Won't be shopping at Cabela's anymore.

First visit to Bass Pro was years ago while at a conference in DFW. Cool setup, nice museum display of classic firearms. Stood at the gun counter directly opposite two employees that were chatting, had to speak up before they looked my way.

Bass Pro opened up near me years later, same experience. A friend came out of retirement to be their maintenance supervisor, he said they had the worst morale of anywhere he had ever worked.

Cabela's

25 years ago, I worked for Cabela's and was on the management team that opened their then, largest store. I also had the chance to work the opening of the store in Mitchell, SD.

That was at a time when the company was still owned by Dick and Jim Cabela. They were truly wonderful people and as down to earth as you could possibly imagine.

One thing that stuck with me was their unwavering desire to make sure they were 100% authentic with their customers. A could of examples, when they built the store in Owatonna, MN they put a fireplace in the mezzanine in the back of the store. Due to the weight that had to use fake fieldstones... the family actually thought about not installing it as they felt it wasn't true.

Our store had 17 semi-loads of taxidermy on display. The store in Mitchell had a display in the front of the store with the top 5 or 6 largest whitetail deer ever taken. The capes were real but the antlers we replicas... this bothered the family so much they made a serious effort to buy all of the original mounts. I shudder to think what that would have cost (I know how much they spent on the taxidermy in our store, and it was shocking to me).

When the brothers were looking to buy land in Michigan, they found a spot right off the interstate and asked their agent if they had talked with the owner. The agent told them that the owner hated developers and had no intention of selling. The brothers asked if they could stop and talk with him. The agent took them to the old farmhouse, and they knocked on the door. The brothers introduced themselves and asked if they could talk with the owner. The owner invited them in, and they had a nice visit. At the end the owner agreed to sell.

Want to know why he agreed to finally sell his land? Turns out that years earlier he bought a pair of boots from Cabela’s and wore them on the farm, at work, etc. and they eventually wore out. He then sent them back just so the company could see how they performed over the years, he was not asking for a replacement. He got his use out of them and was just sending them back. Turns out the company sent him a brand-new pair of boots with no questions asked.

He said that stuck in his mind and their dedication to their customer was the only reason he invited them in and agreed to talk with them. To me, that story perfectly sums up Dick, Mary and Jim Cabela. They were amazing people.

However, with no heir to take over the company they went public then merged with Bass Pro. I’ve never had a bad issue with Bass Pro, but the culture is very different. That said, the company I knew ceased to exist a long time ago…. There was nothing quite like the thrill of opening a 220,000 sq ft retail store and having 6,000,000 come through your front door in the first year.

I think one of the largest if not the largest Cabela's is in Hamburg Pa . I drop in there several times a year to look around.
I've purchased a number of firearms from them over the years at what were pretty good prices .
Their ammo prices are pretty high but then I normally buy on line anyways.
I usually spend an hour or more looking around and enjoy my visit there.

Empe said:

I think one of the largest if not the largest Cabela's is in Hamburg Pa . I drop in there several times a year.

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Hamburg was the last (and largest) of the destination stores. At the time they were building those they knew that each store drew from a 400 mile radius so they didn't want them stacked on top of each other.

I like BassPro, we have had one locally for almost 30 years. In 2004 they had WWB 9mm ball for $3.88/box 50. About broke my S-10 carrying 13,500 rds back to the house. After tax it was a little over $1k on the CC. Come to think of it I can't remember buying anything there since. Joe

We were given Redhead thick waders in 2000 during the Timber Hunt 2000.
At about twenty years, one of the seams' stitching became a little loose. Gorilla Glue fixed that. In 2025, I donated them to Goodwill. Bass Pro had a sale going, I was told, and I was lucky enough to find a nice pair of waders
at 600 grams instead of 800 grams to please my preferences. They were made by Northern Flight, and I'm impressed so far. If I find something that passes my scrutiny for the cold, wet outdoors? I buy it and try it. 30 days return policy, except guns and ammo, etc. Guess I grew up getting what I could find and was happy to have it.

There’s a BP about a mile from where I work. I don’t shop there often, but it is convenient to buy some items and then do the curb side pickup. You can get some pretty good deals around Christmas…what I do is buy the Christmas gift cards at the advertised 10% discount and they tack on my 10% Veterans discount. They can’t be used until the day after Christmas, IIRC, but that’s when the after Christmas sales kick in. So look for a good sale on an item you want, use the Veterans discount, and Viola! A rather convoluted way of saving up to 50% or so. I’ve actually got some good deals on powder and bullets that way.

I’ve mail ordered from Cabela’s before, but I’ve never actually set foot in a brick and mortar one, so I can’t opine on the changes.

Narragansett said:

I have a Bass Pro here in Humidity, GA. I go there on occasion. The customer service is great. They got me a resident fishing license when I was transitioning here.

So far my only complaint is that the Uncle Bucks, jerky is nasty. It is ground up and formed into a strip with a mealy texture. Thankfully, I have a meat market nearby that makes jerky.

Cabela had home made fudge. Great stuff!

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I have homemade fudge also, but you wouldn't want to eat it.

Yes, at one time "Our" Cabela's had a food area, where you could order from Bison to Osterich meat for lunch as well as the candy store and it's goodies.
Those are now gone, for more floor space for sweat shirts and shoes.

I am waiting for the fish tanks to go, next,

to make room for a "Make up", perfume, beauty parlor !!

In the late 1970s, I bought my father a very warm down parka from Cabela's (mail ordered from a paper catalog). He passed away about ten years later, but I'm still wearing that parka!

The only big box outdoor store I go to anymore is Scheels. Cabelas/BP has turned into a joke around here.

rbrbrb6 said:

The only big box outdoor store I go to anymore is Scheels. Cabelas/BP has turned into a joke around here.

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Same here. I go to Scheels and drive by Cabelas.

There's one Cabelas/Bass Pro Shop in the metro area here, and I refuse to shop there. Bought a pistol there a few years ago and the gun manager tried conducting an illegal investigation on me before handing it over. I passed the state check, and he began asking me questions like, "Do you know this person?" "How do I know this gun really is for you?" etc. This was in OR, and I'd already been approved by OSP (who does our checks). Even if I hadn't been approved the state cops wouldn't be asking me questions through a store manager, it would've been a no, end of story. I reported the manager's actions to the OSP, ATF and corporate. Never stepped in there again.

Back in the early '70s the Cabelas catalog was a small, folded and stapled affair. Maybe 5" x 10", but full of stuff with great prices. I bought bullet molds, reloading dies, fishing rod blanks, a sleeping bag and numerous small items. When the catalog went to a larger , bound version, the basic outdoor stuff took second place to over priced clothing, outdoor themed home furnishings and repetitious fishing gear, and prices were no longer a bargain. They lost sight of their original business model. I've been to the Hamburg, Pa store and it simply not worth the trip. Plus the food is terrible. I guess I just long for the old days and my youth.

John

TIMETRIPPER said:

Back in the early '70s the Cabelas catalog was a small, folded and stapled affair. Maybe 5" x 10", but full of stuff with great prices. I bought bullet molds, reloading dies, fishing rod blanks, a sleeping bag and numerous small items. When the catalog went to a larger , bound version, the basic outdoor stuff took second place to over priced clothing, outdoor themed home furnishings and repetitious fishing gear, and prices were no longer a bargain. They lost sight of their original business model. I've been to the Hamburg, Pa store and it simply not worth the trip. Plus the food is terrible. I guess I just long for the old days and my youth.

John

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I'd settle for my youth.