BPS/ Cabela's

[Smalliefan2]

The SEC , not the football SEC, has given the go ahead to the Bass Pro, Cabela's buyout/merger. The credit card sale is not completed, nor the shareholder vote. Neither looked like a hurdle before the government review. Shareholder vote is next week.

 

[Mikie9]

I am sorta dense on these matters, but what does "the credit card sale is not completed, nor the shareholder vote." mean? I see this sort of thing all the time, and i have yet to understand what it means to me, a fisherman. I read my comment and think it sounds dickish, but I am really curious what this means, to me and other fishermen.

 

[Smalliefan2]

The credit card sale is the Cabela's co-branded card. BPS has their own co-branded card. Both have the store name, but the accounts are actually through a bank or card insurer. They are through different banks, and the agreement usually doesn't allow a competitor to share or split the revenue.
The shareholder vote is where the public owners of the stock vote to accept or reject the monetary offer per share to sell their stock. It is currently a little over $61 per share. The shareholders were in favor of the sale/merger before the SEC review, but it was on hold until government approval.

 

[bullshot]

I thought Cabelas credit card was owned outright by Cabelas (while BPS was co-branded) AND the credit card division was the catalyst for BPS purchase.

 

[Smalliefan2]

Bullshot, you may be right. The article says the credit card is going to Capital One, and the bank, a subsidiary is being sold separately. Could be the same as Bank of Bentonville/Walmart in their relationship, same family owned, but separate companies.

 

[kornbread]

That's what an employee at the Bowling Green KY Cabelas told me as well. Cabelas was basically provided their own credit line.

 

[Mikie9]

yeah told ya I was dense on these matters lol. I thought credit card sales were going to change, like you use a credit card it costs more or something lol. thanks for the info

 

[occasionalfisher]

I am really kinda not happy this is being agreed to. A few weeks ago I visited both the Bass Pro and the Cabelas just outside Chattanooga and the difference in the stores, and the service was night and day.
Never have I seen such bad customer service at a Bass Pro, lots of workers walking around, if you tried to ask someone a question they would say be right back and you never see them again. I asked a group of 4 workers in the clothing area for some help finding a certain shirt and they just ignored me. A guy had just bought a new Helix and was trying to find out if it would network with another unit and he asked one of the guys under the little shed in the fishing area and the guy said "Oh, I don't know anything about those things" and just walked off. I went up there to get some of the rattling KVD 1.5's because it is the only place you can get them and maybe buy a few shirts, but like always I walked through the store and was shocked at how little was in it. They had almost no Zoom products at all and they had almost no name-brand fishing rods in the store. Also BPS's prices have skyrocketed over the past 3 years. I happened to notice a Terminator t-1 Spinnerbait that was marked at $13.99.
I bought the cranks and left, went in to Cabelas, had someone there offer to help me every few minutes, and saw that same spinnerbait at Cabela's was marked at $8.99. When Cabela's is beating your prices by more than 3 dollars then something is wrong, they have always been a bit higher than other places.
I called Bass Pro and did get a call back from the fishing manager at the store, but he said he can't get Zoom from corporate because they say it is the end of fishing season and no reason to send more. If your name is Bass Pro Shop your fishing season never ends, especially when you are a couple of miles from one of the best bass fishing lakes in the nation.

 

[Aries 181]

If I need tackle/lures, I'll buy from TW or Academy. As for rods, reels or electronics, no one has come close to what Johnny charges me.

Bill

 

[Lx545]

I have been in bass pro probably 10 times. Never bought a thing. Poor service and way overpriced. I buy at cabelas and academy.

 

[Gator]

Fish Tales in Cleveland has lots of Zoom products and a great selection of most anything.

 

[JEEPnFISH]

How is this going to affect the 2 stores being within sight of each other? Will one close?

 

[FishinChef]

I was told since one store is technically in Georgia and the other in Tennessee both would remain open. They also said they would be "remodeling" so that one location specialized primarily in hunting while the other focused on fishing. But this was all info from an employee when the merger first went public. Not too long after BP was completed..a little crazy to remodel a brand new store... But I agree with you guys Cabela's, academy, and sportsman's get my business. Lived in Atlanta for 9 years and expected a bass pro to open here similar to the one there.. wrong!!

 

[Rob Lee]

Ultimately, the upper echelon at all corporations wants you to make your purchase on-line. Just imagine the cost savings in labor alone. I too, almost always come out of BPS and Cabelas empty handed. Hence Amazon's success. I agree, Cabelas has superior customer service. Tantamount to fast food workers...they are not paid enough to pay attention or really care. I too, buy most of Bass fishing stuff from Tackle Warehouse. For five bucks you can get your order in three business days. I also concur that Academy is actually fairly decent.

 

[elwestb]

If I can buy locally from Soddy Custom and Tank's in Cleveland then that is what I'm going to do. I also give a both thumbs up for Johnny at DJ's Marine. BPS has been crazy at times with me. I went over to order a 1,000 yd. spool of Seagur Invisx line from them to avoid the ridiculous shipping charges if you have the merchandise shipped to your house. Supposedly if you ship to the store, shipping is free? I was told the line would be there in two or three days and they would call me when it came in. After two weeks and four phone calls I finally ordered my line from TW. Another time two different friends of mine went over to BPS and bought some fish clip fin weights. I went over the next week and was told that they did not carry any such thing and that they couldn't even order them!? Then two weeks ago I stopped by there to buy a jug of G Juice. It was on their web site that they had it in stock. When I got there I couldn't find the G Juice. I asked two different guys at the counter and they could find it either. They looked on line and told me that BPS no longer carried it. So I left and ordered it from TW. I told another one of my fishing partners about the event and he laughed and insisted that they did still carry G Juice. The next week he told me that he was in the store and did indeed see the G juice on display!?! As for the service, I think it all depends on the luck of the draw in who you get!

 

[Rob Lee]

I feel your pain... I was told by BPS they had two Optima blue tops in stock. Wrong! Inventory did in fact show two...only one in stock. They make money in spite on their obvious deficiencies in customer service. I agree, support local merchants. Johnny is as real as they get.

 

[Gator]

FYI
If you have gift cards for BPS or Cabelas they can be used at either store and BPS will take Cabelas credit cards.

 

[Hiwassee Angler]

Why you buy local, guys! We beat BPS every day of the week! Come on up to charleston and see us!

 

[FishingWithASoldier]

Gone are the days to have that “experience” to go into Bass Pro. I remember as a kid that there wasn’t a bass pro around for miles. I loved looking through my dads bass pro magazine at everything. Now they are just Wal-Marts with dead animals on the walls. Johnny Morris just wants to line his pockets, that’s it. Nothing more, nothing less. And for the customer service, it’s like going to advance auto or auto zone, those dudes don’t know what in the hell they're talking about. They just look into a computer screen for the answer.

 

[Oldman]

yeah right