Is Cabela’s played out?

[Twitch]

Yep - same here. Bought some Cabelas Meindls specifically due to their warranty. Had an issue with them following my first hunt with them - tried to return them. And nope. Found out they aren’t honoring the Cabela’s warranty anymore since BPS bought them. Won’t buy their brands anymore! And no more bargain cave in Boise. Sucks ass.

*Would be interested if anyone is having any luck with Cabela’s brand warranty returns since September 2019. Someone give me some hope that I just need to call and be persistent!!


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I had the same problem with those boots. I wrote a pretty detailed "review" of what happened and how I was treated on the website and received a PHONE CALL (I'm assuming because they pulled my cabelas credit card info) in a matter of hours of submitting the review. A guy who actually sounded genuinely concerned asked what would make it right, another pair of boots, refund, what... I said refund, and he did it, and even sent a $50 gift card on top of it. Sadly, that one persons actions are the best experience I've had in a while.

I really miss the days when you'd call in an order and a nice lady that sounded like my grandma would answer by the second ring, and chit chat about the weather and kids and such while she placed the order. Now you are lucky to even get through on the phone, it's a noisy call center in Florida (I confirmed this after I complained), and they have ZERO clue about what you are trying to order.

 

[ChrisA]

Edit to add: just got a DU card coming, i burn a lot of gasoline and ammo so the card should be good for me.

 

[Jacobson2112]

I haven't been a fan since bass pro bought Cabelas

 

[Racethesunset]

I lost respect for Cabelas when they overwhelmingly started to market their own label in the store. They and others like them have effectively stolen the businesses that they were built on.

 

[bigeasygator]

This has nothing to do with the hunting community aging. Or really anything to do with the hunting community at all. It’s just margin dollars at work. We want top tier products, the worst margin performers in the whole category. The clothing, cheap fishing poles, coolers and smokers pay the bills. The high end house brands of the past can’t compete with the Redhead junk of today when it comes to profitability. Low overhead companies like Camofire, Black Ovis, Amazon and others have changed the game.

As much as everyone likes to say they’d pay extra for great brands and service... numbers don’t lie.

Scheels is a private company. So they can run whatever margin they want without answering to shareholders. That makes it easier to have all the good toys and good prices. While Basspro is also private, I get the feeling the equity groups controlling it are less accommodating.


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Whiskey Fish is spot on. Cabela's isn't what they once were to most of us. 30 years ago, they were more or less it when it came to specialized hunting products and apparel. You didn't have Sitka, Kuiu, Kifaru, Stone Glacier, etc. You also didn't have the internet. Cabela's is evolving in this space and finding their niche. Yes, that largely means it's become irrelevant to many of us, but it doesn't mean it isn't the right business model for its shareholders.

 

[BrassEnthusiast]

All went down hill when they got bought out by bass pro. Now they sell all the Bass Pro redhead gear.

 

[Mike 338]

As long as there's a market for bass boats, $400 coolers, XXXXXXXL clothes, "in-store" snacks, non-purpose built equipment, boots that fall apart and clothes you'd wear around town, then Cabela's will be around.

 

[Hondo]

Cabela's warranty service went downhill well before BPS took over. I had some Cabela's Meindl boots midsoles delaminate with less than 25% of tread wear but because they were a few years old (3-4?) they refused to honor the warranty. I had mailed them in to the warranty address and they just mailed them back to me a month later with a little note saying they weren't covered. Not even a coupon for a discount on a new pair.

I have lots of boots, rotate frequently and maintain them properly so I generally get several years out of each pair of boots on average and have some boots that far exceed that. I called to speak to a customer service manager at the HQ who argued that they were past the expected life of the boots but would not say how long the expected life of their Meindl boot line was. They pretty much lost me as a customer then.

I still have 2 Cabela's Meindl boots in service but they just aren't on par with a pair of non-Cabela's Meindl boots I have since acquired nor many other brands. I grew up with Cabela's catalogs and their gear and hate what has happened to them. I have lots of other Cabela's gear I still use and like and live within an hour of a Cabela's store but I haven't given them a dime in years. I live even closer to a Bass Pro Shop, but not being a fan of over-paying for mostly mediocre gear and never really caring for the taste of licorice, I don't have much use for them either.

 

[Kevin Dill]

My numbers have flip-flopped. I used to be interested in 90% of what Cabela's carried, and I passed on about 10%. Today those numbers are reversed for me.

