Two Cabela stores in town !

Hi everybody !
So i live in Edmonton in Canada and recently Cabela announced that they will open their second store right here in Edmonton.Mind you they are not giant type like guys have down in the States...Cabela just opened here like a year ago a 70.000 square feet store and now they plan to open a 50.000 square feet store in the north side of town !...i think it's weird don't you guys ?!, ohhh there is also a Bass Pro but it's like 275 Kilometers away near Calgary !.
Some of the local smaller fishing stores already shutting down....two Fishing Hole stores gone already !!, there are rumors that the Canadian stores called Wholesale Sports (camping,fishing,hunting) may leave town (we have two of those).
Is Cabela and Bass Pro the new Wal-mart of outdoors ?

Seems like it, they are opening a Cabelas near me too. The nearest big store is basspro and they are 35 miles or so away.

Although I feel sorry for the "smaller" stores, it must be nice to have access to a "big" store. I do shop at Bass Pro but the distance to get there keeps me away more which is good for my wallet.

On the other hand, there is a small family run store fairly close by that is the only one that carries a certain type fishing hook (other than the web). I do try to shop local small fishing tackle stores as customer service is really great.

I've been trying to get a Cabelas or Basspro in my hometown. You would think that Bassmaster's #3 bass lake would have a huge, big name outdoors store nearby. Nope. The nearest Basspro is 1.5 hours away in the middle of a fairly large city. Heck, they did the same thing with Lake Okeechobee. They have 3 Basspros in the area, but it is at least an hour to the nearest one. The cool thing about Guntersville is that we have the perfect place to put a big store that is right in the center of a bend in the Tennessee River. It is right off the highway and they could build docks so that you could tie a boat up and go in and shop. It sure is nice to dream. :LOL2:

Jealous! here i am near Houston and we can't even have ONE...go figger it

Funny thing is that the fishing in the province of Alberta is kinda at the bottom....but i guess hunting and camping are huge around here.Seems that everywhere you look there's an RV dealer !.....as much as we like the selection of the bigger American stores i hate to see the Canadian ones going under. Edmonton is a city with just under one million people and Calgary with just over one million....go figure drive in town to two Cabelas or two hours and threequarter to a Bass Pro !.....maybe it explains how i ended up with 18 rods (Shimano Cummaras x2,4 GLoomis,5 St.Croix,...some other high end rods and reels....the wife hates it,kinda but she got her pink St. Croix and she's happy !

They are the Walmart of outdoors. I have 3 basspros and a cabelas all of which are two hours away..... We do have a worthless over priced gander mtn which I only go in in an emergency. O burned them on price fixing during their sales. I went in on Saturday to get a scratch off coupon, priced the gun I wanted and came back on Sunday when I had time to do the paperwork and it was $50 more! I called them out and the manager was like oh u saw that...... And gave it to me for the price I saw the day before the sale started.

:twisted: South Jersey is getting a BPS in Atlantic City which is about 40 miles from me. Cabelas is coming to Christiana, Delaware which is about 60 miles. =D>

To be honest, i think that the bigger stored sometimes do have lower prices......We boycotted Wal-mart for like 7 years but we realized that kid clothing made in Bangladesh by 8 years old is s much cheaper at wallyworld.....we have a 21 months baby so now we are back at supporting the Bangladeshi,Chinese,etc economies !

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=318921#p318921 said:

wingsnhammers » Today, 01:38[/url]"]I've been trying to get a Cabelas or Basspro in my hometown. You would think that Bassmaster's #3 bass lake would have a huge, big name outdoors store nearby. Nope. The nearest Basspro is 1.5 hours away in the middle of a fairly large city. Heck, they did the same thing with Lake Okeechobee. They have 3 Basspros in the area, but it is at least an hour to the nearest one. The cool thing about Guntersville is that we have the perfect place to put a big store that is right in the center of a bend in the Tennessee River. It is right off the highway and they could build docks so that you could tie a boat up and go in and shop. It sure is nice to dream. :LOL2:

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I think it should be law that there is a BPS or Cabelas at the nearest town of every reservior. That would about a 15-20 minute drive from the house!

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=318829#p318829 said:

DanMC » 15 Jun 2013, 00:14[/url]"]Hi everybody !
So i live in Edmonton in Canada and recently Cabela announced that they will open their second store right here in Edmonton.

