cabelas is discontinuing tractor sales

[Jim Timber]

I got a 2 star review on amazon for one of my products because the customer chose to put it on a gun I never intended it to be used on, never advertised it as fitting, and have personally never shot. 2 stars! "Fit and finish were excellent, but it doesn't work on my unsupported application, so I'm gonna poop on your impeccable reputation because I'm a dink." That's the only one under 4 stars I've ever gotten.

A friend of mine who also made his living on gun accessory products said one of his employees once remarked "This job would be great if we didn't have to deal with customers." :laughing:

 

[roadhunter]

Cabela's is an interesting company. I had the pleasure having them as a customer a number of years ago. You have to wonder about a few things regarding Cabela's.

1-Cabela's is in Sidney, Nebraska. A town of 6000+ people. It is in the middle of no where. Denver is a 2 1/2 hour drive away.
-Who chooses to have a career here? Why? How long do they stay?

2-Cabela's believes it does not competes with BassPro Shops. Yes, Cabela's believes that it does not compete with BassPro Shops.
-They believe that their customer base is very loyal and not the same as though that visit a BassPro shop.

3-They started as an order by catalog company. Retail stores are a relatively new venture in the grand scheme of things.

The first factor probably contributed to why they started selling tractors. I hope they stay around long for a while.

People are like cattle. Some live in feed lots (urban) and others are free range (rural). Just because someone chooses to live away from big cities does not mean there is something wrong with them. Sitting in traffic and living close together is not for everyone. Sidney actually has quite a bit of industrial activity besides Cabelas and is relatively easy to get a good job there.

Cabela's is more focused on Western style hunting and Bass Pro is more focused on Southern style hunting IMO. Sure they cross over but the stores are simply different in some ways. Bass Pro is more of a Wal Mart for hunters and Cabelas carries higher end optics, clothing, boots, etc. geared for the hunter who does not sit in a tree stand over a corn feeder. A Good example is Bass Pro or Redhead branded hunting clothing is simply cheap compared to Cabela's in house hunting clothing, boots, etc.. which is meant to compete with higher end manufacturers like Sitka, UA, Kenetrek, etc..

 

[roadhunter]

My thought was they saw how Northern Tool has been doing this for years and figured they could do the same thing. They have also been successful at selling a variety of boats at their stores, so why not tractors? I think their big mistake was in charging more for their version of the tractor then the dealer did. I guess that might have been part of the arrangement so they didn't hurt the existing dealerships, but most people who buy tractors are going to do a little research first and when you find out that the dealership has the same tractor for less money, it's a no brainer to go to the dealership instead.

I agree. I also think the number of people who enjoy going fishing and the number of people who have enough land to plant a food plot are 2 entirely different numbers. Most folks who live in town have no need for food plots and have no land to start with so tractors have little use to them but many have a boat in the yard, garage, or in storage and access to a lake, river, etc to go fishing.

I see Cabela's tractor experiment very similar to the Bobcat tractor experiment. Both thought it looked promising from a financial standpoint but found that imported tractors were not all that profitable in the end and the damage that selling them did to the reputation of the company simply was not worth it. Not to mention the headache of making marine and motorsport mechanics work on tractors. I think Bobcat was slightly different in that they built a reputation building quality equipment and the Daedong tractor was simply a cheap import compared to thier full blown construction equipment. I also suspect that the demand for Cabelas tractors was somewhat regional so some stores were not participating as much as others, I know Bobcat had the same issue with some dealers not wanting to deal with import tractors.

 

[AuburnAlum]

People are like cattle. Some live in feed lots (urban) and others are free range (rural). Just because someone chooses to live away from big cities does not mean there is something wrong with them. Sitting in traffic and living close together is not for everyone. Sidney actually has quite a bit of industrial activity besides Cabelas and is relatively easy to get a good job there.

Cabela's is more focused on Western style hunting and Bass Pro is more focused on Southern style hunting IMO. Sure they cross over but the stores are simply different in some ways. Bass Pro is more of a Wal Mart for hunters and Cabelas carries higher end optics, clothing, boots, etc. geared for the hunter who does not sit in a tree stand over a corn feeder. A Good example is Bass Pro or Redhead branded hunting clothing is simply cheap compared to Cabela's in house hunting clothing, boots, etc.. which is meant to compete with higher end manufacturers like Sitka, UA, Kenetrek, etc..

People are slightly elevated than cattle. We have choice. Sidney is remote. There is other industry supporting Sidney, but it still is a town of a little more than 6000 people and hours drive from anything larger. I have lived in the largest cities in the US and in the world. I now live in a town little over 5000 folks. I left suburbia years ago to live in the country. Executives that move to Sidney are there to take a temporary approach to life living there. Executives that understand the Retail Industry and have experience are hard to come by and I am sure do not last long term. The other employees I have met there are certainly different to say the least. They have an unusual perspective, to the detriment to Cabela's has been my experience.

With regard to Cabela's competing with BassPro, If they are so confident in their customer base why don't Cabela's ever put a store anywhere close to a BassPro Shop?

 

[roadhunter]

People are slightly elevated than cattle. We have choice. Sidney is remote. There is other industry supporting Sidney, but it still is a town of a little more than 6000 people and hours drive from anything larger. I have lived in the largest cities in the US and in the world. I now live in a town little over 5000 folks. I left suburbia years ago to live in the country. Executives that move to Sidney are there to take a temporary approach to life living there. Executives that understand the Retail Industry and have experience are hard to come by and I am sure do not last long term. The other employees I have met there are certainly different to say the least. They have an unusual perspective, to the detriment to Cabela's has been my experience.

With regard to Cabela's competing with BassPro, If they are so confident in their customer base why don't Cabela's ever put a store anywhere close to a BassPro Shop?

LOL. I know there is a Cabelas and Bass Pro in OKC. Is that close enough?

So again you are making it out that people who are "executives" are above living in Sidney because its' rural but the other "employees" are just "different". Sounds to me like you have an agenda against Cabela's and look down upon people who are just "employees" and not "executives".


it's pretty clear looking at thier location maps where they are focused.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

With regard to Cabela's competing with BassPro, If they are so confident in their customer base why don't Cabela's ever put a store anywhere close to a BassPro Shop?

On the other hand, how come they never put a Bass Pro shop next to a Cabelas????

SR

 

[Rock knocker]

Anyone want to comment on the continuing rumors of Bass Pro purchasing Cabela's? I actually don't believe it, I think it's rumor mongering by those who bought Cabela's high, and are now trying to recoup some of their losses.

 

[4570Man]

On the other hand, how come they never put a Bass Pro shop next to a Cabelas???? SR

It would be stupid for either one. There aren't many stores of either one. I'm pretty sure the closest one to me is in Nashville. So instead of building another store right beside of one wouldn't it make better sense to build it somewhere else?

 

[DT86]

On the other hand, how come they never put a Bass Pro shop next to a Cabelas???? SR

Just throwing this out there.

Bass Pro, Bristol Tn
Cabelas, Bristol Va

About 7 miles apart.

 

[DT86]

One thing I had noticed a while back, Tractorhouse was flooded with Cabelas tractors. They seem to have pulled them all off now.