A Sporting Rivalry Ends
October 3, 2016 9:49 PM   Subscribe

Bass Pro Shops struck a deal to acquire Cabela’s Inc. for about $4.5 billion in cash, uniting two of the biggest sellers of outdoor-sports gear and rivals that have spent decades building over-the-top megastores.

Hunting experts say that in recent years Cabela’s lost one category that is fast growing: high-end hunters, for whom the Cabela’s brand once was an in-the-know symbol of a catalog offering a trove of innovative items. But as Cabela’s ramped up its store count, its offerings evolved to serve a mass market.
posted by Quonab (55 comments total) 9 users marked this as a favorite
 
It's worth noting that Cabela's and Bass Pro are similar-sized chains, so if Cabela's is worth $4.5 billion, Bass Pro is probably $6 billion or so. It is even more worth noting that these two companies are two great parasites. They have received $2.2 billion in public funding over the past 15 years, mostly from playing off the fears and inexperience of less sophisticated smaller local governments. (The Cabela's in Buda, TX was funded by taxpayers for $60 million, and parts of the store have been declared "museums" to save Cabela's another $4 million in property taxes.) In other words, 1 out of every 5 dollars these companies are worth were provided by taxpayers.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 10:20 PM on October 3, 2016 [73 favorites]


In Oklahoma City, the city gave really good tax breaks and incentives for the downtown Bass Pro Shops location, which killed off pretty much all of the local sporting goods stores. Many of those stores had been around for decades. When Cabela's came in I welcomed some kind of competition. I guess from now on they won't have to worry about their competitors. It seems unlikely that someone else will come in to give any new competition.
posted by Quonab at 10:45 PM on October 3, 2016 [4 favorites]


Virtually everything in either of these stores is made outside of the US as well. The Cabela's in Buda is awesomely ridiculous, but I had no idea about that museum nonsense.
posted by ejoey at 12:12 AM on October 4, 2016 [3 favorites]


It seems unlikely that someone else will come in to give any new competition.

There's Scheel's, which is another player in the "insanely sized outdoor sports gear store" segment.
posted by NoxAeternum at 12:27 AM on October 4, 2016


Pretty much all I know about Bass Pro Shops is that they're the current tenant of a giant pyramid in Memphis.
posted by ckape at 12:28 AM on October 4, 2016 [3 favorites]


In Oklahoma City, between Bass Pro Shops, Cabela's and Dick's, I do my shopping at Backwoods. And I dearly miss Sportsman's Warehouse. We got our kayak there, many years ago.
I have no clue what they will do with the new Cabela's store on the north part of town. It's been open -- what? A year?
posted by TrishaU at 1:30 AM on October 4, 2016 [2 favorites]


Where are the US competition law regulators in this? What is the US equivalent of DG Competition? Has it given this deal its blessing, and if so, should it?
posted by dmt at 2:11 AM on October 4, 2016 [1 favorite]


Always wondered why the Bass Pro flagship ginormo-shed in Springfield, MO had the seldom-open museum tacked on the side. Taxes might explain.
posted by scruss at 2:48 AM on October 4, 2016 [3 favorites]


Back in the mid-90's I guess I got a few pairs of slacks and some nice buffalo moccasins from Cabela's. It was pre-internet, and a time where you got a few seasonal catalogs a year you could peruse in the bathroom. I guess the way they survived was the 'sucking at the public teat' strategy.
posted by mikelieman at 3:14 AM on October 4, 2016 [1 favorite]


WalMart for fishing poles. I now worry about this octopus stretching into my backwoods and driving the locally-owned sporting goods shops out of business.
posted by tommyD at 3:29 AM on October 4, 2016 [3 favorites]


Cabela's used to be the only place you could get high quality, reasonably priced women's chest waders. (I'm a stream ecologist--these are my work clothes.). But 2-3 years ago, they changed suppliers, and now the basic women's waders they sell are absolute crap that all apart the first time you wear them, and we have to choose between the basic men's waders (too big for a lot of women), or paying several hundred dollars for the high end women's waders. As far as I know, Bass has never sold decent women's waders.
posted by hydropsyche at 3:38 AM on October 4, 2016 [8 favorites]


Big Bucks, Big Hunta
posted by fairmettle at 3:53 AM on October 4, 2016


From an aesthetic viewpoint, I much prefer a store named Cabela's to Bass Pro Shop. That is all.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:42 AM on October 4, 2016 [4 favorites]


