Amazed at price difference

[SavageSmoker]

I live in the Minneapolis/St Paul area in MN. Not too far from me is a Gander Mountain that I frequent from time to time and recently I have purchased a few firearms from them. They started and are still headquartered in MN so I like to support local business. Directly across the freeway from Gander is a Fleet Farm store that has a small fire arms department. Recently I was out buying some handgun ammo with my neighbor and we hit both places. I was amazed at the price difference for being so close to one another. For instance, a 20 round box of Hornady CD .40cal ammo at Gander was $27.99. The same thing at Fleet Farm was $18.99. A 250 round box of Blazer gold .40 target load at Gander was $99.99, at Fleet Farm it was $84.99. Clearly Fleet Farm has the least expensive ammo in our metro area and I know where I will be doing my ammo shopping from now on. Just wanted to throw thisnoutnthere for anyone who might be close to a Fleet Farm. Great prices!

 

[ArchAngelCD]

For some reason over the past few years Gander Mountain has had extremely high ammo prices, no matter who is near them with lower prices.

Short story, I was at my local Gander Mountain about a year ago. One of the salesmen bought a 40 Cal pistol and was going to buy a box of ammo to go with it. Another salesman told him he could get the same ammo cheaper down the road even with their employee's discount. How bad is it when a worker with a discount can get ammo cheaper from a different store?

I have bought very little at Gander Mountain over the past 3 years because of their out of line prices. When they have end of season sales sometimes things are worth buying but no other times... It's not just you, it's them!!!

 

[nossew]

When Gander has an ammo "Sale" that means it is marked down to about 10% more than any other store's price.

 

[rromeo]

Gander Mountain opened a store just outside of Richmond, VA. The locals were upset because the store was literally around the corner from a locally owned store that had been around for 60+ years. Well, 3 years later and Gander Mountain has closed up shop.

 

[patbelly]

Yup, Green Top is moving into that building because it's bigger. Is Green Top the locally owned store you were talking about???

 

[rromeo]

Yes. Green Top is the one.

 

[patbelly]

Thanks. Sold a couple guns at Gander Mountain and bought a new one at Green Top the same day. Still expensive but they gave me a discount for being retired military.

 

[SavageSmoker]

Like I said, Gander is a Minnesota business (where I live) and I try my hardest to support the locals but, dang, they make it hard. Guess I will be spending my $$$ at the "local" Fleet Farm, at least for ammo.

Like Gander or not, when stores close it means people loose their jobs. Hopefully the local outdoor industry was able to absorb some of the workforce. Gander sure makes it hard for me to support them. Good thing I have other local options...just not as close.

 

[RevDerb]

Didn't I read recently that Gander Mountain is now under new management and becoming much more competitive in many areas?

 

[MichiganScott]

What amazes me is that Gander can sell ammo at the prices they charge. They are about the only place that had ammunition after the last election. Small wonder.

 

[mbliss57]

We have a Gander Mountain in our area (Cleveland) and they are very high on both guns and ammo. I ried to deal on a used model 15 a couple of months ago...they were at least $100 too high. When I asked the sales guy if he had room to work with the price I was told their prices are set and they don't deal...ever. Whether that is true on every store I don't know but I have not been back there since.

 

[Buckey08]

Used to spend some money at Gander, then they took my business for granted thinking that price don't matter. Haven't been back, how do you think that's working for them. Best friend works for Gander and was talking to one of the owners/ investors ,seems like the guy had no clue about used guns, ammo prices or what makes people keep coming back as customers.

 

[Martimus]

Gander Mtn, like Cabela's, and Bass Pro have a lot of overhead costs that they need to recoup. And since their stockholders want to see positive performance they typically spread their costs across the entire chain to reduce the impact that a single poorly performing store might have. This tends to drive up costs since each store is no longer self supporting...

This is one of the many reasons why I tend to prefer supporting local small businesses whenever possible.

 

[Engineer1911]

Is Farm & Fleet cheaper? Old Wisconsin boys want to know? The big 3 gun shops: Herter's, Fleet Farm, or Farm & Fleet.

 

[S&WOkie]

I haven't been impressed with any of the big name sporting goods stores.

I could do without them all.

 

[mbliss57]

I too prefer to deal with the small LGSs, and FTF sales. Luckily for me I have 4 LGS with 2 employees or less and 2 with about 10 employees within a 15 mile radius. GM is not included in that count. There are also 3 Pawn shops I can visit within a few miles as well.

 

[baccusboy]

The.local small gun shops in Iowa are often cheaper than big box stores, but they are so paranoid of Liberals in charge of Des Moines/Polk County that they make buying from them difficult. Long story, but I ended up spending more at a big-box store because they at least knew the laws and what sales were legally allowed.