Cabelas Service

[Mil Dot]

You sure know how to make a guy feel old ...

I grew up in the Owatonna, Mn area, about 25 miles from Waseca, Mn where Heters had their "showroom". I drove a Heters snowmobile as a kid and my Dad would take me over there to buy treble hooks and lead weights (for dough balling Carp) while he shopped for lures for the annual fall fishing trip to Lake Winniebegosh and Cass Lake with the boys. If memory serves me correctly they even had a catalog. Someone bought them out and they fell to the wayside after that.

I have been in a Gander Mtn in Rochester, Mn and in a Twin Cities south suburb within the last couple years so I believe that they're still around.

I don't know if that was Heters only showroom, but it was the big treat for like a 10 or 11yr old to go to with Dad.

I did a quick search for Gander and they're still around. Kind of entertaining, along with driving instructions they give GPS coordinates to the locations. I knew I bought that GPS for something.

[Hawkeye6]

I can remember Herters years ago. They had a store somewhere in NE Iowa that I drove up to one time. I was in college at ISU and I think I went there to get a graduation presetn for one of my nephews, I think. I don't know where or when they fell off but like Nulle said, they don;t seem to have much in their catalog these days except waterfowling stuff.

Gander Mountain -- I used to do mail-order from them and got some nice stuff with good deals. Apparently, they ran into some expansion/money problems and sold off their mail-order division to Cabelas (IIRC). Right before that, their customer service and order fulfillment really went to crap. That was around 1995-1996. Since then, they've greatly expanded their retail stores. Sometime in the early ninties they opend a store in Merrillville, IN that I went to very occasionally. Now we have a store nearer to us (NW side of Fort Wayne, IN) and I like it. I go there from time to time. Thsi particulaar sotre is way overcrowded so I kind of dislike it from that standpoint.

Cabelas stores are great, but there aren't any near me. Teh closest is about a 4 hour drive.

Another store that I used to really like when I lived in Indy was/is Galyans. They were a locally owned chain of around 5 sporting goods stores. Deifnitely full line wiht a great selection of camping/outdoor/hunting/shooting stuff. They sold out to the Gap in the early to mid ninties as tehey were trying to fund their expansion in the midwest. With that they keps their excellent customer service and stocking. I understand that they have now been sold to Dick's Sporting Goods. We have a Dick's in Fort Wayne. OK, but I'm not impressed. I'll have to wait and see what they do with Galyans.

[Andy L]

Far as Im concerned Cabelas arent that "Great". I guess its no biggie til it happens to you......

I never heard another word about it. I guess they dont care. No problem. Im not saying Ill never buy anything else from them. But Huntnbiz, Bass Pro, Midaway, Grafts, Sinclair and several others will get the nod first to see if they have what I want.

Andy

[Wolvie]

They just dont have a paper catalog anymore.
You have to go online and order now.
Later All
SAFE HUNTIN~

[fabsroman]

Hawkeye,

Herters was bought by Cabelas, or at least its waterfowl division. It happened a couple of years ago and I can remember the Cabelas waterfowl catalog coming with Herter's name on the front of it too along with several of the Herter's decoys in the catalog.

[Dom]

Interesting thread and comments. My .02 from somebody who HAS to receive stuff via mail:

I used to get a bunch of stuff from Midway -- but they absolutely stopped shipping to APO/FPO addresses. I e-mailed them, told them they're losing a bunch of business to Cabela's, Natchez, etc -- didn't matter, they don't intend to ship to APOs anymore, their loss.

Natchez is cool, never had a problem, good customer service, and they have some items I can't get anywhere else. Same with Sinclair, Midsouth, etc.

I've very seldom used Bass Pro, in fact I can't remember when. Maybe have to recheck them out one of these days.

And now the big boy, Cabela's. I'll tell you, they're right there in the ballpark if not lower on prices. In fact, I just the other day ran a comparison for a Leupold Scope -- same exact price from swfa, bear basin, and Cabela's. The only way I can beat one over the other is when one has what I want on sale.

Wolvie -- I used to get stuff from Gander also -- but you can't order on line, have to visit a store.

I'll keep my eye on Huntn Biz too.

I also use the German big boys Frankonia and Kettner -- I get stuff that costs more, but impossible to get from stateside outfitters.

Good to see I'm not the only one supporting a hunting/shooting shop!! Good luck shopping, Waidmannsheil, Dom.

[Hawkeye6]

Originally posted by fabsroman
Hawkeye,

Herters was bought by Cabelas, or at least its waterfowl division. It happened a couple of years ago and I can remember the Cabelas waterfowl catalog coming with Herter's name on the front of it too along with several of the Herter's decoys in the catalog.

