Cabelas Bargain Cave Petition

Joined
Jan 17, 2018
Messages
669
I’m 38, married, with 2 young kids...hard working/hunting/camping class. Phenomenal memories and deals had in The Cave. They had me as a repeat customer online and it was mandatory pit stop whenever I drove that direction. My 5 year old loved the taxidermy and all of us sport their logo. Without the cave, they have become just another big box retailer.

I know about the merger, blah blah. I don’t want to see it totally die, and I don’t want to be the dad that talks about Cabelas like my parents talk about Sears.

Can somebody smarter than me come up with a petition to bring back The Cave that we can cumulatively vote on and send them? They need to know they’re losing their base.

From a concerned someone,

Kyle


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colonel00

WKR
Joined
Jun 19, 2013
Messages
4,776
Location
Lost
I feel your pain. The KC Cabela's is maybe 10 minutes from my house. The wife and I probably stopped in the store once a week just to see what was in the cave. And, to be honest, they made a lot of money off of me on the discounted items. Now, we don't go in nearly as much though from what I've heard, they are keeping the Cave at my store. Still though, it isn't the same and they have changed the discount system.

Here's the saddest part yet a good example. I work literally less than a mile from a Bass Pro store but maybe go in there twice a year. Why? Because I know the typical stuff they have and I have no need to go to that store unless there is a last minute item I absolutely need and get get online cheaper in time. However, the Cabela's store made quite a bit of money, not only from Cave items because they got us in the store with the allure of the Bargain Cave and then we'd often pick up regular items as well. It's retail marketing 101...get people in the door. That's why stores like Walmart, Target, Lowes and Home Depot do free store pickup now. It gets you in the door and then you probably spend more money on other items.

Back to the main point though, I don't think a petition or anything will change the minds of Bass Pro. They will, or may, see declining sales but I doubt they will correlate it to the removal of Bargain Caves in stores. I've thought about sending a Thank You message to them explaining how much money I'll save every year due to their handling of the Caves and other changes that have been made.
 
Joined
Sep 1, 2017
Messages
92
Location
ne ks
I feel your pain. The KC Cabela's is maybe 10 minutes from my house. The wife and I probably stopped in the store once a week just to see what was in the cave. And, to be honest, they made a lot of money off of me on the discounted items. Now, we don't go in nearly as much though from what I've heard, they are keeping the Cave at my store. Still though, it isn't the same and they have changed the discount system.

Here's the saddest part yet a good example. I work literally less than a mile from a Bass Pro store but maybe go in there twice a year. Why? Because I know the typical stuff they have and I have no need to go to that store unless there is a last minute item I absolutely need and get get online cheaper in time. However, the Cabela's store made quite a bit of money, not only from Cave items because they got us in the store with the allure of the Bargain Cave and then we'd often pick up regular items as well. It's retail marketing 101...get people in the door. That's why stores like Walmart, Target, Lowes and Home Depot do free store pickup now. It gets you in the door and then you probably spend more money on other items.

Back to the main point though, I don't think a petition or anything will change the minds of Bass Pro. They will, or may, see declining sales but I doubt they will correlate it to the removal of Bargain Caves in stores. I've thought about sending a Thank You message to them explaining how much money I'll save every year due to their handling of the Caves and other changes that have been made.

The BassPro/Cabelas merger has really made the two stores in KC unattractive to me, although i still spend money there. I find my self headed to Scheels in OP more than the other two. Do you ever get up to Rogers?
 

kda082

WKR
Joined
Jan 12, 2017
Messages
348
Location
Kansas
Funny. Taking wife to airport Mon I drove right past Cabela’s and an extra 20 mins to get to Scheels. It used to be a mandatory stop any time I was in the area, now maybe once a year.
 
Joined
Dec 26, 2016
Messages
663
Scheels needs to expand with more stores, if I remember there's one in Minnesota and then Kansas City? But that's as east as they go? My last trip to Billings I went to both Scheels and Cabela's and after leaving Cabela's I asked my why I even bothered.

Scheels customer service is awesome the people know a thing or two about the products they sell.

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NDGuy

WKR
Joined
Feb 13, 2017
Messages
3,886
Location
ND
Scheels customer service is awesome the people know a thing or two about the products they sell.
Scheels is a great company, with Cabelas falling I could see Scheels expanding big time.

