The death of the retail store

[Olympics777]

I used to live close to a scheels and it was pretty nice, but now I have to decide between cabelas and North 40. North 40 usually wins…

 

[ODB]

It’s funny…way back in the day I worked at Intermountain Outdoors here in Idaho, then Sportmans opened up and all the owners said it was our superior customer service that would keep our customers coming back - they didn’t. Then many years later I worked at Sportsman’s when Cabelas opened up - Sportsman’s said the same thing: our superior customer service would retain customers - it didn’t. Now Scheels opens up…I wonder what Cabelas and Sportsman’s are telling their employees these days?

 

[jayhawk]

The buyout by Basspro was the death knell of Cabelas. Scheels is where it’s at

 

[CorbLand]

It’s funny…way back in the day I worked at Intermountain Outdoors here in Idaho, then Sportmans opened up and all the owners said it was our superior customer service that would keep our customers coming back - they didn’t. Then many years later I worked at Sportsman’s when Cabelas opened up - Sportsman’s said the same thing: our superior customer service would retain customers - it didn’t. Now Scheels opens up…I wonder what Cabelas and Sportsman’s are telling their employees these days?

As a former employee of one of those two. They still tell you the same shit.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

What's really bad when you have to get something local and it's not in stock...stopped in a big box store to get some pad lock keys made for a gate...The machine that now makes keys was out of stock of that key....masterlock pad lock and you don't have keys in stock...smh

 

[Shō[t]gun]

One of the dumbest things that stores still do for some reason is say “we don’t have it in stock, but we can order it for you”… yeah I’d love to pay for the inconvenience of waiting for you guys to get it in, hope it’s the right product, then contact me, then drive back over here and wait at customer service to pay an inflated price.

MidwayUSA is gonna replace most of these stores and I won’t shed a tear. I do like Scheels though.

 

[fishslap]

One of the dumbest things that stores still do for some reason is say “we don’t have it in stock, but we can order it for you”… yeah I’d love to pay for the inconvenience of waiting for you guys to get it in, hope it’s the right product, then contact me, then drive back over here and wait at customer service to pay an inflated price.

MidwayUSA is gonna replace most of these stores and I won’t shed a tear. I do like Scheels though.

I like midway and brownells. I order muzzleloader stuff from track of the wolf or October Country.

 

[stonewall]

Are you saying the carp identifies as a trout?

If that’s the case I’m the ass hole that mis-specied that poor trout. Apologies, I never intended to perpetuate my beliefs onto him/her.

um, excuse me - Him/her/THEM?!

 

[yfarm]

I drew for an exotic hunt in Texas, requires use of a muzzleloader or shotgun with slugs, had a 1187 20 slug gun, checked 20 academy stores online in Tx,Ok and Mo along a trip route, 6 said were in stock,only 2 actually had them and less quantity than online. Was in Iowa, went to Brownells store in Grinnell after online said 20 boxes,in store computer said in stock but out of stock. Went to Fleet Farm in Ankeny as an afterthought had 20 different items with at least thirty boxes of each.

 

[AZ8]

Took my elderly mom to the mall as she likes to shop at Dillard’s. Wow! Ghost town! I think I counted 7 people in the entire behemoth store. Felt bad for the workers, just staring at us, with nothing to do as we walked by their cash register.

Huge store with clothes everywhere and no one buying. I wonder how places like that even stay open anymore. I wonder what happens to all that inventory?!

Sad.

 

[robby denning]

My Karen moment.

I can’t stand dealing with retail stores anymore.

Went to Cabela’s yesterday to buy some turkey shells, online says they have them in stock at the store, nope, not in store. Left empty handed. Side note, that place is so sad. The trout tank had carp in it.

Went to sportsman’s this morning, bought some turkey loads, not what I wanted but at this point I’m tired of looking.

Bought a powder funnel set. When I got home I went to toss the receipt, they overcharged me 5 bucks for the powder funnel from the price marked in store. I called and they said come back and we’ll refund you the 5 bucks. I’m more than 5 dollars away in gas, plus my time which apparently isn’t worth much.

