Gander Mountain
Texans love to hunt, fish and camp and they spend lots of money doing so. It was many years ago the independent sporting goods store was the place where these outdoor Texans would purchase their gear. But along came retail giants of Walmart and K-Mart that took many customers away from the small sporting goods store. These customers were lured away with better pricing of products due to mass purchasing power of these big discount chains. There was a problem though. Many outdoor Texans still wanted service like they had once received in their local sporting goods stores. But price won out as customers chose the stores with the lowest price, rather than the stores with better product inventory and the most knowledgeable sales staff and service.
I remember walking into these old fashioned sporting goods stores as a child. For me it was like walking into Santa’s toyshop. The folks that worked there were experts in the outdoors and they had a smile on their faces when you asked them a question. They were eager to give even a small boy some needed advice. It was a special treat to go to the sporting goods store. Especially for a child that all I wanted to do was to hunt, fish and camp.
As I grew older and decided to make my living in the outdoor television industry, I learned why the old fashioned sporting goods stores have gone away. The hunting, fishing and camping industry is big business and shrewd business decisions are made daily. Many of those key decisions are unfortunately made by folks who (for their lack of actual knowledge of the outdoors) don’t even know the difference between a redfish and a carp. In other words, they don’t know the customer. They know that customers expect good value with their purchase, but today customers want more.
Perhaps that is why so many sporting goods giants are putting outdoor Texans in their crosshairs. Texas is turning into a huge battleground among sporting goods chain stores that are all competing for the sportsman’s dollar. Academy Sports & Outdoors has been a leading retailer of outdoor equipment for years and had the Texas market basically to themselves for quite a while. Then several years ago Bass Pro Shops built two Texas locations and things got interesting. Price wars developed between these stores as they tried to draw the customers to their business. In recent years, the outdoor sporting goods department has begun to be called the “hook and bullet department.”
As these two sporting goods chain stores battled it out for market share, other outdoor retail giants were also focusing in on outdoor Texans. Cabela’s (a sporting goods retailer from the Midwest) is now constructing two new Texas stores that will surely take away some customers. Sportsman’s Warehouse has also slipped in and built a big store in the metroplex area that is catering to outdoorsmen and women. But the battle for sportsman’s dollars doesn’t stop there.
Now Gander Mountain Stores (based out of Minnesota) have opened up three Texas locations that put an interesting spin on the battle for sportsman’s dollars. While other stores mentioned above have a variety of products available for their customers, Gander Mountain only sells hunting, fishing and camping gear. That’s it. You won’t find tennis rackets or footballs. Gander Mountain stores are located in Corsicana, Amarillo and Houston.
I recently slipped into a Gander Mountain store to see for myself exactly how a major retailer is going to compete in an already heavy competitive market. The feeling I got when I walked into the store felt familiar, like when I was a kid. The entire place was nothing except outdoor gear and lots of it. There were bulletin boards near the doors with their competitors advertisements displayed and a sign that said that Gander would beat any advertised price on any item. Every employee was as easy to find as a hunter on a mountainside in Colorado. They were wearing hunters orange vests. It was enjoyable to try to find one of these staff members in the hunting and fishing department that couldn’t answer one of my questions.
I asked to see the new Savage Accu-Trigger rifle and was taken to a gun department with thousands of firearms on display. I was shown how this trigger worked and found out that Gander Mountain even takes used guns in on trade. I wandered over to the archery department and in minutes found myself trying out a new bow that was equipped with the new Matrix sight I’d been thinking about buying. Next, I was shocked to find all kinds of extreme cold weather gear that will actually keep a hunter warm, even in the coldest of weather. Typically, most Texas stores don’t carry any of this gear because they don’t have enough of a demand for the product.
My plans were only to check out what this new sporting goods store was about. Not to buy anything. But by now, I had spent three hours in the new store and had a cart full of things I didn’t even know I needed. While paying for my new toys, I noticed several huge signs at the cash register area that listed different daily events for customers. This is a free service that actually gives customers hands on experience and knowledge of how certain products work. I made note of the turkey frying session and plan on learning how to cook our holiday bird a new way.
With Christmas right around the corner, the consumer looking to purchase outdoor gear will have a better selection than ever before. The way I see it, let the “hook and bullet” war get underway in Texas. It can only be a great thing for all Texans that love to hunt, fish and camp.