Interesting article on Cabela's

[BE Mike]

Funny the things that pop back in your mind. I ate my first Aunt Jemima pancake at a Piggly Wiggly at around age 7 or 8 in Farwell, Texas, 1957 or '58. They had just came out with the product and Piggly Wiggly was having a demonstration. I was overly impressed apparently. I don't think Piggly Wiggly is in Texas anymore. Sorry to hear about Cabellas.

Yep, H.E.B. is pretty much without competition in Texas now, except for Walmart. I remember the little Piggly Wiggly in Del Rio.

 

[Bill Bates]

Cabela's financial condition if you read annual and quarterly reports is pretty darn good. Their commercial bank is doing more than well. They own most of their buildings and a fair share of the real estate they sit on. It has always been run fairly conservatively. Their balance sheet looks pretty darn good to me.

There is no question the family has slowly stepped away from day to day management since going public in 2004. At their age I would being doing the same thing.

Since 2015 the current management has been entertaining various plans to selling some of and maybe all of the company. They may also decide to not sell. Only they know at this point. I suspect the commercial bank is one asset with more than a few interested buyers. Cabelas is the last major retailer still owning their own commercial bank and its related company named credit card.

Trust me wondering about Cabela's future does make the job interesting. Those that know what the future will bring are pretty darn tight lipped. I'm pretty sure sale or no sale those 80 some odd retail stores will be selling about the same product mix with or without the Cabela's sign on the buildings changing.

For sure they aren't going belly up anytime soon.

Of course I'm a bit like a mushroom, kept in the dark. I do read their annual reports and the financial news. For sure I can't and don't talk for the company.

 

[JH1951]

My closest Cabela's is in Hamburg, PA. It's over an hour drive for me, but the location capitalizes on being a reasonable drive from several metropolitan areas in PA, as well as NJ and NY. Honestly, at first Hamburg seemed like a strange choice, but they knew what they were doing. The store went up in a location that had very little to offer other than an Interstate exit and a fast food joint and a jewelry store. Fast forward a decade or so, and this place is a 'destination'! There are so many stores and places to eat that I lost count trying to determine what all is there now. The Cabela's parking lot is the hub from which many enterprises do a brisk business. It is unrecognizable from what it started out as. Cabela's is the reason for all of the growth in business, and a huge amount of employment opportunity that would otherwise not exist. The traffic to Cabela's makes it all possible. So, think for a moment, if Cabela's closes, the 'destination' ceases to exist and many of the businesses that capitalize on the traffic will likely fold. I don't know about other Cabela's locations, but closing this one would have far reaching negative impact on the Hamburg area. That's how I see it from an hour or so away. It's my observation and maybe someone who knows more about this can add something meaningful that I have not considered.

 

[41]

These are troubled times. The economy is the worst it has been in over 60 years according to Robert Elliott. The 10-Year Growth Rate of Real Per-Capita GDP is .44 percent.

Evidence: "The American Economy Has Slowed to a Crawl": Elliott Wave International

Several years ago, Cabela's closed out the Elmer Keith Museum in Boise and sold off all his guns.

Legendary Writer Elmer Keith's Guns to be Auctioned | Field & Stream

 

[Bill Bates]

The few Keith guns displayed in the Boise Cabela's location were only on loan to Cabela's.
Elmer Keith Gun Collection Up for Auction - Guns & Ammo

 

[crsides]

Our Piggly Wiggle, Harris Teeter, and Big Star stores were all bought out by a conglomerate headed by none other than Dolly Parton. All stores will remain open under the brand Big Wiggly Teeters store.

Yeah, I know.

Charlie