Oh well, a good reminder why retail is dying. Next time order from scheels online. Thank you for allowing me my Karen moment.

in every industry. So sick of driving to three hardware stores and failing. Open amazon, and there it is!

 

[CRJR45]

I could go on for paragraphs about BPS sucking , they never have what you need , then try to sell the next best thing . A whole aisle of Yamamoto Senko's , but never in the popular colors (Green Pumkin Purple flake) or a good hook .

 

[Ucsdryder]

in every industry. So sick of driving to three hardware stores and failing. Open amazon, and there it is!

For cheaper and it’s amazing how often I can get stuff same day/next day!

 

[gbflyer]

Visited Scheels in Billings and Missoula over the past 3 weeks. Both were stuffed with people and the cash registers were ringing. My conclusion is that folks have way too much money (credit).

 

[Hnthrdr]

Walk into any CO fly shop with a picture of a football brown and another with a carp, and there will be a lot of swooning over the latter.

#freshwaterbones

Freaking hipsters man… they have to co-op everything!!! I fished for carp before it was cool to fish for carp!!! And yes I kilt them and buried them in garden in the backyard… but I never taped their mouths shut or took them to a bar… would have been weird since I was 8 #toosoon?

 

[CorbLand]

One of the dumbest things that stores still do for some reason is say “we don’t have it in stock, but we can order it for you”… yeah I’d love to pay for the inconvenience of waiting for you guys to get it in, hope it’s the right product, then contact me, then drive back over here and wait at customer service to pay an inflated price.

MidwayUSA is gonna replace most of these stores and I won’t shed a tear. I do like Scheels though.

When Sportsmans started the guns online deal. The training they gave us was all about how it will help us sell more guns, give the customer better selection, help them be more competitive, etc. a bunch of the younger employees ate it hook line sinker. I sat there and said in a couple years, they will send us less guns and expect us to sell more than ever.

Took about 6 months.

It’s the model I fear most places are going to go. Allows for smaller stores and less inventory. It’s one thing for it happen in sporting goods but wait until it hits grocery stores, vehicle dealerships, etc. It will be a pain in the ass and be sold to us as “providing the customer with more options.”

 

[COJoe]

Checked online for .41 magnum ammo at Bass Pro last year, said they have some, drove an hour north to pick it up, nothing on the shelves!!! Asked the gun counter, they said they never have it and they know the website says they have it! Everybody knows it but nobody seems to cares if the customer can actually get what they want. I had already about gave up on Bass Pro/Cabela's but this pretty much did it for me. Scheels has a really good inventory but it's an hour or so away. Sportsman's is local and has most what I need and I enjoy talking to the gun counter employees.

in every industry. So sick of driving to three hardware stores and failing. Open amazon, and there it is!

I agree Robby, huge stores with very little stock sometimes, just like furniture stores.

 

[*zap*]

Basically there is no hope

 

[Hnthrdr]

When Sportsmans started the guns online deal. The training they gave us was all about how it will help us sell more guns, give the customer better selection, help them be more competitive, etc. a bunch of the younger employees ate it hook line sinker. I sat there and said in a couple years, they will send us less guns and expect us to sell more than ever.

Took about 6 months.

It’s the model I fear most places are going to go. Allows for smaller stores and less inventory. It’s one thing for it happen in sporting goods but wait until it hits grocery stores, vehicle dealerships, etc. It will be a pain in the ass and be sold to us as “providing the customer with more options.”

This is a real thing, also not great because often I want to pick up and handle a rifle/shotgun before I just blindly buy it off line and have it shipped to store

 

[Ucsdryder]

Freaking hipsters man… they have to co-op everything!!! I fished for carp before it was cool to fish for carp!!! And yes I kilt them and buried them in garden in the backyard… but I never taped their mouths shut or took them to a bar… would have been weird since I was 8 #toosoon?

Shooting them with a bow is about as much fun as you can have with your pants on.