I'll begin this discussion in saying I hate to shop. I'm the type of person who knows exactly what he wants goes straight to the department. Pick it up and head out the door.

I usually call the store ahead of time to set the items aside under my name and keep it at the customer counter (yes, 90% of all retail stores will do just that). Today, I didn't do my usual and was left wasting gas, which is uber cheap right now (note sarcasim) and two different departments telling me they can order what I want or I can go to their website. ARGH!!!

My only other place that I would "shop" as most people call it, is in Cabela's basement items. These are unique to each store depending on what items are returned or used by employee's of the store. I can usually land a treasure of some sort. Not this trip.

So from now on. On Line Shopping will be my method.

Nothing against the store. I just needed to vent!

Price of gas......fighting crowds.....rude or no sales help...

I'm with you on this one!!!

I can fully understand. My nearest one is 170 miles away. Last summer I drove there looking for several items which I had seen in the catalog. I was told that those were catalog items only.

I left empty handed and don't plan to return. Besides Bass Pro is much closer and friendlier.

i'm with you on that,i live at lake whitney and it's just not worth the time to go shop basspro or cabelas when i can online it....rick

guys, i understand your frustration, but you guys are not making it any easier on the folks that work retail. This type of shopping will only drive prices higher, not lower. I have worked retail for 30 years, and love interacting with guests. we are in the people business, and for the most part, i think cabela's and bass pro do an outstanding job with guest service. as far as calling ahead and having them hold products at guest service, because you don't want to go thru the store to get them, is crazy. are you that strapped for time, that you can't get the products on your own?? i just don't get it. not trying to start anything, but the economy is headed for a recession, and consumers, if cutting back, will make it worse. i understand that buying gas sucks right now, but let's all be careful how we approach this thing. it could get a whole lot worse.
just my 2 cents

A couple of weeks ago I lost an anchor. It got badly snagged and had to cut it loose. I went to Cabelas and picked one up for $40. Having time to kill and surfing the forums I noticed folks recommending "Academy". I did a google search and found that my nearest one is less than 3 miles for my house (doh!). I visited them on Friday and found an identical anchor for $19. I also seem to see that they have great selections and the prices seem good. I am in no way anti Cabelas or pro Academy ... just a consumer opinion and based on the proximity, it will now be Academy all the time for me. Previously I used to haunt Walmart for those odds and ends ... but not any more.

Neil

I think your missing the point Trout. I call because I don't want to drive a distance to find out they are out of a product that they advertise to have in stock. I call because I need for them to hold it because if you don't tell the sales (knowledgeless) employee if they dont go over and actually LOOK and see if the product is actaully there you'll get this...DUH I think we have it. Which the natural response is "Well can you trouble yourself to go and look"! Now since you have been in retail for so long you know a consumers biggest PEVEE is to be told they have it, you go and they don't!
Which brings me to the next question, How does shopping on the internet hurt. Isn't that why Cabellas has a website. Isn't that why they advertise you can order and have it sent to the store to save the shipping charges.
I always call any place to find the part, piece, product and ask them to hold it because I'm on the way. And yes my time is valuable...to me.

Kolban, I'm with you on Academy, as I've been going there more & more often. They did go above & beyond one time which has earned my continued business:

I'd stocked up with ten gallons of Citgo 2-cycle oil, since they had it at $7.99/gallon & I figure the price will only go up. FOUR DAYS later, their new ad showed the oil on sale for $6.99. Went in to the store with my receipt, telling the cashier that if I'd known the item would be on sale cheaper, I'd have waited the few days. They refunded the difference, no questions asked.

My other return experiences have been similar, so long as I have my receipt.

Trout Bum - as most people I also spent my time in retail and i fully understand the importance of in store sales. there are so many customers who come to a store intending to buy only one or two products but leave having spent half their pay check. that is reason A). why i call ahead. B). to make sure this isn't a wasted trip. C). like i stated above i just hate shopping in general.

EVV59 - internet sales does effect/affect the local business. what wal-mart did to the local mom and pop shops. the internet does to warehouse style retail like Bass Pro and Cabellas. Most retail department is usually pushed to make a bottom line at the end of the day. When they miss the mark they don't lose any money but it does equal a loss in sale at that particular department and eventually the overall store.

Zeek The Greek - Academy is "hands down" half the cost of BPS and Cabela's. I was needing a drift sock badly but didn't want to spend 40+ bucks for one. I went to academy with a friend to pick up some baseball gear and I wandered over to the boat section and found the same size drift sock for right around 20.00...

Again, I have nothing against the store. I went home and ordered what I needed from Cabela's online store. I was just venting....

i go right past academy on my way to the vine so some times i stop there else i go tobass while at the vine cause it is down the road from where i fish

ever since i scan thru cabelas catalogue prices some 2o years ago i have never had the desire to trade with them .im sorry but i dont have extra money to throw away .there isnt anything there or at bps that will make me a better fisherman that academy and walmart dont have . my 2 cents .

I said the same thing to BPS a year ago. Cabela's bargain Cave is now my home away from home.

Thats why I shop via catalogue with cabelas

Ill go only if my gf wants to look at the fish

Well if it is a fishing and or hunting store I'll walk right in the front door. If they don't have what I'm looking for then they just don't have it. I can always find something to buy in a fishing store to make my trip worth going. As for the sales people inside, everyone needs a job and if I know what I want then I don't need them to take me by the hand to it. No matter how knowledgeable they are if you ask for help they will do their best are find someone who can, in most cases. There is an Academy Store just a few minutes from my house. Bass Pro and Cabela's in the DFW area are both over a two hour drive for. I hardly ever pass up a chance to go wheather I need something are not.