They focus on the right things:
-Amazing customer service
-Price match nearly everything
-Premium Brands
-Good visa card rewards
-Friendly knowledgeable employees
 

archp625

WKR
Joined
Jan 17, 2018
Messages
2,033
Location
St. Joseph, Missouri
The BassPro/Cabelas merger has really made the two stores in KC unattractive to me, although i still spend money there. I find my self headed to Scheels in OP more than the other two. Do you ever get up to Rogers?
You and me both. Cabelas used to be my store. Now I will drive the extra 30 minutes from St Joe to go to Scheels. Rogers has always had a piece of my heart for waterfowling.
 

KJH

WKR
Joined
May 10, 2016
Messages
547
I doubt there is any chance of convincing Johnny Morris's expert staff to reopen a bargain cave.

I have a Cabelas, Bass Pro, and Scheels all within 30 minutes of home. I used to be a Cabelas fan and went there about once a week on my way home from work. Now its more like twice a year. I avoided Bass Pro and never really liked it (generally avoided it at all costs). Now, I'll drive to Scheels and deal with terrible parking just to avoid Cabelas. Cabelas is dead to me now and it happened before the Bass Pro acquisition. They just want to be a REI/Sierra Trading Post/etc. and are moving away form a hunting/fishing focus. I'm sure its what their marketing studies tell them to do to keep market share, but I think its really hurting their business because everyone I talk lately feels the same. All my friends and associates have been drawn to Scheels over the last couple of years too.

Scheels employees are awesome. I have a friend who's son works there and they do a mandatory product training almost weekly and they send him to various places occasionally to learn about products. At Cabelas or Bass Pro, you're lucky to find help and if you do they don't know the difference between shotgun shells and lawn chairs.

I wish there was a Fleet Farm or Sportsman's Warehouse near me.
 

Buckman

WKR
Joined
Jul 20, 2012
Messages
393
Location
Cheesehead Land
I doubt there is anyone that is more upset about Cabelas buyout than me. I WAS a huge buyer of goods from the Bargain Cave for more than 15 years. Hell I bet 95 % of my kids Christmas presents have come from there for a long long time. Shopped the rest of the store too, but the bargain cave was where it was happening. My license plate even was CABELAS. Since dropped it. told my kids this Christmas won't be the same as i've gotten a lot of smoken deals in the past that will never happen again. SO VERY SAD. The Cabelas family must be sick what happened to their baby.
 
Joined
Sep 1, 2017
Messages
92
Location
ne ks
Scheels needs to expand with more stores, if I remember there's one in Minnesota and then Kansas City? But that's as east as they go? My last trip to Billings I went to both Scheels and Cabela's and after leaving Cabela's I asked my why I even bothered.

Scheels customer service is awesome the people know a thing or two about the products they sell.

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There’s one in Greeley too
 
Joined
Jun 12, 2013
Messages
676
Scheels employees are better trained and know quite a bit about what they sell. The one thing that kills me about Scheels is having 47 employees ask me "Can I help you?"... On the other hand, you don't have to look very hard to find someone if you do have a question.
 

Y2JJ

FNG
Joined
Nov 30, 2018
Messages
84
Cabelas will go out of business unless something changes. How unfortunate is it that such a huge awesome store is a huge disappointment. That said it’s not terrible but it sure isn’t what it was or what it should be. My 2 cents.
 

Ratbeetle

WKR
Joined
Jul 20, 2018
Messages
1,141
I canceled my cabelas card and rarely shop there these days. There was a reason I didn't buy much from BP even when I lived a mile away from the very first outdoor world.

The people living in Springfield are lucking out though. Everyhthing once sold in all those bargain caves is now going to be in the BP outlet store.
 

LandYacht

WKR
Joined
Jan 25, 2014
Messages
773
Location
Frisco
I’ve seen a lot of bargain cave sadness, but can’t help thinking that if that’s where everyone was buying from Cabelas that there surely wasn’t much, if any, profit for Cabelas.

I haven’t seen a single post from anyone saying they were making purchases from Cabelas at full price.

I think that their prices being higher than the rest is what was/is going to be the cause of any demise that may happen, not the lost sales from the bargain cave.


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137buck

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Messages
115
Location
Western Montana
I always shopped for hunting gear at Cabelas, their clothing was top notch and I did buy a few things from the bargain cave, but since the bass pro merger went through, I flatly refuse to spend a penny there, as I have nothing but dislike for bass pro, their customer service absolutely sucks. Now I shop small shops, Sportsmen's warehouse or online.
 
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