LLBean: Come at me
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 4:46 AM on October 4, 2016 [10 favorites]


Huh. Not a hunter, but outdoor shops tend to be the only decent places left to find reliable, solid sausage making gear. My only dog in this fight, I guess, is hoping that when the inevitable streamlining of product variety happens, the meat grinders and sausage stuffers aren't taken off the shelves.
posted by Ghidorah at 5:02 AM on October 4, 2016 [1 favorite]


I know it seems weird, but Cabelas actually deserves the "museum" designation - I can't ever remember seeing another colllection as large of realistically posed, genuine taxidermied animals. It's actually pretty awe-inspiring - these are animals that aren't generally seen in zoos, definitely not that close up, and not even in the natural history museums do you see this. Whenever I've gone, I've walked around the central display several times.

I'm a little worried actually, since Bass only half heartedly tries to do the same thing. Hopefully they will preserve it, it's such an integral part of Cabelas.
posted by corb at 5:08 AM on October 4, 2016 [3 favorites]


That story about subsidies for these stores is simply astounding. Buda TX spent $60m building their Cabela'a and the population of the town is only 7600 people. That's $7,894 each! What a fascinating scam.
posted by simonw at 5:15 AM on October 4, 2016 [6 favorites]


There's also Gander Mountain, a newish (90s) St. Paul-based sports store chain which caters to the same crowds that Cabela's and BPS cater to. They started as catalog and then sold their mail order business to Cabela's. To my untrained eye Gander Mountain seems crazy expensive and it's ugly as anything inside; just a very discount big box store....the store is one giant room.
posted by the webmistress at 5:24 AM on October 4, 2016 [2 favorites]


Cabelas actually deserves the "museum" designation

corb, I am interested in seeing those displays when I go, but "museum" (at least in the informal sense) is stretching it. The plaques carry full information on who shot the animal, when, and where, and nothing about the animals' habitats, biology, history, etc. For me, the experience is a little coercive and puts the focus on the hunter rather than on the specimens. It's odd to stand there and listen to the male shoppers look at the animal displays and talk about their own trophies and think that these (amazing! well-preserved! beautiful!) creatures are being represented as anything other than targets for dominion and ads for effective gear.
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:36 AM on October 4, 2016 [11 favorites]


Where are the US competition law regulators in this?

It still needs to be reviewed, but I wouldn't be surprised if it goes through. The number of stores isn't really that high for either company, under a 100 each, and they don't directly compete in that many cities.
posted by smackfu at 5:44 AM on October 4, 2016


The "wildlife museum" attached to the Bass Pro in Springfield MO has been "under rennovation" for almost TEN YEARS. I asked a guy who worked there what the deal was, and he said, "Because Johnny Morris comes in and says, Looks good, but I want the elevator other there. We say, you realize we'll have to tear everything out and start over to accommodate that. Yes, he says. Then when we're done, he shows back up and says, I liked it better where it was in the first place. Move it back."

This 2009 article notes, "In the two years since closing, the museum has collected $643,296 from the city's hotel/motel tax, Smith said, noting that no tax dollars are being used in construction. In his report to the committee, Rush said he felt the tax money was being used in a way that was consistent with the city's expectations. Smith said those funds go into the museum's general operating fund, which supports administrative, animal and educational outreach program expenses."

I seem to recall that after 6 or so years of collecting this money, Bass Pro sheepishly announced that it would be "wrong" to continue collecting it and asked the city to discontinue the tax!
posted by jabah at 5:54 AM on October 4, 2016 [8 favorites]


But as Cabela’s ramped up its store count, its offerings evolved to serve a mass market.

When I was last in Cabelas (like hydropsyche, it was for waders), the downward shift in market was very visible. They still have the "gun library" room of expensive rarities, but the clothing and gear in particular stood out as different than I remember from years ago.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:55 AM on October 4, 2016 [1 favorite]


"High-end hunters" still have Orvis for comically overpriced sportswear I guess.
posted by Bee'sWing at 5:56 AM on October 4, 2016


I went into a Bass Pro Shop once. I must say I was unimpressed; there wasn't a single guitar or amp of ANY kind in the whole place.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 6:15 AM on October 4, 2016 [18 favorites]


Every so often I remember a bit of a KS state legislature filibuster that was shown on the local news in Kansas City maybe 12 year back. It was just a clip of a guy saying
"In Omaha...they have a great...Bass Pro Shop."

