Gander Mountain Files for Bankruptcy

[NDGuy]

Not surprising to me, the store here in ND is terrible. I don't believe I have ever bought anything from their store because they are nearly always 15-20% higher than any other store and refuse to price match unless it is in town. Meanwhile I bought a pair of Salomon Quests at Scheels and they price matched Amazon, saving me over $100. That and they can't keep any employees for long because of low wages and low or no commission, I worked there a few years ago. Not sure if they changed that or not but I know very few people have been working there for more than a year.

Gander Mountain bankrupt, to close 32 stores

 

[Titan]

We have a Gander here and I am always getting great deals on stuff. The clearance selection is huge...picking up their hunting clothing line for 80% off sometimes. They also give some deals on leftover gear - saved a ton on a couple of layout blinds.

Although I did buy a gun from there last weekend and it was quite the ordeal to get them to price match their own website.

From what I read online - my store is an odd one.

 

[Scottyboy]

not surprising, every single one of them in Minnesota is terrible at best. in their infinite wisdom they decided to build 2 of the stores at some strange locations..1 right next to a Cabelas and the other about 1/2-1 mile away from another Cabelas. i have never had any sort of good experience shopping there...unless of course you want the same guy to sell a new pair of shoes, women's pajamas, a camping chair and some discount candy

 

[NDGuy]

not surprising, every single one of them in Minnesota is terrible at best. in their infinite wisdom they decided to build 2 of the stores at some strange locations..1 right next to a Cabelas and the other about 1/2-1 mile away from another Cabelas. i have never had any sort of good experience shopping there...unless of course you want the same guy to sell a new pair of shoes, women's pajamas, a camping chair and some discount candy

I called around asking for pricing on a G43 with a Shield trade in. Scheels, Cabelas, and a smaller mom and pop store had them for 449.99. Gander had them for 549.99. How in the hell do they even get away with that shit? Like I said not sure about other stores but mine won't price match unless it is in the same area code.

 

[ezmorningrebel]

gander is a weird place and i'm surprised they've stayed in business this long. you walk into this huge store and they have all this stuff everywhere but if you actually start looking for a particular item the selection becomes limited, unless you're shopping for north face denali jackets or costa sunglasses. i live 300 miles from the ocean but our store has a better selection of deep sea fishing gear than it does turkey vests or tree stands. walk in there looking for a tent and you might as well have gone to walmart. they've got coleman and the gander brand. i can drive 10 minutes over to sportsmens warehouse and they've got kelty, big agnes, msr and 2 or 3 other brands all set up and ready to check out.

 

[SHTF]

Yeah I'm not a fan either they have always been the Kmart of the hunting retail stores in my book.


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[NDGuy]

gander is a weird place and i'm surprised they've stayed in business this long. you walk into this huge store and they have all this stuff everywhere but if you actually start looking for a particular item the selection becomes limited, unless you're shopping for north face denali jackets or costa sunglasses. i live 300 miles from the ocean but our store has a better selection of deep sea fishing gear than it does turkey vests or tree stands. walk in there looking for a tent and you might as well have gone to walmart. they've got coleman and the gander brand. i can drive 10 minutes over to sportsmens warehouse and they've got kelty, big agnes, msr and 2 or 3 other brands all set up and ready to check out.

I can attest to this as well. I don't understand all of the saltwater fishing gear in NORTH DAKOTA. Then have a small selection of tree stands, archery equipment, waterfowl supplies etc.

 

[aclawrence]

I quit even looking at the clothes clearance racks at my local Gander. The prices are still too high lol

 

[5MilesBack]

I have never even been in a Gander Mountain, but used to buy stuff on clearance when they still had a catalog about 25+ years ago. I still have a couple jackets that I wear every now and then.

 

[Savage99]

Used to go to one infrequently in FL. I got to know which items they would have a better selection of, even if they didn't know it. One time I asked if what they had by the firearms counter was it for chokes. Guy says, "yea, that's it". Good thing I walked to the other side of the store, I found an entire section of turkey chokes... Good thing is, most sportsman know about what something should cost.


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[Crotalus]

The Gander Mtn in Harrisburg, PA closed about a year ago as a result of a real estate conflict with a grocery store chain. I miss it, preferred it over the local Bass Pro and Cabelas about an hour away for camping, clothing and general fishing. Hunting and fly fishing was better at Bass Pro/Cabelas.

