Gander Mountain Bankrupcy?

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  • venenoindy

    Master
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    70   0   0
    Jul 14, 2009
    2,204
    83
    Noblesville
    Not even during the holidays that ever saw them been busy, other than the gun counter every GM I ever been to has been a ghost town so no wonder.
     

    dwh79

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    1   0   0
    Feb 20, 2008
    939
    18
    Wanamaker/ Acton
    It's a shame when they first came to indy I really liked the store and the non firearm prices were reasonable and a good selection but years later they have went downhill.
     

    Libertarian01

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    3   0   0
    Jan 12, 2009
    6,006
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    Fort Wayne
    I don't know why they mentioned the revolving credit loan. That is very standard for any large business to have.

    Large businesses cannot guarantee that they will have the cash on hand available to make payroll, utilities, repairs, rent, property tax, etc etc etc every single day. So they get any extremely large revolving credit line on which they pay a very low interest rate. They may borrow $150,000,000 every day and pay it back with a 1/4 percent interest rate in two (2) or three (3) days. This saves(?) them from tying up several hundred million dollars in cash on their own.

    I'm not saying the story in inaccurate, just "so what?" regarding the revolving credit issue. The article doesn't give the more relevant information such as their total debt and revenues.

    This linked article Report: another outdoors retailer on brink of bankruptcy - NewsTimes does point out that Gander Mountain is currently in the process of trying a $5.5 billion dollar acquisition of Cabela's. Mayhaps they have overstretched themselves a tad? Or perhaps they are looking to time their "bankruptcy" with the Cabela's acquisition in order to avoid certain liabilities that may come with such an acquisition, such as a retirement program or heavy debt on Cabela's slde...? Yes, I am a bit cynical that way.

    Regards,

    Doug
     

    PGRChaplain

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    7   0   0
    Jan 13, 2011
    3,765
    83
    Waynedale (FT Wayne)
    I've bought a lot of fishing gear on closeout there, Regular Prices are Way High. When they Remodeled into the Firearm Superstore the prices went higher than they were before. The one thing I noticed at the Ft Wayne Store, lack of Customers.
     

    LtScott14

    Master
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    0   1   0
    Apr 13, 2008
    1,516
    83
    Porter County
    Absolutely the last place to buy, unless you have more $ than common sense! They remodeled in Merrillville, Superstore design, and the un-trained staff was a joke. Only thing they knew was "give me your money" sales talk from managers.
    My once a year walk thru was wasted time. They had decent gun salesman in older days, but now long gone.
    Good luck on Bankrupcy. You need it.
     

    Old Dog

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    2   0   0
    Mar 4, 2016
    1,377
    97
    Central Indiana
    Way back when, Gander was a mail order outfit and I bought a lot from them. Was glad to see them in Indy north side. Used to buy a lot from them for a good price, until they remodeled the gun room and raised their prices on everything in the store. Indy North, Greenwood, and Greenfield had NO customers other than me the last few times I visited. **** poor customer service, kids that don't know (or care) about anything. $100 higher than LGS on all guns?? I said a year ago that I hoped they went bankrupt because they sure don't provide anything I can't get somewhere else for less. Poor business model in my opinion. I know I am a hard arse!
     

    littletommy

    Grandmaster
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    0   0   0
    Aug 29, 2009
    13,015
    113
    A holler in Kentucky
    I'm no business mogul, and I've never been to a gander mountain store, but going by the responses in this thread, how can their problems be so obvious to everyone EXCEPT the executives of GM? Like someone mentioned above, I used to order from their catalog, but with the advent of their big box stores, the whole company seemed to go down the tubes.
     

    d.kaufman

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    128   0   0
    Mar 9, 2013
    14,721
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    Hobart
    There prices on firearms, accesories, and ammo is just ridiculous. Ae 223 for $10.99 a box when cabelas and BP regularly have for $6.99. $100 and more higher per firearm and pmags at 19.99. Crazy. Its a wonder they've stayed in buisness this long. I have found a few decent deals, especially around black Friday but throughout the rest of the year the deals are very few and far between
     

    Dutch68

    Shooter
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    1   0   0
    Jan 2, 2015
    83
    6
    apt
    Sorry , my Part timers kicked in . I was posting in regard to a different chain of stores.
     
    Last edited:

    Libertarian01

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    Jan 12, 2009
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    I'm no business mogul, and I've never been to a gander mountain store, but going by the responses in this thread, how can their problems be so obvious to everyone EXCEPT the executives of GM? Like someone mentioned above, I used to order from their catalog, but with the advent of their big box stores, the whole company seemed to go down the tubes.


    One word: Groupthink.

    Before I go on about that go watch an episode or two of Restaurant: Impossible with Robert Irvine. In the early seasons he would be called in by a restaurant owner to help save their failing restaurant. 95% of the time he pointed the finger at stupid stuff they were doing wrong and they would argue with the guy knowing that on their current trajectory they were dying! Yet they refused to look critically in the mirror and see where they were going wrong.

    Now we take this to a large corporate level. Perhaps their management training is poor, and thus their store managers don't go visit the competition. ALL good managers should shop at their competitors to see what they are doing and how they are doing it. Or, if their store managers were good and reporting back problems on the front lines they would be met with corporate resistance.

    This is where groupthink comes into play. Many store managers report a problem or series of problems. When confronted they have looked at the issue but don't fully realize its severity. Thus, in their insular meetings they analyze the data and come up with a solution that won't work, but they all get along and like it. So, when the store managers continue to complain they are told, "Listen! You don't see the big picture. You aren't taking into consideration all the analysis and research we have done. We have factored in all the variables that you aren't aware. Stop worrying about it - or else!"