However, I'm not ready to pronounce Cabela's down and out yet. The name is going to eventually change I think...based on seeing Bass Pro Shops labeled merchandise at Cabela's. The brand is likely getting swallowed gradually (snake anyone?) and all those stores will become BPS. My wife and I were in Charleston, WV last weekend and Columbus, OH the weekend before. Both times we stopped at Cabela's, and I can assure you the customers haven't gone away. It was busy as heck!

Interestingly, Cabela's has partnered with Sunglass Hut and now has a really phenomenal sunglass department....focusing on sport styles mainly. My wife bought a pair of $200 Costas (for motorcycling) and was happy. I shook a $400 St Croix walleye rod but didn't bite.

Undeniably, Cabela's is changing and evolving into an everyman's (and women and children) sporting store. I'm not boycotting them. They just have less of what I'm interested in now.

 

[mbailey25]

The merger with Bass Pro was the worst possible thing to happen to Cabela's. It used to be a treat to go to Cabela's, now I can drive past it without giving it a second thought.

 

[h_soape]

It is really disappointing how much they have gone down hill so quickly under the bps management.
I didn’t understand why bps bought Cabela’s besides limiting competition. They pretty well both had stores in the same locations do it didn’t increase their footprint.


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[JordanAdams]

I had been on the Bass Pro pro staff since 2011 and hosted their Next Generation show while it aired and as time went on i noticed a decrease in bass pro itself along the way. Store associates strongly disliked their jobs, events were poorly planned and the selection of product and the quality of those products were starting to take a hit as well especially since a lot of the better/higher end products and companies began going the direct to consumer route. Being that i was contracted with Bass Pro (before the Cabelas merge) i hadnt stepped foot in a Cabelas. About 2 years before the merge i finally got to go into a Cabelas store and actually really liked it a lot! The broad variety in product and brands was amazing compared to Bass Pro since Bass Pro really started focusing on selling the majority of their own branded products (Redhead, Black out, Uncle Bucks, XPS, True Timber camo, etc.) But then the merge happened and it all took a big ol rolling turd tumble down a steep slope, as we all know. This passed August i was doing seminars in the Rapid City SD Cabelas and everybody i talked to had more negative things to say about it all than positive and i agreed with them. I didnt renew my contract with them this year. I honestly wish Cabelas could've stayed the way it was, they could've been #1 in my opinion if they had really wanted too.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Cabelas was intentionally and maliciously snuffed out by Paul Singer.

 

[etch101]

I have tried to stay away from stores like that and shop at my local archery pro shop. They don't carry all the stuff I need and then I am forced to buy online. I try to go to cabelas to look around once a year to see what is new. It seems nothing ever changes there prices seem to be just as expensive if not more than other places now.

 

[Inkoosikas]

I’ve been to many throughout the country, but spend more time stopping in Post Falls Idaho store these days. Was there with my wife and three kids yesterday.

There’s more fudge shop than bargain cave, far more apparel than tackle, and more licorice than scope rings.

They do well bringing solid products to market at competitive prices (like their base layers or space rain), but wading through the nonsense and getting deli tickets at the gun counter has put me in the no-go zone.

Very much agree. I feel like many stores are going this way. I think it has to do with online retailers taking over the market.

 

[Okhotnik]

As long as there's a market for bass boats, $400 coolers, XXXXXXXL clothes, "in-store" snacks, non-purpose built equipment, boots that fall apart and clothes you'd wear around town, then Cabela's will be around.

I wonder if Kuiu will start making pink Camo to compete with Cabelas?

 

[88man]

The cabelas store in Pa is horrible anymore. It started going downhill two years after it opened. Very bad management. Two months ago I was there on a weekend and they had 4 registers open and the lines were so big they had two people directing and managing the register lines! instead of opening more registers.

 

[jrg_80]

Live 30miles from one and what used to be a highly anticipated trip has now turned into a “why go, store and product lines suck?!” ESPECIALLY since they did away with the Bargain Cave

jrg


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[Orion1]

The stores here - Allen and Ft Worth are in decline when it comes to the serious hunting / sporting equipment selection they used to have, I wish they'd leave all the candy and crap to other retailers

Sad to see them ruin what was a good store for a national chain

 

[MOBE88]

Seems as though as bad as cabelas was getting the purchase from Bass Pro has made it worse. Field and stream sold out near me to outdoor warehouse and the place is a ghost town now. I think both cabelas and sportsman’s warehouse are going to suffer till the bitter end