Gander Mountain to File for Bankruptcy

[ralph]

Not to sound callous, but this doesn't surprise me nor does it seem like a great loss. The last time I was in a Gander Mountain the place looked like a Kmart pre going out of business sale.

Locally, Cabela's and Academy have put the screws to GM. Not the greatest location and 10% over MSRP does not a sustainable business make.


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Very true, There's one about 30 miles from me, when I had a C&R license, I used to go in there for laughs...in their used gun racks I'd often see things like Mosin-Nagants for $189, when I could get the exact same rifle for $89, sporterized '03's (and not that well done either) for $900. They really had NO clue how outrageous their prices were.. No great loss here. I guess their business model of screwing their customers finally caught up with them.. Oh well, I won't miss them.

[OlongJohnson]

Capitalism. It's not new.

Yeah, that's another factor. There's an Academy directly across the highway from the nearby GM. A sale price at GM is usually still higher than an everyday price at Academy. When Academy has sales, the out-the-door price can be better than the best you can find online after freight and transfer.

[HCountyGuy]

No huge loss, except for the folks who will be out of a job. Their prices are insulting to anyone even mildly aware of current market prices.

Interesting to hear of the good deals from Academy, as I've never seen such. Any big retailer I've been in my LGS prices are usually significantly under.

We're getting an Academy built here soon, and I may check them out, but I'm still annoyed at their stupid AR stunt.

[OlongJohnson]

... I'm still annoyed at their stupid AR stunt.

I saw that differently than a lot of people. It was just ducking behind cover when there was a significant risk of incoming fire.

Try this scenario: Someone snaps a photo of the AR section of the rack at an Academy and uses it in a bullshit article about guns/gun culture/etc. in America. Shannon Watts and her astroturf moms or some other leftist idiots latch onto that and start picketing Academy stores. Then a bunch of moms who don't know anything about the reality of the situation buy into that crap and find another store to buy their family's organized sports and recreational supplies. Academy was smart enough to take away the seed that could make them a big target, without actually taking the product out of stores or stopping selling it, and when the danger passed, they put it back out. The anti-Academy chest thumping in the gun community was a lot of pointless grandstanding, IMO.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Ditto to most comments. One opened up here and the prices are ridiculous in a gun store and gun show rich environment. If you wanted a standard item - Academy is the place to go if you want a store experience. If you are willing to go to a show - you do even better. There are LGS with better service and gunsmithing but higher prices (but you can do ok if you know your items).

When it comes to gun prices - Cabelas, Bass Pro, and Gander never seem to understand the WalMart world view. Academy does. A side issue is folks who don't research prices. I think they are scared to and like the idea of the 'clerk' telling what's up with some macho posturing.

[GardoneVT]

I saw that differently than a lot of people. It was just ducking behind cover when there was a significant risk of incoming fire.

Try this scenario: Someone snaps a photo of the AR section of the rack at an Academy and uses it in a bullshit article about guns/gun culture/etc. in America. Shannon Watts and her astroturf moms or some other leftist idiots latch onto that and start picketing Academy stores. Then a bunch of moms who don't know anything about the reality of the situation buy into that crap and find another store to buy their family's organized sports and recreational supplies. Academy was smart enough to take away the seed that could make them a big target, without actually taking the product out of stores or stopping selling it, and when the danger passed, they put it back out. The anti-Academy chest thumping in the gun community was a lot of pointless grandstanding, IMO.

One of the core principles of business is understanding your customer base.

Most gun buyers aren't nuanced information seekers- and for their part neither are the antis. If a member of the latter singles out your gun business as "evil", a savvy manager would use it as a chance for MORE publicity. The more the media demonizes your business as evil, the more publicity you enjoy and the more sales you get.

Look at Berettas very expensive move to Kentucky. A generation of gun shoppers now holds them in high social esteem for flipping the bird to Marylands anti gun political establishment, building corporate goodwill. Had Gander Mtn said "FU and the horse you came in on" they'd have built a permanent rep of goodwill among the gun shopping masses. The fact that they instead folded to the antis shows just how out of touch their management is.

[fishing]

One of the core principles of business is understanding your customer base.

Most gun buyers aren't nuanced information seekers- and for their part neither are the antis. If a member of the latter singles out your gun business as "evil", a savvy manager would use it as a chance for MORE publicity. The more the media demonizes your business as evil, the more publicity you enjoy and the more sales you get.

Look at Berettas very expensive move to Kentucky. A generation of gun shoppers now holds them in high social esteem for flipping the bird to Marylands anti gun political establishment, building corporate goodwill. Had Gander Mtn said "FU and the horse you came in on" they'd have built a permanent rep of goodwill among the gun shopping masses. The fact that they instead folded to the antis shows just how out of touch their management is.

perhaps in the internet forum echo chamber the bolded statement carries some weight but without hard data on how this correlates to sales, i do not think this is something the average gun buyer is aware of, much less a driving factor to buy beretta

[OlongJohnson]

The fact that they instead folded to the antis shows just how out of touch their management is.

I just look at how much of the store is stuff moms buy for their families and how much is guns. Losing a percentage of gun buyers will hurt a lot less than losing a percentage of moms who don't care about or even like guns.

[ragnar_d]

I saw that differently than a lot of people. It was just ducking behind cover when there was a significant risk of incoming fire.

Try this scenario: Someone snaps a photo of the AR section of the rack at an Academy and uses it in a bullshit article about guns/gun culture/etc. in America. Shannon Watts and her astroturf moms or some other leftist idiots latch onto that and start picketing Academy stores. Then a bunch of moms who don't know anything about the reality of the situation buy into that crap and find another store to buy their family's organized sports and recreational supplies. Academy was smart enough to take away the seed that could make them a big target, without actually taking the product out of stores or stopping selling it, and when the danger passed, they put it back out. The anti-Academy chest thumping in the gun community was a lot of pointless grandstanding, IMO.

I'll admit, I'm was hot when they did that. But removing the heat of the moment emotion from the equation and thinking of it from a pure business perspective, I don't think I can fault them for trying to remove the chance for a hit piece or damage to their operation. I didn't spend any money with them for a while, but since Acaedmy and Cabela's are equidistant to me, so I'll go wherever I can get what I need. Plus, they have some decent deals that rival what I can get stuff for online sometimes so . . . meh, I'll let the MSR thing slide.

[ralph]

One of the core principles of business is understanding your customer base.

Most gun buyers aren't nuanced information seekers- and for their part neither are the antis. If a member of the latter singles out your gun business as "evil", a savvy manager would use it as a chance for MORE publicity. The more the media demonizes your business as evil, the more publicity you enjoy and the more sales you get.

Look at Berettas very expensive move to Kentucky. A generation of gun shoppers now holds them in high social esteem for flipping the bird to Marylands anti gun political establishment, building corporate goodwill. Had Gander Mtn said "FU and the horse you came in on" they'd have built a permanent rep of goodwill among the gun shopping masses. The fact that they instead folded to the antis shows just how out of touch their management is.

Just a side note, Beretta moved to Tennesse, not Kentucky.....