Cabela’s Black Friday

[Dennis in MA]

Well, the one near me in Hudson, MA is in a small outlet area with a TJ Maxx, Michael’s, Lowes, and several restaurants. It’s on the far side of the lot by the restaurants so I plan on it for 5am. I’ve never done a Black Friday but if I did it would be to test these waters. I will report back. They’re owned by Bass Pro now so maybe the sales are different.

Expect it to be stuffed with bloated angry 30-something wimmins that entire morning/day. That's a pretty damned big mall in Hudson.

Cabelas, Lowe's, MB, BB&B, PetSmart, Ulta, CVS, Walgreens, TJX, Michaels, The Beej. LOTS of stores for yentas to run shop-to-shop to maximize their BF buys. Life is vastly different from the time when people would kill each other at WM and Best Buy for a TV. TV's cost next to nothing now. People are going for QUANTITY. A place like Highland Commons is EXACTLY what people want on BF.

I just bought a RedHead orange hunting parka for deer hunting in Maine. It seems to be very well made and extremely warm/comfortable. Very heavy and doesn't feel cheaply made. Only $90 shipped. I had never heard of RedHead before and gave it a shot as it was the only waterproof orange jacket I could find. It had a BassPro pricetag of $140 on it but was on sale.

Shhhhhh. Upset people are upset. It's like Yogi Bera once said: "Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded." Sometimes people just want to be angry at a store. I dislike Old Navy. Only b/c their ass'ish commercials for the better part of 20 years. I mean, their commercials were ANNOYING! It was only 6 months or so ago that I made my first purchase there ever. EVER!

Just be glad they didn't slap that 50%-price-increase LL Bean label on it.

 

[Frizzle Fry]

The Bass Pro RedHead brand always seemed much more cheaply made to me when compared to the Cabela's brand stuff. Quality may be "good enough," but it's still a loss.

Bass Pro bought the RedHead name? Now that's a shame; their house brand shit has always been... well... just that.

Red Head used to make great stuff dating back almost a century.

 

[AHM]

Got a ($100?) 10" gong with stand for 50% off last December.
Works fine.

 

[ThePreBanMan]

The Bass Pro RedHead brand always seemed much more cheaply made to me when compared to the Cabela's brand stuff. Quality may be "good enough," but it's still a loss.

Agreed. I remain worried with Bass Pro buying Cabelas that they will lower the quality of the Cabelas brand in search of larger margins. Or just rebrand the Bass Pro Red Head garbage as Cabelas brand. I've already seen this on a couple of items unfortunately.

 

[Franko]

I used to love Cabelas. They have gone way down hill. I was in the Scarborough store the other day. The bargain cave is gone. The clerk told me Basspro is taking all the bargain caves away. I loved rummaging through the junk pile.

 

[92G]

I used to love Cabelas. They have gone way down hill. I was in the Scarborough store the other day. The bargain cave is gone. The clerk told me Basspro is taking all the bargain caves away. I loved rummaging through the junk pile.

the bargain cave was interesting although from perspective of their business no way that thing brought in revenue for the amount of space it occupied. thankfully so far it looks like bass pro hasn't screwed up cabela's too much. i hope it stays that way.

 

[looser38]

Such a shame, lol bean used to be decent, overpriced gear. Now its just a yuppie identifier.

Cabellas is following suit.

*for some reason it won’t let me put a frown face here. So yeah, picture a frowny face here.

I have the same problem with emojis on here ,what's up with that??? Picture a dumbass face here!!!!

 

[DJBrad]

Well I didn’t end up going today since the responses here confirmed I probably wasn’t going to miss much. Hate B&M’s on a Black Friday anyways!

 

[pj150]

Yep, not much there. Got the kids the boot sale for 29 bucks but nothing else worthwhile. More than normal as far as people there but not overwhelming.

 

[m_n_x]

FYI - Today (Black Friday) Market Basket is selling Cabela's gift cards for 20% off. Add that to a BF deal and make out.

 

[Garys]

Went there this afternoon. I ended up with some of the Sig ammo that was on sale. Other than that, not much. They had Yugo SKS for some silly price. Not only that, but the bayonets had been removed. Some Mausers of some vintage, but I don't know a lot about them. Some Mosin 91/30 rifles, at I think $299.00 No used handguns, but I expected that.

 

[jpm]

the bayos are out back, you'll get one with the rifle.

 

[The Herd]

Went with the fam - boots for kids, new jackets...(and gummies for all)...nothing “smoking” in the FA realm....

 

[finest]

I have not been to a Cabela's since Bass Pro purchased them.

