Not sure how Gander Mt. stays in business ...

[mc5aw]

Stopped by to window shop the GM in the Lycoming County Mall in PA, and was rather amused by their firearms pricing. I hadn't been into a GM for at least a year +, but the massive firearms section was every bit of high suggested retail. I saw a NIB S&W TR 325 tagged at $1325 and a NIB Ruger Alaskan for $999 (neither price is inclusive of PA sales tax) which is at least $100-200 higher than can be had from legit FFLs online or in my local area. The used section was beyond over-priced, with most offerings leaving me shaking my head with sticker shock. As to ammo, there were dozens of cases of Lake City .223/5.56 on the floor, but nary a round of .22 to be found. Ammo prices were equally high retail, and firearms accessories were just as ridiculously priced.

Does anyone here buy firearms, ammo, or accessories at GM? I can't understand how the chain competes with WMart, Cabelas, Bass Pro, or the numerous vendors online.

 

[Mydogmax]

The only thing I could think of is impulse buyers. They see it and have to have it now. I do understand that they have overhead, but their prices for firearms are way too high. Simply put, I'll buy elsewhere.

 

[chud333]

They are opening a new store about 15 miles from me on the 20th
of this month and i don't have the least bit of enthusiasm about it
being the only Mega-retailer for guns remotely close to me.
They are always way over priced on about all their stuff.
I'll probably visit just to see if there might be any good deals on the ammo for "Grand Opening" special the first week.
After that i'll continue to haunt the three small local shops who i can
depend on to have ammo and guns at "fair" prices.


Chuck

 

[kozmic]

I have gotten some pretty good used deals at GM (after haggling). I found ammo there when no one else had it (even on line) and it was in line with what other GS charged when in stock. Their sale prices on ammo are competitive.

That said, they remodeled recently and I haven't seen anything there that has been priced right since. And they seem to want to hold firm on their pricing now (which is insane).

 

[oldillini]

Do I buy from Gander? Yes, I have. Do I regularly? No. Last couple things I got from them was some clothing that was on close-out. Don't mind going there to look though. Can check things out before I go on-line.

 

[SW_shooter]

We have a new GM opening nearby in the next few days I think. I've been to other GMs in the metro area and found they seem to be a lesser imitation of BassPro and Cabelers.

Having said that I believe the buyers will determine whether or not they stay in business. If people are willing to pay then can you blame the retailer for sticking a higher price on their merchandise?

If they have something I want and I want it bad enough and I can justify it to myself then they'll get some of my money too.

 

[sophie]

Our Gander Mountain here is always higher on firearms, ammo, knives, and camping equipment. I don't know how they stay in business. When they do have their flier sales they never have what they have advertised in the way of ammo. Academy and Wally World just beat the socks of of them when it comes to ammo.

 

[moosedog]

I'm with you brother. They have some of the most uninformed sales people on the planet.

 

[Zipdog]

When our local one opened they had good pricing on used firearms. Didn't take long for them to switch to insane pricing on used items. Everthing else is just plain stupid pricing. I said I'd never go back there. Well broke my promise on that when one day I was driving by and was just about to mess my pants, so stopped and used their rest room. They do have nice rest rooms. Guys around here call them " Gander Over the Top Mountain ".

 

[chief38]

I have bought a few items from GM but only by mail order. I have never been in one of their stores (none around here) so I have no personal experience with the retail aspect.

In general, two type of businesses seem to thrive now days.......

A) The Discount store that sells everything cheap but has limited selection of high quality merchandise and operates on cheap prices primarily.

B) The high end, well stocked, high priced businesses. Their prices are usually sky high, but they always seem to have their share (and more) of high quality pristine merchandise.

Having never been in one of their retail stores I do not know if they fit into the B scenario.

 

[JohnSW]

.. I can't understand how the chain competes with WMart, Cabelas, Bass Pro,...

Location is one factor. None of those competing stores is near my local Gander Mountain.

(WMart is within a drivable distance, but when they had empty shelves, GM had [expensive] ammo available.)

GM is a private company, so they don't have to reveal their financial results. It seems that many bricks-and-mortar retailers are having problems.

