Which has the best selection of hunting gear? Fishing gear? Camping gear?
There is a Bass Pro Shops about an hour away from me and a Gander Mountain about the same distance. The closest Cabela’s is located four hours north in Hammond, which strikes me as totally insane - it’s right between Chicago and Gary, and I would think that Southern Indiana is far, far, far more of an important hunting market than the area where Hammond is. What the fuck? Did Hammond city officials bribe Cabela’s or something?
Cabela’s does have a great catalog. But with clothing, I am not going to order anything from a catalog. I need to actually try it on. So I do not see myself going out of my way and driving through the flat, boring upper half of this state just to go to their store.
We only have Cabela’s so that’s all I know. We also have Sportsman’s Warehouse, which is a bit smaller. And Scheel’s, which is more of a sports store (including sporting goods). They are HUGE, they claim to be the largest sports store in the world. Which makes me suspicious, because it’s an odd choice of location.
I do remember a mall in I think Ft. Meyers, Florida. It has a sign saying Bass Pro one way, Gander Mountain the other. They each took up shop at opposite ends of the mall. I may be mistaken on which store names they were, but at least neither was Cabela’s.
That’s two “j”'s, infidel. With an “i” if you’re a person. Expect your punishment to come soon. The methods of the Cabela’s Jihadists involve a gigantic meat grinder and one of those big stuffed grizzly bears.
Until then, how was it? Different from another store?
I’ve shopped both, and I’ve found the clothing at Bass Pro to be superior in both quality and selection to Cabela’s. I have nothing against Cabela’s, just I’ve had better luck with the clothing at Bass Pro. Their button-down shirts in particular hold up well, and fit bigger guys like me well since they have longer tails and lower bottom buttons.
I’ve also noticed at Bass Pro, that what the store stocks more of is dependent on the area of the country when it comes to sporting goods. In Texas, the gun department is larger than the fishing department. In Missouri, the opposite is true.
I’ve never been to a Gander Mountain Store, I’ll have to keep an eye out next time I’m on the road. As far a fun retail experience goes, I have to give Cabelas a slight edge on the strength of a visit to the store in Mitchell. That giant mountain display with all the big (and little) game animals is really impressive. The Bass Pro Shop in Nashville is pretty neat, and the one in Islamorada has the added bonus of tarpon feeding out on the dock in back.
I’ve been to 3 Cabela’s, 1 Bass Pro Shop and a bunch of Gander Mountains, of varying sizes.
Cabela - They strike me as a bit more serious about their camping and fishing gear. Larger selection, less novelty and more useful stuff. I enjoyed the shopping experience more. I’d rather look at stuffed animals than the random glittery/shiny/“LOOK AT ME” stuff I saw at Bass Pro Shop. Best shoe selection of the 3. Target market: hunter and fisherman who usually order by catalog, but want to occasionally make a trip to Mecca.
Bass Pro Shop - struck me as more of a shopping mall feel. The one I was in had a huge shooting arcade game and a bowling alley, complete with ball returns shaped like sharks or gators. I’ve passed by a few, and they seem to be located near malls, amusement parks etc. They are more about being a destination. Target market - families who are done with their day at the amusement park and aren’t ready to go home yet.
Gander Mountain - Smaller stores. Less space and money spend on “attractions”. Less variety too. Target market - urban dwellers who want to pick up a new camo jacket, some new fishing lures and a depth finder.
Hmm. Cabela’s does sound more appealing from these descriptions…maybe I will make the drive up to worthless Hammond after all. Ugh. Whose idiotic idea was it to put the damn store there? If they had put it near Bloomington or Evansville they would have gotten not only all the southern half of the state, which has got to have more hunters, but also all the business from Kentucky, which does not have a Cabela’s.
Hell, I only shop for camping, hunting or fishing gear about 1-2 times a year. I’m sure that there are people that need those types of things more often than I do, just as I’m sure there are lots of people that never need them. But I can’t understand how these places stay in business.
Our town has a Gander Mountain and is getting a Cabelas, both with tax incentives and subsidies from the City and County. Otherwise they wouldn’t have put a store in here. I personally don’t get it.
Oh, I have a Cabela’s store credit card. Sure I get points and such, but what was really hand was that their card had a 1% foreign transaction fee (technically levied by Visa, I think), compared to 3% plus fees on many of my other credit cards. Not really much to stay about the store, or vs. other stores, I just find it odd that a store card has that good a deal.
Heh, and as a Missouri boy, I should cast my vote for Bass Pro (how it came into being is quite an interesting story, and we wouldn’t have it if not for Brown Derby Liquor), but I prefer Cabela’s over-all. Better service, choices, and a much better credit card program with awesome rewards.
Personally, I think this is a bit of a loaded question, that’s why I didn’t participate in the poll. First of all, in terms of clothing; Bass Pro, Cabelas and Gander Mountain are all uber stores that carry much of the same things: Carhartt, Under Armor, Redding, North Face, WW Sportsman, AND their own brands which are all slightly cheaper but pretty much do the same things, they’re warm, waterproof, breathable, etc…
Now jump to the fishing gear: same thing as above but with fishing gear.
Now jump to the hunting section: same thing as above but with hunting gear.
Now jump to Camping, Hiking, water sports: same thing as above but with C,H,WS gear.
Now to answer your question, I live in Colorado where ranch stores and 100-yr old hardware stores are where we get most of our gear…but Cabelas is great fun to walk around in, gawk at the latest and greatest in sporting equipment, and end up buying one lure and a pair of smart-wool socks in the end.
Essentially, I think they are all great - but if Cabelas is in your range it’s definitely worth it.
That is a very strategic move on the part of all stores you mention. They go to rural areas, they say they stimulate the economy, but they really entice thousands more to buy. US economics at it’s finest.
Overall, I rate Cabella’s/Bass Pro as about equal.
Locally, our Cabella’s has a definite edge (IMO) over our local Bass Pro, and is easier for me to get to. The Bass Pro is a stand-alone store in a shopping center, the Cabela’s is one of the “end-cap stores” in a local mall. So I do have more shopping choices when going to Cabela’s, including food court, movie theater, and book store.
Our Bass Pro does have a ginormous aquarium that’s pretty darned cool, and Cabela’s has a museum of stuffed critters that’s also pretty darned cool. Our Cabela’s has a better gun selection (including used and some very nice, and very $$$, collector’s pieces), but I’m told by a fisherman buddy that our Bass Pro has a better selction of fishing stuff.
So locally, I have to say that I prefer our Cabela’s.
I live in the same area as**ExTank **. I used to shop BassPro all the time, mostly for clothing and shooting gear. After Cabelas opened I found myself mostly going there. Perhaps the fact that I went right by there on Mo 370 coming home from work had something to do with it. I still shop BassPro from time to time.
Cabelas seems to have more casual and hunting clothing choices than our local BassPro. I’ve been to the Big Store in Springfield, but it’s been some time ago, so they may have a good selection there.
They did have a good restaurant though, something Cabelas would do well to copy. Maybe some do have restaurants, or perhaps since Cabelas in our area is part of a mall with an existing food court they are not allowed to have one.
At home all we have is Gander Mountain. There may be one of each of the others, but they’re way too far away, whereas Gander Mountain is ubiquitous. So, no opinion, other than it took me a long time to realize that their radio jingle wasn’t two swear words with a “this” between them.