My first experience with Academy was in Texas City, there were only a few stores in the Houston area back then. It was really a small operation, but great people. I have been a loyal customer since then.
I will only go to those other two places if I have time and money to blow, or if they are having a sale on a particular item. Otherwise I stick with Academy.
As far as Internet sales, I really dont get into that. My business is affected by it, due to people thinking they can get stuff cheaper on the net, then they cant figure out how it works so they call companies like mine and expect us to tell them how to install it,or explain what they're doing wrong, for free!
MHO

the internet does hurt businesses. i have a service and parts shop for atv's. people come in all the time asking prices and bunches of questions. then the next time i see them, they brag about how they found the same stuff for cheaper on the internet, but when you ask "how much did you pay in shipping?" the response usually equals the price i could have sold them product anyways.

The internet hurts other people's business just as new outlets hurt other people's business, but it's called capitalism for a reason. Someone is getting paid keeping the website updated, someone is getting paid shipping merchandise, someone is getting paid delivering merchandise.

I order online, but I prefer to go pick it up at a retail outlet. I like Academy because it's small and their prices are reasonable. Cabelas is for those few items you cannot find elsewhere. I don't like the HEB Plus stores because they are too large. It's a pain to park and walk for miles just to purchase a 12 pack of cokes. I often just use a convenience store.

I cannot recall a single instance of the general population changing their shopping habits because of pressure from the retailer (other than discounts). If what you do isn't as in demand as it was yesterday, it might be a good idea to find something else to do. Follow the trend.

I work in the semiconductor industry and it's a volatile industry (no pun intended). Regardless of my skill set, I cannot increase my demand through pleading. When the tide turns, I have to be ready to turn with it.

More people are going to buy on the internet, because of the gas prices. Retail outlets will have to get use to it, and adjust somehow, maybe enticing the buyers into the store with real deals! That's what Academy's ads are suppose to do, obviously, but they will have to try harder to compete with the internet. (And yes, you pay shipping, but most out of state stores will not charge you tax.)

I already minimize my trips to Academy (there is no BPS or Cabelas anywhere near me).
For instance: looking at this week's Academy ad, I see one item, a lure special (Yum), that I might stock up on, but the $3-4 I would save would not make up for the gas used in my truck to get there.

Trout,

I hate to shop and would rather spend my time fishing or just about anything else other than shopping. Your job in retail is to make the customer happy, right? So, I thik it would be a good choice to go get the items and set them aside for a customer if they call and ask you to do so or more will probably start buying off the internet. One of the main reasons I hate to shop is the majority of the people working retail that I have dealt with in the last few years are lazy and/or don't know very much about what they are selling. I would go into a store having already researched a product and hoping to learn more about it when I got to store only to find out that I knew more than the sales associate. Quite depressing. I won't hold the associate completely responsible for this as the majority of the retails companies don't want to pay enough to keep motivated people on staff and they certainly don't provide enough training for their employees.

The end result for me is I do my own research and then find the best end price. Whether it be buying off the internet or going an picking it up.

The country being or going into recession, does not mean that I need to go out and spend more of my money. I know thats exactly retailers and the gov would like me to do, but no thanks. It is costing me even more money just to get to the store, so if there is anything I can do to avoid wasted trips, thats exactly what I will do. I used to run up to BPS, Academy, Cabelas just for the heck of it, but not anymore. I try to make my trips dual purposed. I work from home, so if I do have to go into the office for some reason, then I will make it out to BPS, cause other than that, it is close to 40 miles from my house, but only 10 miles from work. So such is the way our world is working now.

Our Salaries are not jumping up to keep up with higher prices we are paying for everything. So why in the world would we go out and try to bail out the retailers out of THEIR problem, we have our own problems. I get such a kick out of watching the news and hearing the pleas of how WE need to go out there and spend spend spend. How can we do that if we no money?

Count on Academy having it if you have physically seen it there on a previous trip. other than that they will not have it nor will they be able to tell you if they have it and their web site is totally useless.I think they are trained by LOWES, they are trained to tell everyone "It's my first day here, I don't know".
Nobody in LOWES has been there over one day, just ask them!

Do most people forget that Cabella's and BPS were mainly catalog businesses to start with unless you lived close to where they originated? The stores are there to get MORE money from customers that actually shop. In a catalog or on the net, you are usually looking for a certain item and order that and that's it. You go into a store and things catch your attention that you normally wouldn't look at the other ways. That is retail my friend and they know what they are doing. They are going to get there money one way or another. As far as I am concerned, I like Academy better than either of those stores. I have liked Academy since I lived in Dickinson and I had always heard back then that there would NEVER be one north of San Antonio. Glad they realized there is money up here too.

I re-read my post and want to add something, I am not in retail, I am in the Swimming Pool Service industry, so if a customer buys a part for their pool and doesnt know the first thing about it, they call a Professional (ME) and ask how to install it,or wonder why I charge so much to install it correctly after they screwed it up. So my opinion on Internet sales is due to the affect it has on Service oriented business. Example- you wouldnt take your car into a shop and ask them to install a part you bought cheaper anywhere else, they would laugh you out of the building.

I believe in capitalism , I just think there are certain items that should be installed by a professional trained to do it.

A very good point.

TFP