Gander Mountain preparing bankruptcy filing

[eligius]

Reuters is reporting that St. Paul-based hunting and fishing chain Gander Mountain is preparing to file for bankruptcy as early as this month, after an aggressive effort to expand its store base failed to pull in new customers, according to people familiar with the matter.
http://www.twincities.com/2017/02/10/report-gander-mountain-preparing-bankruptcy-filing/

[jeepster09]

Doesn't surprise me....they have horrible customer service. I live next to one and whenever I have gone in to store they have never had any staff working and when you did finally find someone they did not have the time a day for you. Personally I am glad to see them go. Perhaps new owner will have a clue. One day last year I went in planning on buying new canoe and when I finally found an employee he asked me if I wouldn't mind waiting till after he took his break. I left and drove a few miles to Cabela's and bought one there.

[ct9kahrtoter]

The Gander Mountain around me has some really stiff competition on gun prices. There are a number of smaller gun stores that sell way cheaper than they do, but, Gander has really inflated prices on their guns as well. This does not surprise me at all.

[ripley16]

I've found some really great deals at my local G.M. over the years. If they close I will miss them. I'd miss any gun store for that matter.

[MikeAvery71]

Interesting. My local GM charges full retail for firearms and ammo. But their customer service is good and they stock a complete line of SD and target ammo. I wonder if prices are dictated by the local income levels? The one closest to me is in a mall complex, metro area with high household incomes. Unfortunately I have to bargain shop a bit for my range time.

[Ken L]

Both Gander Mountain stores in the Denver metro closed last month. I went in during the "going out of business" sale looking for deals but they didn't really have anything worth buying. Their pricing lately on general merchandise--clothes, boots, was nothing special, and they were very proud of their guns and ammo. I don't remember buying anything there in the past year or year and a half.

[berettabone]

The Gander's around me have idiots running the asylum. There are always one or two older employees who know their stuff, the rest, not so much. They allow customers to point firearms at others, sell them the wrong holsters for their firearms, and basically have no firearm experience. I've even seen them hand a customer a firearm with out checking it.

[DavidR]

The Gander Mtn in Palm Beach county has a decent selection of ammo and accessories. Gun prices are generally high. They just remodeled the store and now have a Sig Sauer custom shop.


Dave

[Bawanna]

We don't have any Ganders around here, never been in one myself.

Guess I won't miss them. Going bankrupt don't always mean they are going out of business either does it? Sometimes it like a do over, just don't pay their bills and keep on keeping on.

We have a Cabela's with a very nice selection of guns and ammo but trying to buy a gun, especially a handgun even with a CPL can take hours. If you don't have a CPL it can take weeks. Son in Law just bought one and it was more than 3 weeks before he could pick it up. He said never again.

[340pd]

I live in MN and have watched them struggle for years. Changing store policies, managers, pricing, etc. They just can't seem to get it right. There were times past when they would run short of cash and run sales that were insane just to get money to pay bills. Terrible way to run a business. Personally around here in the Twin Cities, I would like to see a Bass Pro/Cabelas take over one of the Gander store locations in the heart of town as opposed to the far suburbs as they are now.

[JohnR]

Academy does everything better, but their gun prices are too high, too.

[marshal kane]

Never saw a Gander Mountain store while I was living in the Golden (socialist) State but would occasionally get a flyer in the mail which eventually stopped coming. Sad this is happening to a large chain store as someone in the past built this up from scratch and now it's fallen on bad times through mismanagement.

[berettabone]

I have 3 Gander's and 2 Cabela's in my area. To me, Cabela's has always been a glorified Gander. Cabela's firearm people are more knowledgeable, and so are their fishing and hunting people. Other than that, I shop online a lot, because I can get stuff cheaper. Sometimes, the wifey and I stop at Cabela's and browse, and occasionally purchase some ammo on sale.

[eligius]

Took Cabela's in East Hartford, CT over an hour to process my paperwork when I purchased my Walther PPS. I guess I was lucky.

[knkali]

Never saw a Gander Mountain store while I was living in the Golden (socialist) State but would occasionally get a flyer in the mail which eventually stopped coming. Sad this is happening to a large chain store as someone in the past built this up from scratch and now it's fallen on bad times through mismanagement.

Not sure I can say its b/c of being mismanaged. The market has changed and the cost of doing business is getting higher and higher. When the $15/hr min hits, we will see much more of this.