Camping World Wins Auction for Gander Mountain

[Mr Havercamp]

Originally Posted by BamaBob

X2 - what Tim said.

We had a Gander Mtn here in HSV, and every other sports store in town beat their prices by a country mile. And their gun prices? OMG most of the time almost twice the price on most gun dealers in town.

Camping world it turning into the Borg - not sure what the RV sales industry is going to look like in 5 years

http://rvdailyreport.com/industry/ca...untain-stores/

Anyone want to bet that out of the 70 locations mentioned the ones the Evil Sith, Emperor Marcus Eralius Augustus Tiberious Lemonis, decides to integrate the Camping World deathstars alongside, will be in markets the Empire has been unable to assimilate the independent / mom and pop dealerships into the collective LOL.

[SidecarFlip]

I've bought a few items at GM in the past, I bought a 17 HMR Savage on sale and a shooting cube for bow and both were very competitive price wise. In fact, GM matched the Bass Pro sale price on the 17, no problem, no questions asked.

I tend to buy my firearms from a friend who owns a gun shop. His prices may be a little but higher than the big boys but I believe in supporting small business, I own one...

[KingFisher]

Originally Posted by si camper

Read in a local paper that CW is going to keep 17 GM stores open and the one in Marion, IL is one of the 17. The GM in Marion sits along the interstate and I wonder if it won't be some type of CW satellite store.

I live in the country 5 miles south of Marion, IL.

Wife and I went to Gander Mountain in Marion once after it opened. They didn't have much and what they did have was higher priced than anywhere else. When I drive by there the parking lot is always about empty.

I was shocked when I read it was one of the stores that's staying open.

[Mountndream]

Originally Posted by KingFisher

I live in the country 5 miles south of Marion, IL.

Wife and I went to Gander Mountain in Marion once after it opened. They didn't have much and what they did have was higher priced than anywhere else. When I drive by there the parking lot is always about empty.

I was shocked when I read it was one of the stores that's staying open.

As SICamper said, Location, Location, Location.

DW and I drive by this one all the time when heading to Ferne Clyffe. There doesn't seem to be alot of competition in the area if they open a trailer sales location.

[Radio]

Before Gander went under, I had visited 2 stores locally. Once I bought a bolt action .22 rifle. Once I bought a pair of those wonderful house brand rocking chairs that beat everything else out there for comfort. And once we bought a replacement air mattress for the camper.

The quality of customer care I received was outstanding - from every associate I encountered in every store. However, on all occasions I was in and out on a single minded mission and really didn't look around much.

This week I visited 2 stores in search of bargains. One slated to be closed. The other not. The one closing was sort of a mess. That figures. Even the fixtures are for sale. The other store (Newnan, GA) was neat, orderly and well staffed. And full of customers buying stuff that wasn't marked down all that much. Marcus is making his turnaround, and he's starting now.

I did take a good, slow look around. I found a lot of high priced stuff I really didn't want. A lot of it cute, nice things that I really didn't need. Clothing, dishes, housewares, stuff. No backpacking or river sports stuff. Someone said "Stuff for people who want to look outdoors but not go outdoors" And the prices were high. I see why Marcus didn't buy the inventory. Smart.

So between the two stores I got a few things.

A zippered case for a .22 I have had 40 years. $12
A 7 gallon potable water can that looks like a gas can only it's blue. $15
A BBQ grill brush. $6 (it's nice, really) A replacement pot handle. $3
A pair of hiking pants with zip off legs. (paid too much)
A pair of shoes called "mocs" that are like all-terrain house shoes. (paid a little too much)

I wanted 2 more rockers and a cast iron griddle, but they were already gone.

So now I wait a few weeks for the prices to come down some more. And then I'll go buy a tent for my son (who never reads FRF) for his birthday. They had plenty of tents.

There are a few bargains there. A lot of neat stuff like chairs, cast iron, cots, sleeping bags and so on are leaving quick, (or already gone) especially from the closing stores.

Last I heard, 70 stores will survive. It will be interesting to see what "Gander Outdoors" will be like.

[rockfordroo]

I went to our going-out-of-business GM about a week ago. I don't think they are yet serious about getting rid of inventory. Clothes were 30% off and everything else was 10% off. Basically about what you can do on-line.

[Coolharts]

Does anybody know what is going to happen to Overtons? I shop in their Raleigh store and the people are nice.


I was in a West Marine yesterday (not in NC) and the manager said Overtons employees are sending in resumes.

[dbarr]

Springfield,IL....Gander RV Sales coming soon.

[tdiller]

Originally Posted by Wobbles

What this means to an RV'er I cannot say. I am just wondering about the CW sentiment that other members have expressed. There have been a lot of negative comments about CW.

Camping World Wins Auction for Gander Mountain | RV Business

I was just in one of the new Gander Outdoor stores last weekend. Basically a camping word store with guns, archery, and fishing equipment.

[Chief T]

I'll admin that I've been to CW a couple times, only because they send me a sizable coupon in the mail with no minimum purchase. So I get the one thing I need for a good price.

Never been to GM; think I drove by one in Amarillo during my travels.

A Cabela's opened in town last year, but haven't been to yet.

What I am looking forward to is Tractor Supply Co. is opening a store in town.

Safe and happy travels.

[Coolharts]

Tractor Supply is a great store!

They closed the Overton's in Raleigh, for my boat I now go to West Marine.

I let my Camping World membership lapse, I don't like their business practices.