Gander Mountain Bankruptcy

[Soccerdad1995]

I was very excited when I learned that they were putting a store in Arlington. After several visits I think I only bought a couple of fishing lures because their gun related items were just to high. I have bought a lot from Academy. GM is the last place I think of locally when I am ready to buy. If they want to stay in business they will have to become a lot more competitive. Off the subject but I can't see how Sears stays in business.

Sears stays in business by repeatedly going through bankruptcy reorganization and writing off their debts. It is a matter of time, IMHO, for them and also for places like Best Buy.

[nightmare69]

They were the only local store to sell 5.11 boots. Although they were so high I just went to the store and found what boot and size I needed then ordered online for much cheaper.

[Maxwell]

Personally, I think that all retailers have a limited future as people get more and more comfortable buying things online. A brick and mortar location is just not going to be able to compete with the cost structure and economies of scale that an online retailer brings to the game. Companies that produce things will either sell directly to their consumer, or through large online retailers like Amazon.

To survive, a B&M retailer needs to offer something that a consumer cannot get online. But the opportunity to handle the product isn't enough. Consumers will visit the store to see the product and will then buy it online to save a few bucks. They need to find a more "sticky" value proposition.

The problem with this is that soon we may not have the Brick & Mortar storefront around to handle products.

Support your local retail outlet. The may be a bit more, but they are providing jobs and service other than "Press 1 for customer service..."

[twomillenium]

I remember Gander Mountain was as high as Carter's country. Carter's Country has befuddled me as to how they stay in business.

[Soccerdad1995]

Personally, I think that all retailers have a limited future as people get more and more comfortable buying things online. A brick and mortar location is just not going to be able to compete with the cost structure and economies of scale that an online retailer brings to the game. Companies that produce things will either sell directly to their consumer, or through large online retailers like Amazon.

To survive, a B&M retailer needs to offer something that a consumer cannot get online. But the opportunity to handle the product isn't enough. Consumers will visit the store to see the product and will then buy it online to save a few bucks. They need to find a more "sticky" value proposition.

The problem with this is that soon we may not have the Brick & Mortar storefront around to handle products.

Support your local retail outlet. The may be a bit more, but they are providing jobs and service other than "Press 1 for customer service..."

I don't know that a concerted effort will be enough to reverse the trend. And I agree that the end result will be that customers no longer have a physical location to touch and feel the product before ordering. Supporting your local retail outlet makes sense for the reasons you noted, but there is a similar push to save local mom and pop stores every time a Wal-Mart opens. And inevitably, when push comes to shove, customers end up choosing to save a few bucks instead.

When I predict dire times for retail, I am talking about what I think will happen, not what I want to happen.

[stroo]

When Gander Mountain was primarily in smaller communities, I think they could get away with the higher prices. In many cases they were the only really big gun store around. But when they expanded into metroplexes, they had a whole different level of competition. I find prices at Bass Pro Shop to be lower than GM and it has the same kind of range of inventory unlike Academy.

[Oldgringo]

I've often wondered how the Gander Mountain in Tyler stays in business? The few times I've been in there, there was plenty of parking, the prices were kinda' high but moreover, there was always more help than customers.

[Jusme]

Personally, I think that all retailers have a limited future as people get more and more comfortable buying things online. A brick and mortar location is just not going to be able to compete with the cost structure and economies of scale that an online retailer brings to the game. Companies that produce things will either sell directly to their consumer, or through large online retailers like Amazon.

To survive, a B&M retailer needs to offer something that a consumer cannot get online. But the opportunity to handle the product isn't enough. Consumers will visit the store to see the product and will then buy it online to save a few bucks. They need to find a more "sticky" value proposition.

The problem with this is that soon we may not have the Brick & Mortar storefront around to handle products.

Support your local retail outlet. The may be a bit more, but they are providing jobs and service other than "Press 1 for customer service..."

I don't know that a concerted effort will be enough to reverse the trend. And I agree that the end result will be that customers no longer have a physical location to touch and feel the product before ordering. Supporting your local retail outlet makes sense for the reasons you noted, but there is a similar push to save local mom and pop stores every time a Wal-Mart opens. And inevitably, when push comes to shove, customers end up choosing to save a few bucks instead.

When I predict dire times for retail, I am talking about what I think will happen, not what I want to happen.

There will always be a need for B&M stores. They just have to adapt to the times. GM started out like a lot of places, as a catalog store, today's catalog is the internet. Guns must have a B&M location, so they need to keep their prices competitive. People don't mind paying extra for amazing customer service, but GM has dropped the ball in that area, the gun clerks I have spoken with, are not knowledgeable about their inventory, facts, or options. I haven't been to every store so I can't state that categorically, but if you can't speak intelligently about your over priced merchandise, you will lose, not only the knowledgeable, but the uninitiated as well.
I am all for supporting businesses and try to do so at every opportunity, even if I have to pay a little more than I would on line, but, I expect more for my money.
My sister used to work for Montgomery Wards. They went out of business, because their first move to save money was to cut out catalogs. This was before on line sales, but it totally destroyed their entire business model.
In short do something better than anyone else and stick with it. GM didn't do that. JMHO

[ninjabread]

They were the only local store to sell 5.11 boots. Although they were so high I just went to the store and found what boot and size I needed then ordered online for much cheaper.

No wonder they're going bankrupt.

[rguy90]

I was very excited when I learned that they were putting a store in Arlington. After several visits I think I only bought a couple of fishing lures because their gun related items were just to high. I have bought a lot from Academy. GM is the last place I think of locally when I am ready to buy. If they want to stay in business they will have to become a lot more competitive. Off the subject but I can't see how Sears stays in business.

Been to the same store & have not returned since the initial visit for the same exact reason. I saw 50 rnd boxes of Winchester white box in .45 for $10 more than I had seen at Academy closer to the Parks mall roughly a week before. Not at all surprised to hear this.

[Take Down Sicko]

Every time i've gone to Gander Mountain there were hardly any customers there.I bought a bio metric 2 gun lock box from them for about 250. last year. All there stuff was over priced.

[flowrie]

Not surprised about GM.
The few times I have purchased items at the Lewisville store, I always ask if I can get a veterans discount.
Always told they only offer that on seelct holidays. Cabelas offers it to me everyday.
Plus, the GM prices are always higher than their competition.
They do have a very good selection of items, just over priced vs. competition.

[Redneck_Buddha]

Wow...they just opened one on the Dallas North Tollway in Frisco!

[Jusme]

The last time I went to a Gander Mountain, was a couple of weeks after Christmas. My wife had never been in one, so we went to the Arlington location. This was a Saturday afternoon, parking lot mostly empty, near several other stores that had full lots. I had already told my wife that their prices were much higher than anywhere else. We looked around, for a while, they had only 2 clerks at the gun counter, and were having the 6 or 7 people take a number to be waited on. My wife was unable to find a holster for her gun, and there were no clerks working in the gun accessory area. They had several clerks in the clothing area, but they knew nothing about gun accessories. The only things we bought were a couple of shirts for my son, on the clearance rack, and some fishing lures, in the bargain bin. Did not have to wait in line to check out even though there was only one open register.

I am really not surprised that they filed bankruptcy.

[warnmar10]

Sears stays in business by repeatedly going through bankruptcy reorganization and writing off their debts. ...

When did Sears file for bankruptcy?