    So they continue on seeing the data, seeing the projections, but absolutely committed to the path they are on because they are unwilling to acknowledge that they have it wrong.

    Look at Enron. They hired Harvard and Yale top business people, along with former special forces military to push their company. They fired the bottom 15% of performers every year! So what did they end up with? All alpha males. An extremely aggressive management system from the top to the bottom. Sell, perform, or be fired. Anyone who was a bit conservative or voiced any concern over their extremely aggressive system was fired or shut down. In that case corporate culture resulted perhaps in a variant of groupthink but the result was the same: BYE!

    Just a thought.

    Regards,

    Doug
     
    Rating - 100%
    1   0   0
    Jul 3, 2008
    3,619
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    central indiana


    One word: Groupthink.

    ...
    Now we take this to a large corporate level. Perhaps their management training is poor, and thus their store managers don't go visit the competition. ALL good managers should shop at their competitors to see what they are doing and how they are doing it. Or, if their store managers were good and reporting back problems on the front lines they would be met with corporate resistance.

    This is where groupthink comes into play. Many store managers report a problem or series of problems. When confronted they have looked at the issue but don't fully realize its severity. Thus, in their insular meetings they analyze the data and come up with a solution that won't work, but they all get along and like it. So, when the store managers continue to complain they are told, "Listen! You don't see the big picture. You aren't taking into consideration all the analysis and research we have done. We have factored in all the variables that you aren't aware. Stop worrying about it - or else!"

    So they continue on seeing the data, seeing the projections, but absolutely committed to the path they are on because they are unwilling to acknowledge that they have it wrong.

    Look at Enron. They hired Harvard and Yale top business people, along with former special forces military to push their company. They fired the bottom 15% of performers every year! So what did they end up with? All alpha males. An extremely aggressive management system from the top to the bottom. Sell, perform, or be fired. Anyone who was a bit conservative or voiced any concern over their extremely aggressive system was fired or shut down. In that case corporate culture resulted perhaps in a variant of groupthink but the result was the same: BYE!

    Just a thought.

    Regards,

    Doug


    One problem is they only see other stores like Dicks as their competition.. They seemed to have forgotten about the real outdoor sportsmen when they became a big retailer.. They started having limited selection of stuff, pushed clothing more than gear..
     

    bgcatty

    Master
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    23   0   0
    Sep 9, 2011
    3,023
    113
    Carmel
    I don't know why they mentioned the revolving credit loan. That is very standard for any large business to have.

    Large businesses cannot guarantee that they will have the cash on hand available to make payroll, utilities, repairs, rent, property tax, etc etc etc every single day. So they get any extremely large revolving credit line on which they pay a very low interest rate. They may borrow $150,000,000 every day and pay it back with a 1/4 percent interest rate in two (2) or three (3) days. This saves(?) them from tying up several hundred million dollars in cash on their own.

    I'm not saying the story in inaccurate, just "so what?" regarding the revolving credit issue. The article doesn't give the more relevant information such as their total debt and revenues.

    This linked article Report: another outdoors retailer on brink of bankruptcy - NewsTimes does point out that Gander Mountain is currently in the process of trying a $5.5 billion dollar acquisition of Cabela's. Mayhaps they have overstretched themselves a tad? Or perhaps they are looking to time their "bankruptcy" with the Cabela's acquisition in order to avoid certain liabilities that may come with such an acquisition, such as a retirement program or heavy debt on Cabela's slde...? Yes, I am a bit cynical that way.

    Regards,

    Doug
    I think it is Bass Pro Shop and not Gander that was merging/buying Cabelas. As to Gander, it's not surprising between their ridiculous prices across the board and the relatively uneducated sales people that they have lasted this long.
     

    Leadeye

    Grandmaster
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    4   0   0
    Jan 19, 2009
    36,696
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    .
    At that level bankruptcy is just another business tool. Until they cut up the corpse you won't know if top brass weren't just pocketing everything until failure.

    Always follow the money...
     

    Libertarian01

    Grandmaster
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    3   0   0
    Jan 12, 2009
    6,006
    113
    Fort Wayne
    One problem is they only see other stores like Dicks as their competition.. They seemed to have forgotten about the real outdoor sportsmen when they became a big retailer.. They started having limited selection of stuff, pushed clothing more than gear..


    That could be part of it as well, but it doesn't preclude groupthink as a possible problem.

    They could have seen a higher ROI with clothing than more expensive outdoor stuff, so they used their canny corporate powers after analyzing the data and increased the floor space for one at the expense of the other.

    Their store managers may have told them, "Don't do this. This is why people come here in the first place." But corporate could have been convinced through their own data that they were making the right decision.

    Look at the last election with Hillary Clinton. Democratic operatives (middle and lower upper management) on the ground in Michigan were complaining in the last month that their numbers were squiffy. They were PLEADING for Hillary to come to Michigan and push hard. They weren't seeing the signs, turnout and other signals showing a good year for them. But what did Hillary's top level campaign staff do? They ignored their underlings relying instead upon their number crunching and told their Michigan people not to worry. They knew the numbers! They knew the big picture.

    Now we have President Trump.

    Don't forget that I also guessed that they may be doing a fiscally prudent thing. IF they purchase Cabela's for $5.5 billion and it brings with it a huge chunk of debt and expenses this could simply be a maneuver to purge that dead weight. It may not be moral or ethical if it is in regards to a retirement program, but who knows? That is where a severe look at all the numbers would be required to better understand what is going on. The article gave us nothing to work with in that regard.

    Regards,

    Doug
     

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