He was pausing a lot. I sort of think he didn't really adequately prepare for his filibuster.

That's pretty much my mental association with BPS. My touchstone for Cabelas is their awful "hunting"/survival video games which are usually badly made FPS or Uncharted knock offs.
posted by dismas at 6:20 AM on October 4, 2016 [2 favorites]


Bass Pro Shops got our city to back a large bond amount to finance a development for which they would be anchor tenants, and got significant tax breaks in the process. 5 years later, Bass Pro claimed they couldn't get the tenants they wanted for the development, which resulted in the city having to pay on the bonds, to the tune of roughly 5% of our fair city's annual budget.

Not a fan of Bass Pro. I think I've only been in there a couple of times, and that's only because it's the only outdoor sporting goods place in the area at this point.
posted by jferg at 6:21 AM on October 4, 2016 [1 favorite]


Every so often I remember a bit of a KS state legislature filibuster that was shown on the local news in Kansas City maybe 12 year back. It was just a clip of a guy saying
"In Omaha...they have a great...Bass Pro Shop."
The funnier thing about that, as someone from Omaha, is that the Bass Pro Shop around here is actually in Council Bluffs. Across the river and not even in Nebraska.
posted by DJWeezy at 6:38 AM on October 4, 2016


I went into a Bass Pro Shop once. I must say I was unimpressed; there wasn't a single guitar or amp of ANY kind in the whole place.

Well, duh -- if you're a bass pro, you've already got that stuff.
posted by Etrigan at 6:39 AM on October 4, 2016 [3 favorites]


Sometimes I step back and get a little awed at the scale of these numbers and the passage of time.

I live just a couple blocks from their Springfield flagship store. I also live directly beind my grandpa's old house where I practically grew up. When I was a very young kid grandpa would take me on these fishing expiditions to Springfield Lake, and we would stop off at a local liquor store (Brown Derby) that was located in a shopping center that is now the Bass Pro parking lot. In that liquor store was a freestanding kiosk where my grandpa would let me pick out a few rubber worms before we would head out. At that time, that kiosk was Bass Pro--in it's entirety.

For one of Missouri's top tourist attractions, there is surprisingly little "halo effect" at that intersection. It has a couple non-profit thrift stores, a brake place, a muffler place, a laundromat, a pawn shop, a plumbing supply store, a 24 hour health club--but none of the fun family things that you would think should be near a large family tourist destination. I always thought that a little odd.
posted by sourwookie at 7:10 AM on October 4, 2016 [6 favorites]


Back when I first got an Xbox 360 many years ago, it came packaged with whatever the current year iteration was of "Cabela's African Safari". I had zero interest in sport hunting games to begin with, but after setting up the system it was the only game I had on hand, so what the heck I put it in. As the game started, my little hunter dude was being driven in a Jeep across the African savannah, while the driver nattered on about all the wild beasts I could kill, and how "if I was lucky" I might spot the Great White Rhino.

Eventually the jeep stopped and my dude hopped out of the jeep, but the screen was still shuddering around like I was driving on a bumpy road. I panned around to take in the scenery, and almost immediately spotted this tremendous rhino bearing down on me at full charge from twenty feet away. I just emptied a rifle clip into its face, and then immediately received a 'Game Over, You Killed An Endangered White Rhino You Jerk' message. At that point I removed the disc from the system, broke it in half and threw it away.

That's basically the only thing I think of whenever I hear "Cabela's".
posted by FatherDagon at 7:17 AM on October 4, 2016 [18 favorites]


Sierra Trading Post. And it pays a dividend. :)
posted by buzzman at 7:20 AM on October 4, 2016


The Short Happy Life of a Cabela's FPS

I panned around to take in the scenery, and almost immediately spotted this tremendous Water Buffalo bearing down on me at full charge from twenty feet away. I just emptied a rifle clip into its face, and then immediately received a 'Game Over, Your Wife Just Shot You In The Back Of The Head' message. At that point I removed the disc from the system, broke it in half and threw it away.
posted by notyou at 7:37 AM on October 4, 2016 [4 favorites]


"High-end hunters" still have Orvis for comically overpriced sportswear I guess.

vroom
posted by 7segment at 7:38 AM on October 4, 2016 [1 favorite]


"museum" (at least in the informal sense) is stretching it. The plaques carry full information on who shot the animal, when, and where, and nothing about the animals' habitats, biology, history, etc. For me, the experience is a little coercive and puts the focus on the hunter rather than on the specimens.

