Good Bye Academy, it's been great

Going into Academy lately it seems like they are short on everything...including customer service. Went in to get some bunk carpet, found it and got in line. This was Sunday morning and I thought I beat the crowds but still ended up with 10 people waiting in front of me. I finally get to the register, kid rings it up, wrong price comes up. I tell him what the price is supposed to be and he tells me if I bring him a picture of the price he'll adjust. I can see the look in the eyes of the folks waiting behind me, it's either make them wait while I go get the picture or go to the back of the line and start all over again. Not sure what happened to the days they would call in a manager or do a price check (they can even do it on their phones now instead of running around the store), guess they just aren't staffed for that anymore. I took the third option of just walking away, got out to the truck and ordered it on Amazon for same price in store, it'll be here tomorrow.

I went in recently looking for a bike, not much of a selection and quality was poor, ended up ordering from Amazon.
I went in recently looking for waterproof shoes, my size (common size) not in stock, ordered from Amazon.
I went in recently to buy a patio umbrella, the line went nearly to the back of the store (this was Arlington, it snaked back to camping gear!), I went to HD and was in/out in 10 minutes.

Now I will admit, the restrooms are generally pretty clean so if I'm in the area and I gotta go I'll stop in but otherwise I think I'm done. If you work there...well, good luck to you, I hear Amazon is hiring.

I’ve never been a fan of Academy but I have the Bass Pro main store between my house and Academy.

I have a feeling stores like Academy are probably really hurting for employees right now and taking on anybody who puts in an applicaiton, since most of them can probably make more on unemployment with the covid assistance. I do try to support local tackle shops for a majority of my needs but stores like Academy can be useful especially when they have good sales.

Plus not everyone has a Cabela's or Bass Pro within a reasonable distance.

Nothing close to us except Academy.

Ours usually has a good number of employees in every department and a decent selection most of the time.

The Academy in Amarillo is doing an ok job. They have increased some inventory. I have no real complaints.

I’ll go to Academy for general fishing stuff.. jig heads, crappie jigs, stuff like that. All my bass tackle I order as you will just waste your gas trying to drive to find it. There are a couple local tackle shops I’ll hit if I’m in the area but usually I’m not on that end of the lake. Amazon for a few items but I found you really have to watch the price. Several stores over charge on their stuff or price is good but shipping is crazy.

Academy is (or was) owned by KKR, masters of the leveraged buy-out. They also bought Toys'r'Us and ran it into bankruptcy(again). Academy was a privately-owned company for a long time and was great. Not so much, now. Bain Capital was at one time involved. These guys buy companies, on the upswing, and when there's a market decline, they cut costs, inventory and employees. Service be damned. Not a BPS fan, but they're run a lot better. IslandJim

I can understand being upset over the lack of customer service on the item priced incorrectly. I’ll also say, I think a lot of stores are sold out of a lot of items right now, don’t know that is Academy’s fault. For instance, bikes, weights, etc.

Overall, my experience has been positive. They really have everything I need, at a decent price, are conveniently located, easier in/out than some of their competitors. My local store has an excellent selections of rods, reels, line, plastics, terminal tackle etc. I’ve purchased a lot of boat and trailer parts there over the last year that I was surprised they had, and saved me a longer trip. I bought new trailer lights there this afternoon actually. I also bought a pair of tennis shoes. I don’t even know where else I would go to buy a pair of tennis shoes locally anymore...

I hope that they do well. I was/am not happy that BPS bought out Cabelas. Competition is good.

I'll go to Academy for some things, but for tackle it's usually to Tackletown in Rockport. I did make a decent purchase at Academy not too long ago. Wife wanted an elliptical. Searched forever and stock was low everywhere. Finally found one in stock at the Corpus store. Online from Proform the unit was close to a buck and a wait to get plus shipping to deal with. Academy in Corpus showed it in stock and had it for $200 less than Proform. Hmmm, what's the catch. Older model? So did the purchase, went to the store and did the wait in the parking lot thing. I let them know I was there and a guy came out and asked if it was open box because that's all he had. Hmmm, so there's the catch. But then a guy wheeled it out to me. New, current model, and in the box. Had a sticker with my name on it. After I got home, I checked their stock, and it said zero. I got the last one. Pleasantly surprised.