 

[adamm88]

The Gander Mtn in Harrisburg, PA closed about a year ago as a result of a real estate conflict with a grocery store chain. I miss it, preferred it over the local Bass Pro and Cabelas about an hour away for camping, clothing and general fishing. Hunting and fly fishing was better at Bass Pro/Cabelas.

I didnt know that one closed....I was only at that one once but it seemed nice, I rember looking for a backpack at school and going to cabelas and looking and not getting one i was intersted in but going on my way home afterwords and picking up the backpack, but i rember being impressed they had a small pond to "try" kayaks in store correct? My guess is it was a weird spot and not as easy to get to as Bass Pro...

My gander mountain close to me has always been decent, We dont have many local mom and pop hunting/fishing and the other option is walmart. There gun prices have always been high but no more out of line than what iv seen at Cabelas. Iv gotten good deals at bass pro over the years for things on closeout or clearance, When i was in high school(10 years ago) i probally made the trip to the store every other week to blow some or all my paycheck. As iv gotten older i shop more online i probally havet steped foot in my local gander mountain in atleast a year... Online places like amazon really hurt these type of places, if you have prime you order somthing and its there the next day and their prices are competitive.

I did always thought Gander mt. Priced matched though even online stuff but could be wrong, i know like everything else not all stores are created equal.

 

[IdahoElk]

As a kid it was the Gander Mountain and Herter's catalogs that fueled my interest in the outdoors,too bad they went downhill.

 

[Murdy]

I work near one and walk through on lunch hour about once a week. Once in a while I'll find a good deal on something. I think they really went down hill after the economic collapse of 2008. Before then, the store near me had boats on the floor, a small restaurant, ATV's I think, outboards. Now, all that stuff is gone, and it seems like they spread out the stuff they still handle (mostly clearance clothes and shoes these days) to fill up space. They still have a decent selection of fishing gear, hunting and camping is a bit more limited though. Too bad because it was really convenient. The two Dick's near me seem to be carrying less and less hunting and fishing gear every year too.

 

[Crotalus]

I didnt know that one closed....I was only at that one once but it seemed nice, I rember looking for a backpack at school and going to cabelas and looking and not getting one i was intersted in but going on my way home afterwords and picking up the backpack, but i rember being impressed they had a small pond to "try" kayaks in store correct? My guess is it was a weird spot and not as easy to get to as Bass Pro...

yeah a little over a year ago Giant bought the building to relocate one of their stores and essentially kicked GM out.

The kayak pool was filled in a couple years ago, probably insurance related.

Their camping/backpacking section was head and shoulders above bass pro's

 

[deepinthewoods]

not surprising, every single one of them in Minnesota is terrible at best. in their infinite wisdom they decided to build 2 of the stores at some strange locations..1 right next to a Cabelas and the other about 1/2-1 mile away from another Cabelas. i have never had any sort of good experience shopping there...unless of course you want the same guy to sell a new pair of shoes, women's pajamas, a camping chair and some discount candy

I couldn't agree more.

 

[Conroy]

There's 3 of them within a 30 minute drive from me. I used to buy some of their shirts and jackets but they did away with all tall sizes in the store. I have Cabelas, Bass Pro Shops, and Fleet Farm within an hour. If I can't find something locally in a mom and pop store, I go there instead

 

[frankrb3]

The two Dick's near me seem to be carrying less and less hunting and fishing gear every year too.

I can't stand gander mountain, but due to location I'd find myself in one every now and then. Everytime I left telling myself never again, but Dicks on the other hand is just terrible for hunting and fishing. 10x worse than gander in my opinion, atleast the one I'm familiar with. I also heard that Bass Pro Shopd is buying out Cabelas. Not sure if there's any truth to that or not.

 

[Scottyboy]

I can't stand gander mountain, but due to location I'd find myself in one every now and then. Everytime I left telling myself never again, but Dicks on the other hand is just terrible for hunting and fishing. 10x worse than gander in my opinion, atleast the one I'm familiar with. I also heard that Bass Pro Shopd is buying out Cabelas. Not sure if there's any truth to that or not.

yes, that is true. if i am not mistaken, bass pro paid $5.5 billion. i heard that a big motivating factor was the banking side of cabelas (ie; the "cabelas card") but again...not sure how much truth there is behind that. supposedly the cabelas stores will not be impacted by the acquisition, should be interesting to see how it pans out

 

[SportHunter]

Gander is closing in our location, went there today, 10-20% off which wasn't great considering most prices are full blown retail. Not surprised they are closing, limited selection and high prices always kept me from buying much there.