I wonder if different Cabelas have different displays? I went back over some photographs I took at my local Cabelas, and found that while the - I can only say "deer-type" animals do usually have information about who shot the animal, the rest (at least per my pictures, I have lynx, gray fox, black bear, polar bear, musk ox, gray squirrel, coyote, and prairie dogs) don't - they carry simply information about the animal, biome, typical size, etc and - fascinatingly enough - when the items were donated from a museum! (I'm seeing a photo of a Steller Sea Lion donated by the Smithsonian, which means they at least must take it seriously).
posted by corb at 7:38 AM on October 4, 2016 [2 favorites]


Bass Pro, Cabela's, Gander Mountain, whatever. It's all the same Chinese stuff. My son works for a company that does private label manufacturing of fishing gear for all these stores, as well as other outfitters such as Lews, general retailers like WalMart, etc. Designed in FL, manufactured in PRC. The rods, guides, reels, etc, differ only by exterior color, labels, etc.

It's interesting. Behind the apparent surfeit of competitors, there are only 1-2 companies making the actual product. The rest is marketing and paint jobs.
posted by sudogeek at 7:41 AM on October 4, 2016 [11 favorites]


and - fascinatingly enough - when the items were donated from a museum!

Now that is a story I'd like to know!
posted by MonkeyToes at 7:57 AM on October 4, 2016 [2 favorites]


Am I the only one who calls it Funky Cold Cabela?

I imagine the intersection of Cabela's shoppers and Tone Loc fans is probably a null set.
posted by leotrotsky at 8:33 AM on October 4, 2016 [1 favorite]


At least the rabbi was slightly amused by my Funky Cold Tefilah reference yesterday.
posted by leotrotsky at 8:34 AM on October 4, 2016 [2 favorites]


I may have a Tone Loc problem.

We don't die, we multiply.
posted by leotrotsky at 8:41 AM on October 4, 2016 [2 favorites]


Just want to jump in and mention REI, which is a consumer cooperative! While they're not perfect, they are (imo) doing a lot of the right things, business-wise.
posted by triggerfinger at 8:52 AM on October 4, 2016 [10 favorites]


I can't wait for the inevitable closure of half of each franchise's locations. Those empty box buildings in the middle of nowhere will provide a great habitat for spiders, insects, and small mammals.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:27 AM on October 4, 2016 [5 favorites]


At least the rabbi was slightly amused by my Funky Cold Tefilah reference yesterday.

I take it he was pretty fly for a rabbi, then?
posted by NoxAeternum at 10:12 AM on October 4, 2016 [1 favorite]


They opened up a giant Bass Pro in Rossford, Oh with promises of it turning the area into a 'destination' like the Cabela's in Dundee, MI. It gets lots of business but it just sits out in a field while everything grows around the Meijer and Wal-Mart down the road.

My wife is a loyal member of the cult of Cabela's, Michigan born and raised. Don't know how I'll break it to her...
posted by charred husk at 10:19 AM on October 4, 2016 [1 favorite]


leotrotsky:
At least the rabbi was slightly amused by my Funky Cold Tefilah reference yesterday.


Go for the gusto and get kicked out of shul with a spirited rendition of Hava Cabela in honor of this thread.
posted by dr_dank at 10:25 AM on October 4, 2016 [1 favorite]


The Short Happy Life of a Cabela's FPS

*NOBODY* EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION RANDOM HEMINGWAY REFERENCE!
posted by sapere aude at 11:01 AM on October 4, 2016 [4 favorites]


A couple of years ago they put a Cabela's in Tualatin (tearing down Jiggles, the seediest 18-and-up strip club in the metro area in the process) and I must say I've been very underwhelmed. The selection is not that great and the prices are atrocious for the quality. They carry Wal-Mart gear at REI prices. less competition will only make that problem worse.

However, the display of stuffed critters is worth going to go see and we take our kids there to watch them feed the fish, which is good way to burn an hour on a rainy day.
posted by Dr. Twist at 11:25 AM on October 4, 2016 [1 favorite]


So why are politicians so willing to subsidize Cabela's or Bass Pro Shops?

