago) only to be replaced by a store called Gander (something or other). I haven't been in but it looks like there is no parking because the lot is overrun by motor homes and travel trailers.

It's Camping World now! Large campers, small campers, tents, and anything you can imagine for camping. I was buying some shooting supplies from them in the past, and they had guns. Went in yesterday looking for a burger press (only place in Jackson that had one! ). All the guns and anything hunting or shooting related GONE! Went to Dick`s, same story!