Not that it matters a lot to fly anglers, but ...

[idlerick]

BPS has apparently bought the Cabelas stores for $5B. I'd post a link from the Fidelity web site, but the format here doesn't lend itself to Cut/Paste for some reason.

I always liked Cabelas, maybe since they were the first Big Box I ever saw. Plus, Johnny Morris bought my favorite King Salmon camp in BC and closed it to he public.

[deathb4disco]

Here's the story from USA Today:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/...tion/91459212/

FWIW, I buy at least 90% of my fly gear from BPS or Cabela's.

[fritz]

this could be the reason why the plan to open a Cabela's in Middletown NY this year never happened. Rumor also had it that a Bass Pro Shop was going to be opened in Rutherford NJ, also which didn't happen.

[bowfin47]

The question now is, in those markets that contain both stores, then which BP or Cabela's will close, and secondarily, then who, if anyone (hopefully), take advantage of the closed site?

[deathb4disco]

The question now is, in those markets that contain both stores, then which BP or Cabela's will close, and secondarily, then who, if anyone (hopefully), take advantage of the closed site?

I have both a BPS and a Cabela's about twenty minutes away. Both parking lots are full whenever I go, so I don't know why they'd close either one.

[melk]

Well, well. We stop at a Cabela's in Maine on our way home and it is actually better than the highway rest area for lunch! I wonder if they will stay separate or merge into "Bassbela's"?
I always look at the fly supplies on my pas through. I must order that kayak seat for my NuCanoe NOW!!
Mike

[John_N]

We have both in this market, and have historically had little or nothing in the way of local fly shops. This sale has been rumored for a while, and was something I had hoped wouldn't come true. These two retailers sell a great deal more that I shop for than just fly fishing gear, and to me Cabelas has always been light years better than BP. The notion that they might close the Cabelas store and/or turn the brand into a clone of BP represents a huge loss as far as I'm concerned.

[Marco]

Being a sentimentalist and having experienced Cabela's at their original warehouse site in "downtown" Sidney Nebraska a "few" years ago, I'm not sure of just how I feel about the transaction. I do feel it will benefit Cabela's in Hoffman Estates, Cook County IL where the 10 % sales tax and the STUPID/NAIVE $. 05 cents per cartridge tax on ammunition ( lowered the DEATH BY GUN RATE by 2 in Chicago) has cut their sales by 50% in 5 years. They or BPS can now close the store, take a business tax loss of many millions , and build a new store about 1000 feet North where business environment is MUCH more favorable/ sensible.

Mark

PS:That being said, I'd rather be and am now in Wyoming

[idlerick]

The Biz Ops folks always told me that an acquisition couldn't be profitable unless prices went up. If Cabelas is losing $$ every quarter for 3 years or something now, the only way you can justify buying them is to eventually increase the prices they charge. Probably higher at BPS too, since a major competitor will be gone.
Marco - I too went to the Sydney store back about 1990. That was an experience for me. Think I spent over $300 that day, mostly in the Bargain Cave, like a kid in a candy store. BPS has never impressed me the same way somehow.

[ScottP]

The Cabelas in Kalispell met a lot of resistance from locals because they were afraid it would hurt the valley flyshops/sporting goods stores. They needn't have worried - mediocre selection/indifferent to non-existent customer service. A BPS would look a bit out of place in NW Montana.
Regards,
Scott