The appeal appears to be cultural and political as well as economic.

This is a God-fearing, gun-loving part of the country," Sanford says. "People here feel passionately about the Second Amendment...
Do you honestly mean to tell me that this modern-day Second-Amendment hysteria is actually a business-driven marketing campaign?

Shocked. Face.
posted by klanawa at 12:17 PM on October 4, 2016 [2 favorites]


It's a hunting-fishing-outdoorsman lifestyle business for people who spend a significant part of their recreational time shopping for hunting/fishing/outdoors tools, accessories, and clothing. And some of the time outdoors.

Honestly, part of the recent athleisure trend is great because instead of people who are dressed comfortably as if they're about to go on a hike in the woods, you see a more honest representation of people dressed as if they're about to comfortably walk to the park and back.
posted by mikeh at 1:53 PM on October 4, 2016


Cabela's used to be the only place you could get high quality, reasonably priced women's chest waders. (I'm a stream ecologist--these are my work clothes.)

Oh no, no, no. You must get pro deals with Simms and Patagonia for waders. You must! Simms even repairs them cheap (mostly, they get a bit ratty when you send in a pair with 156 holes in it). Just call, both companies offer generous pro deals to professionals.

Never buy waders in a store again!
posted by fshgrl at 2:52 PM on October 4, 2016 [4 favorites]


Pretty much all I know about Bass Pro Shops is that they're the current tenant of a giant pyramid in Memphis.

The Pyramid may be the best candidate for Memphis' version of the Simpsons monorail (keeping in mind that Memphis actually has a monorail). Supposed to be as iconic for that city as St. Louis' arch, lost money until the Memphis Grizzlies (the nearest wild grizzly bear not being within 2000 or so miles of the city) killed it as an arena by declaring it insufficient for an NBA team. What was supposed to be the city's Coliseum is now a jumped-up bait shop? That's some William Gibson shit.
posted by Halloween Jack at 4:44 PM on October 4, 2016


Will Simms and/or Patagonia cut me a deal on 15 pairs of women's waders in a range of sizes for my Limnology class? It's a problem of scale.
posted by hydropsyche at 4:46 PM on October 4, 2016 [1 favorite]


I'm a PNW person living in Springfield and I always take west coast visitors to the flagship store for the WTF?!!!! effect spectacle. "It's like the REI flagship in Seattle, but with an emphasis on killing things, I guess." Since I moved here ... eight years ago?... everyone's been simultaneously talking up/ disparaging the never-reopening wildlife museum center thing. A tax shelter masquerading as a educational non-profit about "sustainability". Protect our resources so that your uncle can shoot them.

(I do enjoy the wood ducks that live down in camping gear)
posted by Capybara at 5:06 PM on October 4, 2016 [1 favorite]


Weird how a bass pro brings out all the Springfieldian metafilter users. Also, Bass Pro is an amazing sight for most foreign exchange students. It's every stereotype about Americans confirmed in one store, especially now that it has a NRA gun 'museum'.
posted by clockworkjoe at 5:22 PM on October 4, 2016 [1 favorite]


I appreciate Cabelas because they were the only place I could find a pair of women's boots that I could wear hiking in the snow and ice with good ankle support that weren't hugely expensive mountaineering boots or glorified uugs (including rei, etc). And they've lasted for almost a decade, and five of those years I wore them for work, hiking in the wintertime. I wonder if their quality has gone down since then.
I definitely had a nostalgic soft spot for them because they were one of the first outdoors gear stores that had a strong women's section. I remember leafing through catalogs of my father's when I was young and was always discouraged to see these huge menswear sections, and then a couple of sitting-by-the-fire-sweaters and so on in the women's. Cabelas was exciting, though they seem more like a hunter's Walmart to me now.
posted by branravenraven at 6:24 PM on October 4, 2016 [4 favorites]


Will Simms and/or Patagonia cut me a deal on 15 pairs of women's waders in a range of sizes for my Limnology class? It's a problem of scale.

Probably not, each student would have to set up their own deal. And they are really expensive waders so I doubt you'd come out ahead. Unless you keep the waders year to year? Worth asking but its not really how its set up. They are super durable though. My last pair just wore through, I probably had 300+ days on them with lots of hiking through brush and they'd had a few big patches too.
posted by fshgrl at 10:28 AM on October 5, 2016


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