 

[CoMF]

Funny you should mention this. My latest visit to "Bubba Moun'n" revealed that they do, in fact, have .22 LR in stock. 50-count boxes of Federal Champion to be exact. The price? A jaw-dropping $24 per box.

I just laughed at the clerk and politely told him I'll pass.

 

[Marshwheeling]

My local GM has had .22lr intermittently throughout the shortage, sometimes extravagantly priced, sometimes quite reasonably. When the price has been good, I have bought some. I have bought a few other things there, a couple of knives, and most notably, a couple of good pairs of shoes on sale.

I have noticed though that it is never busy. In stark contrast, a new Cabela's opened this week a couple of miles away in the same suburb. Since they opened on Tuesday, their parking lots have been overflowing.

Whether that will kill off this GM store remains to be seen, although it is hard to see how their traffic could sink any lower. I have felt they were circling the drain for at least the past couple of years.

Incidentally, the gun library at Cabela's has had some interesting stuff, like a decent-looking model 64 for $259. I got to handle a Remington 51 ($499), a real one, not the new one, just to check out the claims about the outstanding ergos. It felt okay, but perhaps I expected too much after reading so much about it here. I also handled a very nice belgian HP, a little rich for my blood at $999. It had been about 35 years since the last time I had my hands on a High Power. There was a lot of other cool stuff that I have never seen in the flesh, like a couple of Colt 1903s.

Since this is a new store, I gathered that a lot of this stock was from other stores; if a guy actually wanted to buy something he might have to travel to the other store to pick it up.

 

[Irn-Bru]

Places like GM and Cabelas cater to noob buyers. A lot of smaller gun stores can come across as intimidating and put these buyers off.

 

[greevestim]

Gander Mountain

I live in southeast Missouri and GM opened their first store in Missouri in a St Louis suburb. They have a good selection of things and they did have a few nice 3rd gen Smiths. The 5906's 469's, 669's were in the high $300 range. A mom and pop dealer just down the road put a big ad in the local mullet wrapper advertising lower prices.

The local Bass Pro shop has a no firearm policy where you must check in your handgun before shopping. I don't like this policy at B/P. So I will shop B/P just because of that but not buy there generally unless they have a good deal.

I was in G/M in Burnsville Mn over Christmas and found a great deal there. Some ungrateful grandson had just traded his grandfather collection of Marlin 39a's on snow gear. I bought 3 Marlin Mounties for 250.00 each and 2 pistol grip 39a's and one
Marlin 39a take down for 275.00. All were excellent to mint.

The G/M was a hassle because I was out of state though legal and I had to wait about an hour for staff to determine that I was within the law. Anyhow, I received a great deal at G/M.

Bottom line, I did get a good deal at G/M but like any other box stores, you just have to do comparative shopping and not exclude any joint.

 

[Brian41]

I sometimes stop in at GM to look and sometimes find bargains on discounted merchandise usually out of season. I don't mind buying a parka in spring for the next winter either at a good price.
I have paid their high retail at times for stuff I wanted right then and they had it but only one firearm and that was because I had an in store voucher for an exchange I'd made. That was a T/C Omega that was priced maybe fifty dollars high.
We have LGSs that sell guns for much better prices and that's where I usually shop for them.

 

[Exiled Cheesehead]

Got To Agree

Got to Agree with the OP on this one about how GM stays open? Have had the same thought my self over the years whenever I feel the need to wander through aisle after aisle of overpriced items. The only deal I ever got at GM was before the "panic" when they had a $5 rebate on the blue 525 packs of Federal .22LR ammo priced at $19.99. Glad I stocked up that day for the price of $0.031 per round including tax. Otherwise, the only reason I ever go into the place is to look at something in person before buying it somewhere else for a "normal" price.

 

[yeti]

I have picked up some very good deals on quality hunting clothing/outerwear at GM. Also... great tackle and fishing gear deals too. When they have a clearance sale it is usually pretty good.

Ammo is always overpriced and firearms are too high, unless listed in a sale flyer.

 

[blujax01]

When I walked into Gander Mountain, the first thing I noticed was that 80% of their floor space is clothes and shoes. They reminded me very much of Dick's.

 

[GerSan69]

I think stores like Gander cater to the people with more money than sense... the ones that think a higher price means higher quality. It's the same crowd that buys the name on a label.