Cabela's visit

[Phil Yearout]

The Wichita store suddenly has a boatload of used sxs; lots of Spaniards, some Euos, even a couple of Brits (or at least guns with Brit logos; looked legit to me). Mostly 12's, some 20's and even a couple of cute little .410's. I'm not in a buying mode and they had most of them pretty well secured on the racks outside the gun room with locks and cables etc. so I really didn't do much examining. Wondering where they came from, and if other Cabela's stores have the same thing going on?

It appeared they had a similar thing going on with bolt action rifles - military-lookng stuff - but I didn't pay much attention there.

[Dean Romig]

I was at the Scarborough Cabela's a little over a week ago and that makes three times since the first of the year...
Same old Parker Trojan 12, Sterlingworth 12 and a LC Field model 12...

Woop de do... :rolleyes:

Certainly not the Cabela's of a decade ago.





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[Matt Buckley]

I was at the Owatonna Minnesota Cabelas about 3 weeks ago and it has changed big time from the old Cabelas. The parking lot was so empty we wondered if it was still open. The gun room was pretty thin for Parker’s. There was one rough VH if I remember right.

[Dean Romig]

Cabela's (Bass Pro Shops) business model is so far from the Cabela's of just a short while ago and with so few cars in the lot and customers in the store I can't see how they can possibly support the number of stores they currently have. This seems to happen with some frequency to businesses that change hands and are then run by folks who 'just don't get it'...





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[Chris Pope]

I stop in the one in Augusta, GA when we make a Costco run. It always seems pretty busy to me and they have recently put on an addition that is all about boat sales. One whole section of the parking lot is full of boats.

[Dean Romig]

There's a Cabela's in Hudson Ma. about 20-25 miles from me. I went there a few years ago but I was unimpressed with anything in there and I haven't been there since. I go to Maine FAR more often and Dorothy lives about ten miles from the Scarborough store so I get there quite often.





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[Phil Yearout]

Scheels here has hurt Cabela’s I’m guessing although it still seems quite busy. Was just wondering what this influx of guns is all about because here it’s usually pretty much what Dean described, if even that. Some interesting stuff actually if I was in buying mode. And was also wondering if the same thing is going on at their other stores or if it’s a local phenomenon which seems unlikely as this typically isn’t sxs country.

[Dean Romig]

Probably a local phenomenon Phil. Some old timer is getting out of it and is selling off his stuff so his uninterested family members won't sell it off for ten cents on the dollar.

Here I think Kittery Trading post with their vast array of bioth new and used guns as well as a bit of that sporting goods store gone yuppie over in Freeport are sharing some of Cabela's business... though KTP is probably stealing their lunch.




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[Michael D Hankinson]

I visited the Grandville MI Cabelas recently, a week ago and in the Gun Library there was a large new inventory since before Christmas of older military style rifles. Did not see any new inventory of doubles of any kind. I have been told they do not buy any Damascus barrel guns anymore, as well as any weapon with a crack in the stock.

[Dean Romig]

Well that's pretty sad...





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[Mike Poindexter]

they have them all posted on their Gun Library/Used guns website for the Wichita store. Mostly lower grade guns, priced accordingly but there was one AYA No. 2 20 ga they wanted $5K for. There is a Midland Boxlock 12 chambered and proved for 3" 1 1/2 oz loads with 32 inch barrels/ they say it weighs 7 1/2 lbs. Asking about $1200 which seems reasonable. Would be a nice duck gun if it looks as good in the hand as in pictures.

PS. I dropped the hammer on that Midland. According to my research it is a "Super Demon Duck" with "for 3" Paper Cases" hand engraved on the rib. The original crossed swords proof mark is not clear. Looks like a small o over an I, which could make it a 1935 gun. On the other hand, it does not have the cross bolt fastener which may make it more of an early 1950's gun. I dont have any Midland catalogs which might bracket the year.

Once I get the gun I will post some pics.

[Chris Pope]

Probably a local phenomenon Phil. Some old timer is getting out of it and is selling off his stuff so his uninterested family members won't sell it off for ten cents on the dollar.

Here I think Kittery Trading post with their vast array of bioth new and used guns as well as a bit of that sporting goods store gone yuppie over in Freeport are sharing some of Cabela's business... though KTP is probably stealing their lunch.




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Plus KTP always has a few new Randall Knives in a well-stocked knife department. If you go to KTP to look at firearms ask for Dana in the gun department. He's been there 20 or so years and has superb customer service skills.

[Don Ladd]

I visited the Grandville MI Cabelas recently, a week ago and in the Gun Library there was a large new inventory since before Christmas of older military style rifles. Did not see any new inventory of doubles of any kind. I have been told they do not buy any Damascus barrel guns anymore, as well as any weapon with a crack in the stock.

It's the same at the Dundee MI Cabelas. The Gun Library is nothing like it used to be at Dundee, they actually had a very good inventory of doubles and other collectible guns, now it's 3/4 empty and what they do have is like you are saying.