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Please pack one up and send it down here. I'll split the shipping with you. Closest one to me is outside of St. Louis. And yes, I think it's a shame that when they come to town the smaller M&P stores have to shut down.

Here's why: https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=31767

Mike

Everybody gets to make their own decisions, but for the past 50 years, the local guy runs a sporting goods store, sells used guns, guns on consignment for locals, fishing gear, fixes reels and guns, and does engraving for trophies to keep paying the rent. His kid put himself through college selling trading cards. He wouldn't survive such an incursion. People often have to buy on price. As it is now, folks will buy a gun at Wal-M and bring it into Don to mount a scope or fix it. Wally makes the profit, Don does the tedious work. With the ammo shortage, he wouldn't sell .22lr for more than a .50 profit, even when he could get them. Then, he would limit purchases so his regular customers could find some. Community Loyalty...something that seems one-way these days.

His grandson borrowed a small motor from me to fish a bigger lake.

Big box stores kill small economies, and while I understand the way of the world, I HATE them.

Part of living in rural communities is you occasionally get the chance to met men like the Sporting Goods store owner. I count myself lucky.

There's always positives and negatives about big-name stores moving into town. I live 12 minutes from a Cabelas and I love it. I can understand how they destroy small-town shops but you can't beat their selection of items that many of the smaller stores just cant carry. I wouldn't call them the Wal-Mart of sportsmans supplies, maybe rather more of a Target.

I'd much rather go to Cabelas than the majority of marine shops around town, as the guys at Cabelas are still very helpful, while most of the people at the marine stores seem to get annoyed more than anything. Maybe that's because I don't have a 50' yacht.

Cabelas and Bass Pro are lacking in their regional buying and that is why there will always be a place for the small shops. For instance, the Bass Pro closest to me is about 1-3/4 hour from me in MA. They have the stupidest amount of walleye gear I have ever seen. Walleye gear? In MA? Who is the genius that is stocking those shelves? There aren't Walleye for 250 miles of Foxboro MA. Then one time I made the long drive from my house to stock up on some ice fishing gear. It was early December so I knew the store would be full of gear for me to choose from. I got there and almost went to the courtesy desk to ask for some gas money to get home. Absolute garbage for selection, they had maybe 10 feet worth of one side of a rack with ice gear. No shelters, no flashers, 2 kinds of tip ups and maybe 3 different kinds of jig sticks. I was a VERY unhappy camper. My local supermarket has more to choose from. Cabelas is a store I like better, mostly because they seem to have better gear. I'm not a fan of the Red Head line of gear which is the Bass Pro shops line. The Cabelas brand stuff seems a bit nicer.

I will always however buy tackle and fishing gear at the local shop near me. They know me and they know what stuff to stock and keep on hand. They are the only place I know that stocks the Yamamoto swimbaits with the swim tail. Even Bass Pro doesn't keep them on the shelf.

Dallas has 2 Basspros, 2 Cabellas and too many Academy stores to count, within driving distance. The one I enjoy the most is Barlows. It is a store from before my time. I am told that in the old days, people would line up out side the store on Saturdays because they limited the number of people who were inside the store at one time. Apparently when the Big Box stores started putting pressure on them, they converted into a specialty, online store. They changed their store to a small retail front with a big warehouse. Their selection is limited but you can going into the small retail store front and they will go back into the warehouse and get you anything that you want from their printed or online catalog. The problem is that they are only open 9 - 5, M - F. Still, it is a part of history.

I always support the little local guy first, but I love walking around cabbalas and Basspro. Nice way to kill an afternoon. ESPECIALLY when the ladies are out at Bed Bath and Beyond, Gap, some crazy shoe store................

My son and I look at all the stuff, the aquariums, shoot the guns........dream LOL!

The Hoffman estates Cabelas is now 1/2 a store. Cook county and or Hoffman estates reneged on the tax incentive deal they gave Cabelas to build their store there. So Cabelas closed down the upper level of the store. This may have given Cabelas the idea to open smaller stores.

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=318829#p318829 said:

DanMC » 15 Jun 2013, 00:14[/url]"]Is Cabela and Bass Pro the new Wal-mart of outdoors ?

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They seem to be headed that way fast. Service is about as good. It seems these stores have changed in the last 10 years or so, now there just like every other big box place and I do my best to avoid them. I will, however, go in and check stuff out before ordering on-line.