 

[T-Unit]

Agreed. I remain worried with Bass Pro buying Cabelas that they will lower the quality of the Cabelas brand in search of larger margins. Or just rebrand the Bass Pro Red Head garbage as Cabelas brand. I've already seen this on a couple of items unfortunately.

I can say for the first time in the 4 years I've watched Cabela's black friday sales, not a single percussion revolver was on sale. They always had at least one brass frame for $100 or 150 and this year nothing.

The online sales are not good anymore either. There was a few times a year Cabela's would have a $10% off and free ship offer for purchases over $99 and they haven't had one of those since the buyout.

I use to buy a lot from Cabela's, but since Bass Pro bought them, I've not had much reason to and have bought a lot more from Brownell's and Midway as a result.

 

[rcwhat]

I can say for the first time in the 4 years I've watched Cabela's black friday sales, not a single percussion revolver was on sale. They always had at least one brass frame for $100 or 150 and this year nothing.

The online sales are not good anymore either. There was a few times a year Cabela's would have a $10% off and free ship offer for purchases over $99 and they haven't had one of those since the buyout.

I use to buy a lot from Cabela's, but since Bass Pro bought them, I've not had much reason to and have bought a lot more from Brownell's and Midway as a result.

Regarding the 10% offers, I still get those all the time. Nothing changed there, maybe they don’t like you.

 

[HorizontalHunter]

I can say for the first time in the 4 years I've watched Cabela's black friday sales, not a single percussion revolver was on sale. They always had at least one brass frame for $100 or 150 and this year nothing.

The online sales are not good anymore either. There was a few times a year Cabela's would have a $10% off and free ship offer for purchases over $99 and they haven't had one of those since the buyout.

I use to buy a lot from Cabela's, but since Bass Pro bought them, I've not had much reason to and have bought a lot more from Brownell's and Midway as a result.

There have been significant changes in the East Hartford store. The bargain cave is gone, some inventory has disappeared or been re-branded, and the sales haven’t been as good IMO.

I go there a lot less. One of the few draws for me is the ammo selection.

Bob

 

[Mark from MA]

I went Sunday for grins and to buy some bird loads, and got a 10 dollar gift card for walking in Hudson, which was nice.... I was out of 12 ga Pheasant loads and bought their last case of #5 Herters. That will last me a few seasons. I see a lot of changes, as far as the Herters shells are going I think they aren't restocking. Which is a shame, because they were decent loads at a decent price.

There is no use buying guns there, unless it's a used gun deal you run across. The new gun sale prices are the everyday internet prices or higher.

I ve got all the clothes, boots, hunting stuff I need for probably the rest of my life. Its the consumables I generally need and they are overpriced for 90 % of that stuff.

 

[Dennis in MA]

the bargain cave was interesting although from perspective of their business no way that thing brought in revenue for the amount of space it occupied. thankfully so far it looks like bass pro hasn't screwed up cabela's too much. i hope it stays that way.

And there is the rub. Everyone wants their little niche of a deal. Bargain cave revenue/sf was low. Papa Gino's wasn't selling enough pizza. Thompson Center wasn't selling many Contenders. Everyone thinks "well, they are selling them, they must be making tons of money."

Somehow it's an evil-empire or some Commie plot that stops them from getting what they want. The reality is that businesses are in the business of business. If they are in the hand-out business, you are part of the entitlement-crowd. Free Markets Forever!

 

[Drix]

And there is the rub. Everyone wants their little niche of a deal. Bargain cave revenue/sf was low. Papa Gino's wasn't selling enough pizza. Thompson Center wasn't selling many Contenders. Everyone thinks "well, they are selling them, they must be making tons of money."

Somehow it's an evil-empire or some Commie plot that stops them from getting what they want. The reality is that businesses are in the business of business. If they are in the hand-out business, you are part of the entitlement-crowd. Free Markets Forever!

Markup on clothes is obscene which is most of what the cave had, in addition yesterday I saw the same pair of columbia pants for $30 in the cave that I bought at TJ's 2 weeks before for $12.

Also, it smells like ass.

 

[RumRunner]

Markup on clothes is obscene which is most of what the cave had, in addition yesterday I saw the same pair of columbia pants for $30 in the cave that I bought at TJ's 2 weeks before for $12.

Also, it smells like ass.

The cave or the pants? If the pants maybe they were used

 

[Dennis in MA]

They have a section for clothes. Now you have double the space instead of other items that might sell better. Or have more selection. I've never seen people stampeding the Bargain Cave. It's a lot of R/E for not a lot of sales. You could stick them on closeout racks throughtout the clothing area. Or sell them to a 3rd-party liquidator like Sierra Trading and get $ without taking ANY floor space.