[Arthur Shaffer]

There has appeared to me to be a constant trend in outdoor stores over the last 60 years or so. They go through a history of hardcore sportsman, then a period of diversification into mainstream products followed by a gradual but steady trend away from outdoor products until finally they devolve into insignificance. Gander Mountain, Cabelas, Eddie Bauer, The North Face, Columbia and others come to mind.

[Bill Murphy]

Don't forget Abercrombie and Fitch, once the best gun store in the USA, now a clothing emporium for the alternate lifestyle.

[Stephen Hodges]

Dean is correct that KTP has many, many guns, new and used. The only gripe I have with them is the way they display there used better quality SxS's. On a floor rack behind a counter. Makes it impossible to casually look them over. You need a clerk to help you see the guns and maybe its just me but I feel awkward taking up a clerks time when I just want to look the inventory over.

[Dean Romig]

Dean is correct that KTP has many, many guns, new and used. The only gripe I have with them is the way they display there used better quality SxS's. On a floor rack behind a counter. Makes it impossible to casually look them over. You need a clerk to help you see the guns and maybe its just me but I feel awkward taking up a clerks time when I just want to look the inventory over.

Not only that Steve, but behind that counter and in the rack on the wall, the better guns are behind drawn curtains so you can’t even see them unless you ask the clerk who always seems to have two customers ahead of you.
It’s just not worth it anymore.





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[Arthur Shaffer]

Don't forget Abercrombie and Fitch, once the best gun store in the USA, now a clothing emporium for the alternate lifestyle.

I started to put them first in the list, but typed too quickly and forgot to list them.

[Arthur Shaffer]

A while back I saw the announcement about Kittery planning to move out of state due to Maine politics. Did this ever occur? It has been two years since I have been to Maine and didn't make it to Kittery then. The entire state seemed to be "off it's feed" at the time with a lot of stores closed and not a lot of activity even though it was getting close to the 4th.

[Arthur Shaffer]

On the original subject, I have been particularly interested in the change in Cabela's. In the period about 40 years ago, I went to on an antelope/mule deer hunt in Wyoming, which was set up as a budget type hunt with a bunch of hunters in one central camp in a beautiful canyon with the guides each taking out 4 hunters a day for semi-guided hunts. It was a great way to hunt at a really inexpensive rate. Tents, stoves, toilets, cook tent, skinning, caping etc were as a normal camp, just less supervision on the hunt. Cabela's at the time had been in their outdoor adventures a couple of years and the head of the program (Greg Severinson) was there along with his assistant (a young guide from Alaska) investigating the hunt for possible inclusion in their portfolio. The editor of Field & Stream was also there which of course drew along an assistant to the Fish & Wildlife Commissioner to act as a watchdog. These guys were true outdoorsmen. Greg went with me and the outfitter one day since I had a buck antelope tag along with two doe meat tags which are often hard for the state to sell. I was lucky enough to fill all three tags out of one single herd we located and hunted while parked on a small roadside area next to a sign indicating the site of the original Bridger Pass across the Continental Divide in that region.

Greg helped spot, actually field dressed one of the animals and packed it back to the truck. He was the real deal. I was surprised on that trip about how much the outfitter (and others we met) utilized Cabela's equipment (wall tents, stoves, pack equipment etc). In previous years Gander Mountain had traditionally been a source for that sort of equipment for outfitters. Cabella's with the Outdoor Adventure division and their acquisition of Herter's a few years before was really growning into the role of the major supplier to the hunting industry. They eventually, I believe, led to the demise of Gander Mountain. I have never understood how they lost their drive and focus.

In the same vein, Sportsman's Warehouse was a private startup that I thought had a really clear market vision and a really good inventory for the sporting customer. They built one of their flagship stores 1/4 mile from the retirement home we had built and then the company crashed. I met the owner later. He had lost control of the chain and the Lexington store had closed. The eight foot tall cast bronze sculptures of two bull elk had been taken to the State Game farm in Frankfort for display. He runs a gourmet Olive Oil and Balsamic store around the corner from his Cabela's store (which has reopened and reclaimed their statues). This was when this was a unique concept. He discussed business and history at length with me. It turns the business failed in about 90 days due to the board pushing him to implement a cradle to grave supply "just in time" supply chain system. The implementation programming vendor didn't deliver a workable system and they ended up with half empty stores with late deliveries of what the needed and no operating funds.

It was the old story of the peril of the old adage that you have to grow to stay profitable. The down side of that is that is easy to die on the vine so to speak.

[Larry Stauch]

I have found, over the years, that it just depends on what the local market offers to these stores. For instance, the La Vista store, near Omaha, has several Browning over & unders. Some are European market and some are American market. That particular store has a lot of really nice guns and I think it's because there are several large corporations there that have a lot of current and retired employees that have been/are paid well. And it's a very outdoor area.

[Joe Graziano]

The last Cabelas I went into was in Northern VA. The fine gun room was filled with old bolt action Spanish military rifles, a few low grade SxS, a few handguns. Mostly looked like they picked up a bunch of ash and trash lots at an auction to fill the room.

[Clark McCombe]

Stopped in at Cabela’s in Hamburg Pa. Only 4 sxs. One of Unkown origin.
Saved over $200 on 8 flats shells compared to NY price