Fabs:

It appears you are correct! I jsut did a search for the Herter's website and was re-directed to a Cabela's webpage with a nice letter from Herter's saying Cabela's was now doing the on-line distribution of the Heter's products. Sounds like an acquisition to me!

Hawkeye

[Hawkeye6]

Dom:

"I used to get a bunch of stuff from Midway -- but they absolutely stopped shipping to APO/FPO addresses. I e-mailed them, told them they're losing a bunch of business to Cabela's, Natchez, etc -- didn't matter, they don't intend to ship to APOs anymore, their loss. "

I agree with you its their loss. I'm curious, did Midway give any reason for their new policy?

Hawkeye

[Dom]

Hawkeye, yes, Midway said the change in customs regulations prevented them from shipping to APOs -- but I think it's just an excuse that they don't want to pursue it or do customs forms. And it's for everything, including books and stuff that anybody can get anywhere in the world. Naturally no mail order will ship powder, primers, or loaded ammo, but not to ship accessories, scopes, etc, is definitely a loss to them. I did find their response:

Dom,

We apologize, because of the varity of regulations controlling shipping outside the U.S. MidwayUsa is unable ship to APO's. We can still ship to you if you have a statside address. If you have any further questions or comments feel free to contact us at 1-800-243-3220 Monday through Friday 8 am - 8 pm and Saturday and Sunday 9 am - 5:30 pm (CST).

Once again, thank you for choosing MidwayUSA, we appreciate the opportunity to serve you!

Sincerely,
David

MidwayUSA
Customer Service Associate
PS. Have you received our new Master Catalog #3 with over 60,000 products? Call or log on today!

[Wolvie]

Here in Upstate NY I guess there is stil ltalk of Gander building somewhere around or at exit 19 off of I-87.

I am hoping for it myself,.....we need something around here,....Wally World just isn`t carring what they should,..or used to.

Later All,.SAFE HUNTIN~

[pointblank]

Just ran the wheels off my little truck circling from Utah to Wyoming to Colorado to Kansas to Oklahoma to Texas to New Mexico back to Colorado and finally home to Utah.

Stopped in the Sportsmansware House in Utah, GanderMt in Colorado, Cabelas in Kansas, Bass Pro in Oklahoma, Gander Mt in Texas then ran out of time to shop. Really wasn't shop'n anyways. Just looking and drooling.

I should have picked up a little something for every one, Sorry.

Next trip I'll remember.

[VinVega]

Originally posted by M.T. Pockets
A friend of a friend of mine worked at Cabela's HQ's office. While working for them he sent a resume' to another firm somewhere else. Somehow the big guys found out and bounced him out of the office immediately. I don't think a rude sales clerk would last long either.

Honestly, if an employer is going to fire people because they are looking for better opportunities, I can completely see WHY someone's looking for a job with a different firm. That's terrible managing, if you ask me.

[M.T. Pockets]

VinVega, I'm afraid that's the way corporate America works, especially with the employees in the office working with trade secrets & the books. This guy was had top access to the inside books and some companies won't tolerate anything less than 100% loyalty while under their employment. I'm sure there was an employment contract of some type that was violated by him soliciting employment elsewhere. He didn't even get to clean out his own desk.

[fabsroman]

Some companies require their employee to sign a Non-Compete Agreement and a Trade Secrets Agreement. That is to make sure that employees don't learn everything from the business owner and then open up their own place. Greed is the problem. The employer pays the employee a handsome salary, but the employee wants more and figures that since he is running the employers business he can do it elsewhere. At the same time, he does ahead and takes the customer database when he leaves and mails his new catalog to the older employer's customers. That is wrong and that is what the Non-Compete and Trade Secrets Agreement is there to prevent.

[VinVega]

I guess it all just seems odd to me because of the company I work for. The turnover rate there is extremely high, people rarely pass four months. But, they do tell each and every associate what they need to do to do a good job for the company, and why doing it that was is conducive to good business. They've also been completely receptive of the fact that I've been in the running since February for a job with the local PD. I guess it's not competition, but plenty of people have left the company to go to other businesses. Lots of people have left other businesses to come to my company. There's never any hard feelings and it's not odd to rehire someone who does this. I guess I just work for a weird company, but I've known that since I started there.

All that said, I still think it's pretty sad to fire someone just becaue they're trying to broaden their opportunities. We can get back to the original point now. Sorry to have hijacked the thread.