Cabela's being bought out

just hope they don't take the redhead approach with the cabela's branded stuff.

Cabela's was starting to back off a little of thier branded stuff. Why this year you see more concept shop type fixtures for Sitka, NF, UA and Columbia

I noticed they started going a little cheaper on their vendors. Looks like cashflow issues were the prob.

They just put the cabelas sign on the new store they are building near Dickinson. Dang. I was getting excited.

They ain't shutting doors. They have a 3 billion market cap

They will consolidate back office for a cost savings synergy and keep rocking

That store is literally 5 minutes from my house and I have been anxiously waiting for that store to open since the announcement was made.

Not good!!! I would rather drive 45 minutes to Cabelas than 5 minutes to BPS. BPS will ruin Cabelas.

a couple months ago, I was talking to an employee at Cabelas, asking if it was a good place to work. I'm thinking about some part time hours after I retire. He said, it used to be great but since an investment group took them over, it sucked.

Just another classic case of a buyout, cut expenses, raise margins, make yourself look good to investors and BYE-BYE !!!

Been through it twice, luckily, I was on the streets selling and they needed us, not so good for office and support people. Sad.

Bad thing is , I think Cabela's is better than Bass Pro. At least the 2 I frequent here in North Texas. Sportsman's Warehouse opened and closed here within about 2 years and I liked them better than both Cabelas and Bass Pro.

Should be interesting.....

A little research will show, that the deal isn't final, but it's close. I read some things, about investors pushing to have the store become REI like, that would be worse than BPS. There very well may be some store closures because they built too many big stores too close together. Let's see how it all works out BPS needs to get financing first.

Same here...im off 517

Maybe the Cabela's in Buda will get a decent restaurant. Bass Pro has the right idea, especially in décor, but the restaurant needs to be taken up a notch; not just salty Sisco food. Cabela's food always reminded me of a SeaWorld, Disney, Fiesta Texas, etc.

Cabela’s expansion cannibalizing its own stores

As added sites lure customers from other Cabela's superstores, overall profits plummet.

By Kyle StockBloomberg


NEW YORK — It turns out there is such a thing as too much taxidermy.

Cabela’s, a retail mecca for all things outdoorsy, admitted Thursday morning that it vastly overestimated the market for massive shopping centers stuffed with stuffed critters.

Cabela’s in Scarborough sells outdoor gear from a superstore filled with museum-quality displays – an example of destination shoppping. The company is now slowing its expansion and may build smaller stores.
Cabela’s in Scarborough sells outdoor gear from a superstore filled with museum-quality displays – an example of destination shoppping. The company is now slowing its expansion and may build smaller stores.

In the recent quarter, Cabela’s revenue increased a respectable 4.6 percent, to $927 million. But the company was operating 10 more giant shops than it was in the year-earlier period. As a result, sales at comparable stores slumped 4.2 percent and profit plummeted 19 percent.

In a note to investors Thursday morning, Goldman Sachs analysts said cannibalization among the company’s stores “looks severe.” In other words, the new sites are luring customers from other Cabela’s shops, rather than from competitors. Now that there’s a Cabela’s in Missoula, Montana, grizzly hunters don’t have to schlep up to Kalispell to get their gear.

To be sure, Cabela’s is a bit of a niche retailer, but the result presents a cautionary tale for the few companies bold enough to double down on bricks-and-mortar in a Web-savvy world. As some sellers shift more of their business online, others are moving in the opposite direction – building superstores, shopping planets that have their own gravity. If the building is compelling enough, it becomes a destination of its own.

Apple’s Manhattan nerve center falls into this camp (based on how many tourists near the Bloomberg office ask for directions to it). A few blocks away, H&M recently built its biggest flagship in the world near two of its other stores. Under Armour, meanwhile, is gearing up its big retail game plan with its own “brand houses.”

Once inside these places, the thesis is consumerism by cornucopia. There are simply so many products and so much stuff to see, it takes a while to process. The longer one stays, the more you’re liable to spend – at least, that’s the idea.

Few commit to this strategy as fully as Cabela’s, which boasts of a “tourist-type experience.” Its 250,000-square-foot barn in Hamburg, Pennsylvania, has a museum that would make Teddy Roosevelt proud, a shooting gallery, and a kennel where shoppers can leave their dogs for the day. Of course, that kind of presence requires a lot of expensive inventory and, in the case of Cabela’s, taxidermy (the Pennsylvania store has many mounted musk-oxen).

Not surprisingly, Cabela’s said that it will slow its expansion schedule. At the moment, it is calling for seven new stores next year and no more than that in 2017. And it’s leaning toward smaller stores. Still, the company plans eventually to have 225 brick-and-mortar shops in North America. They have 74 now. “We’re still confident,” Chief Executive Officer Thomas Millner said. “But the pause to have a model that is far more predictable is really important.”

In the meantime, the company is buying back stock, which was on sale at a 15 percent discount Thursday morning.

Wonder if Cabelas would keep the on-line sales portion and sell the stores off. I prefer the on-line anyways.

REI like as in gear or REI as in store concept? Huge difference

REI is a co-op

From what I've read, it sounds like REI as an in-store concept. I've read a few quotes about how Cabelas needs to "move away from gun sales" (seriously?!) and "blood sports" (again, seriously?!) and start appealing to a general audience of people who enjoy being in the outdoors.

From what I've read, it sounds like REI as an in-store concept. I've read a few quotes about how Cabelas needs to "move away from gun sales" (seriously?!) and "blood sports" (again, seriously?!) and start appealing to a general audience of people who enjoy being in the outdoors.

Any news on whats going to happen with gift cards and cabelas club visa points? I have some of each I don't want to throw away!

The money is with the non hunters, they out number the hunters and gun owners. That is just good business sense, appeal to the masses instead of a few.

Incorrect. The REI's and non hunting outdoors type stores don't even add up to the size of Cabela's dollar wise. REI is an interesting store being they are a vendor co-op.

Your average camping outdoor family will buy discount camping gear from Walmart before REI, etc.
True outdoor high end gear or even middle the road gear is a very niche market. It's a speciality market. In fact most of your better tents and camping equipment comes from direct to retail MFG companies.

Cabela's or basspro would fail as a stand alone non hunting store. Academy and Dicks can't do it then Cabela's and Basspro cant

Wonder if we can get Sportmans Warehouse to come back into the Texas market...IMO they were/are better than both BPS & Caberlla's put together, and have weathered the downsizing and crunch...Gander next ??? Just Sayin'
Ron

Here's a good analysis of the situation http://www.omaha.com/money/cabela-s-made...c93675ed97.html

That's surprising - I would have thought it would have been the other way around. Guess BP is stouter than I thought (I buy almost nothing from them).

Can't imagine they would change much externally about Cabela's if the deal does go through. Both in-store and internet sales have to be good unless I am totally missing something.

Strong is a relative term into day's market.

X2 I loved that store better quality on everything.

There you go BOBO, bringing "relatives" into it