Back when my girls were yowens, we used to shop a lot at Reruns for Little Ones in Dighton. (Is it even open anymore?). Used kids clothing. It was stacked high and deep. . . . of the CURRENT season. They would take in clothes, but only for the CURRENT season or the NEXT season if it was late enough. No turning in winter coats in May. Not interested.

Think of how often Cabela's has off-season stuff they are STUCK with. Storage, Bargain Cave space, yada yada. Better off closing it.

If it were profitable. . . . .THEY'D KEEP IT!

 

[RumRunner]

I'm sure they run many calculations to make these decisions, so I'm sure this is part of their calculations, but sometimes the profit in something like that is not realized from those sales, but from it bringing in foot traffic that eventually gets other items to sell. That is why those places are at the back of the store so you have to walk past other stuff to get to it.

 

[HorizontalHunter]

I’m sure that they have data Analysis experts to calculate the profit per square foot and make adjustments to maximize profits.

In E. Hartford they replaced it with a housewares for cabins section. I can’t imagine that they will sell a lot of cabin wares in the city but what do I know?

Bob

 

[SpaceCritter]

I’m sure that they have data Analysis experts to calculate the profit per square foot and make adjustments to maximize profits.

In E. Hartford they replaced it with a housewares for cabins section. I can’t imagine that they will sell a lot of cabin wares in the city but what do I know?

Harley-Davidson is known for making much more money selling "gear" than bikes. I'm sure the same principle applies.

 

[RumRunner]

Harley-Davidson is known for making much more money selling "gear" than bikes. I'm sure the same principle applies.

Yes, applies to all retail. Clothing markup is huge. Say they get a shirt made for less than a buck, then sell it for 40 bucks. Even when it's on clearance for half price they are making a huge markup. Of course that is if the clothes are made in a country where they can do that, if made in USA the markup is much less, but still very profitable.

 

[Garys]

According to my wife, who used to work in the fashion retailing business and has taught it in the past, retail markup on clothing is about 50%. Markup on furniture is about 30%. Mark up on guns at most stores is about 10%. I imagine it's much more at a shop like Bass Pro or Cabelas that seems to mostly sell at MSRP.

All I got at Cabela's was some Sig JHP 9mm ammo. The price was good and there is no such thing as too much ammunition.

 

[SpaceCritter]

Yes, applies to all retail. Clothing markup is huge. Say they get a shirt made for less than a buck, then sell it for 40 bucks. Even when it's on clearance for half price they are making a huge markup. Of course that is if the clothes are made in a country where they can do that, if made in USA the markup is much less, but still very profitable.

It isn't just the markup, either. There's a much larger market: those that wish to exhibit the trappings of, versus those who actually DO.

I was discussing similar with friends a few weeks ago: the observation was the number of bike, kayak, ... racks I see on vehicles, without the aforementioned items in said racks. Or if they're there, they do not exhibit any of the typical signs of use.

 

[RumRunner]

It isn't just the markup, either. There's a much larger market: those that wish to exhibit the trappings of, versus those who actually DO.

I was discussing similar with friends a few weeks ago: the observation was the number of bike, kayak, ... racks I see on vehicles, without the aforementioned items in said racks. Or if they're there, they do not exhibit any of the typical signs of use.

LOL, yeah good point. I see a lot of empty roof racks just in my neighborhood that I've never seen anything on. And lots of HD t-shirts on people that don't ride.

 

[RumRunner]

According to my wife, who used to work in the fashion retailing business and has taught it in the past, retail markup on clothing is about 50%. Markup on furniture is about 30%. Mark up on guns at most stores is about 10%. I imagine it's much more at a shop like Bass Pro or Cabelas that seems to mostly sell at MSRP.

All I got at Cabela's was some Sig JHP 9mm ammo. The price was good and there is no such thing as too much ammunition.

Clothing retail markup varies greatly depending on whether the store buys their stuff from a wholesaler or if they have it made themselves. This is why stores push their brands over others, they much a whole lot more on markup of their own stuff. For instance, Sears would get a markup of well over 100% on their clothing brands (Craftsman, Covington, Lands End, etc). They also get a higher markup on other brands where they are contracted for exclusive sale. But items they get from a wholesale distributor (such as Levis, Carhartt, etc.) would be more within the 30-50% average markup. Which is why the sale prices on those are always much lower percentages.