Its not just Academy hurting for employees currently. Just take a drive down any business district and count the now hiring signs. I feel your pain. Ive been in alot of retailers lately and see the lines and makes me want to walk right back out the door. Unfortunately its not their fault. People are getting paid more to sit at home than actually going to work.

we have lots of new folks coming in at the border that will work

Academy has been going downhill since being bought out by KKR. They have been hurting for employees for the last several years because they are paying much lower than the others. When retail business started raising wages, Academy did not so they are scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Not only customer service, but they have dwindled down the fishing selection, and it is like they stock the store every quarter now. Every time I go in there I think to myself "why."

I was in the Huntsville store yesterday and the selection was pathetic. I usually defend Academy but their downhill slide seems to be gaining speed.

Ours in Ardmore is horrible. A couple months ago I wanted to buy a Lew's reel. Looked around for someone to help me and couldn't find anyone. Went to the gun counter and the guy was nice and paged for someone to go to the fishing counter. I waited about 6 or 7 minutes, went back to the gun counter. He made another page, went back and waited three or four minutes, nobody. I had a dozen ProV 1's, several lures, line and a couple other items in a carry basket. With the reel it would have been over 200 dollars. I put them on the counter and left. Emailed Academy about the experience and got a reply that they would contact the store manager about it. Last I heard from them.

Their lure selection is weak and to check out is about as bad as Walmart.

Retired grass grower

As an Academy stockholder (they went public not too long ago) I find this thread sad. Bought shares as a trade, planned to hold until 2Q earnings released, may accelerate the sale.

Academy is now my store of last resort. I'm tired of going there and seeing empty shelves. I now do all my shopping with two or three trusted internet vendors.

Academy by me has been pretty well stocked for the last few months

I have been disappointed at the decline of the return policy/procedures. If you notice, they typically have things on a deep discount for a brief moment every now and then. I believe it is a tactic to cut returns. One example, I bought several $8 spooks before a trip. I wanted to swap 1 for a different color. I purchased with my credit card, e-mailed receipt never showed up. I go back, they try to look it up, say they can't, but they will give me $2 since that was the lowest price on that item over time. They won't even exchange for a different color. I have had this happen a number of times over the last year. In the past, the e-mailed receipts were reliable and the customer service was good. Now, I feel like they have an "oh, well" attitude, and there is a little more intention behind the tactics. I will take my "oh, well" to another retailer.

Ours is fairly new and was built maybe 3 years ago and it is horrible. Needed a boat seat and a new winch strap for the boat trailer. They had zero seats and no straps. I grabbed a bunch of other things and had a nearly full cart. Head to the checkout and they have one register open with at least twenty people in line. The line literally went past the main aisle and a good way into the clothing section. I just left my full cart of [censored] and made the longer drive to Cabelas and they had everything I needed and multiple registers open with no significant lines. I would like to say I am never going back but it is so close to the house I find myself continuing to go there and be disappointed.

I went to the one on NW highway, it seemed to be well stocked. The amount of googan they had was impressive if you are a fan. Zoom seems to be on the way out with picked over remains. Bikes, guns, rifle ammo, clothes, shoes, weights, mostly mid and low end rods, a few choices on lews but limited shimano, many combos. The checkout was different to me in that they had one line for multiple registers and it moved quickly, I do not own stock in Academy.

For me it seems it is store to store for Academy. The one in Flowe Mound by us is only so so as far as stocking and that is probably being generous. The one in Grapevine seems to be better stocked I wind up going to that location quite a bit.

I can agree Academy in Amarillo is decent.

I can second this observation. Numerous stores here in San Antonio. Couple are good, couple are hot garbage. Curiously, it's the stores in the more ghetto areas that are better.

At least they still offer fishing stuff still unlike many DSG.

I worked at academy for 6 years in high school and college. I agree with the others about it getting sold. When Arthur Gauchman died his family sold it off and it’s been going downhill every since. I usually go to bass pro these days when I want something specific. Still hard to beat academy cleanrance prices though.

Academy in the early days was great. I just started going back to them in 2010 when I came back south.
The ones around me here in Rosenburg TX has little inventory and can not even say they are current with what is being used.
It seems legit they have been bought out by a company that does not care about sporting and just biding time. Good luck

Academy in Cedar Park was well stocked last week! Even had several pallets of ammo. As usual no .410 of any size or shape.

The Academy in my area is a good one.