Anybody heard if they are planning to start closing stores? It seems that some of their stores such as the one in Colorado Springs aren't getting any new stock but some stores in Denver are. The clerks keep blaming it on the whole corporate buy out deal but that was a while ago.

I heard Sportsman's was bought out by a Canadian company. They were struggling with stock because the over expanded while being undercapitalized. I think they are hoping to get the shelves stocked up again.

The gun side has been bleak even at the Midvale Utah store which is right across the street from their main warehouse. They were damn near out of ammo. Of course, who isn't these days (Yet another benfit of the Glo-Bama).

I have not heard they were planning on closing stores.

They just aren't very good at keeping stock on their shelves. Their reloading shelves here have been maybe 20 percent stocked lately.

They did close some stores last year, but I hadn't heard they were closing any more.

I asked the local store manager point blank if they were closing, since the rumor mill has been saying they were. He said he thought so a few months ago, but he said they were sold to a firm in Canada and now they were keeping the doors open. Take this with a grain of salt.

The deal is not done yet. That's why SW is still on the bubble; they can't pay suppliers because they don't have the cash.
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2009/02/18/news/local/21-sportsman.txt

"She said the co-op is conducting due diligence on the Utah-based Sportsman's Warehouse, and that effort is taking longer than expected. She wouldn't say when the process to buy a majority of Sportsman's Warehouse might be completed, and no purchase price was given."

I was at the Reno SW earlier today, their shelves in the reloading dept were almost bare, only primers in stock were for shotshells. Cabellas was another story, they had plenty of powder and bullets in stock and plenty of customers buying firearms, however they were out of large rifle primers.

The store near me closed down last year but I have a ton of reward certificates (from their credit card) burning a hole in my pocket. Got the card well before I knew our store was in trouble or I would have got a BPS or Cabelas instead.

There are a couple in route to the in-laws so I hope they still honor them when I finally make it down there.

Anyone know if I would be able to pay for a gun with reward points?

The one in Spokane is a joke. They are completely out of reloading supplies. they get bits and pieces in. No handguns and no handgun ammo. I used to go there at least once a month normally more than that now I can barely stand the place. Wish they'd get this thing figured out.

I work at Sportsman's. I just heard the other day that the sellout to the canadian company isn't a completley signed deal yet and yes some store are closing but, I don't know which ones.

I hate to learn of SW's current instability - I thought the Canadian owned co-op was a done deal. I look forward to my twice a year trip through Columbia SC en route to Atlanta. I always plan a stop at Sportsman's there. Occasionally I get to the one in Tacoma when visiting my daughter in Seattle, hope it is still there this coming June.

I think they are on their way out. Many buisnesses dont have reloading supplies. I think SW has been cut off by their creditors. I talked to a manager in a store the other day in another state and theft seems to be a big problem. Abuse with their shipping system.
The store over here in CDA is worse than the one in Spokane. I did manage to get them to price match Black Sheep about 2 months ago and cleaned out of all the primers and powder I could use. Tals about JOKE!

I was told my one of the local store GM's that the deal is NOT yet done, therefore, their stock levels still suck.

Like others have said, every large shop, and small independent, is virtually out of reloading components and handguns. Hell, it's almost impossible to find anything online either (unless you want to pay $150 for a brick of primers on Gunbroker).

We can all thank No-Bama and the panicked buying public for this situation.

Sure hope the one in Medford Oregon isn't going to be closing.. we waited almost 7 to 8 years for the dumbass city council to allow it to be built, courtesy of the anti hunting crowd from Ashland...

I just hope that they get stabilized and have hunting and reloading supplies back on the shelves...

they still have a lot of other stuff, like the boating, fishing, clothes, camping and other depts that have plenty of stuff readily available...

I use it for more than just reloading supplies and an occasional rifle scope...

and the closest Cabelas I frequent once in a blue moon when I am up there in Olympia Wash, doesn't impress me very much...

Their 'gun library' and the prices, makes one think they cater to the Nieman Marcus clients only...

Our local SW is having its struggles. The handgun peg board now has maybe 10 handguns, with the rest of the space taken up by some long guns.

They do seem to have plenty of shotguns and rifles.

For months, the reloading department has been pretty bare. Sometimes they have primers, sometimes not. If you're not too picky, there are some bullets. They have only a few less-used types of powder on hand.

Gallenson's in Salt Lake got a big shipment of powder on Friday, and Christensen's is better stocked than either Cabela's in Lehi or SW in Riverdale.

It's a bummer but thats big business for you. I've been saying they MUST be having problems for months. When White Elephant has a better ammo selection than a huge corporation something is definately wrong. I sure hate it for all the employees there. If I worked there myself I'd be looking elsewhere right now.

Well, today at work I asked about the Canadian buy out. I was told that it never happened. The big kahuna C E O was supposed to make an anouncement at 1:00 pm today about whats going to happen. There's still a chance the deal might go through or if it doesn't some or all of the store may close. Don't take this as gospel as I'm just a lowly janitor and I'm just repeating what I was told by one of the managers at our store. I don't go back in until Saturday. Maybe I'll be able to find out more by then.

Hope you still have a job, thanks.

SW had a great store out here..I would drive 2 hours to the Victorville CA store. It was short lived, closed after 3 months. Workers told the day it closed!! No warning, no chance for locals to use their gift cards either. All stock was sent to a new store openning in two weeks in Visalia CA.

I love SW. I sure hope it pulls through. They are missing a golden opportunity with all the gun and ammunition sales going on now.

You got that right.

Just like thew rest of the horehouses, tell you how much they like you and how much better they will treat you. That Company don't give a rats a.. about you or your needs. Hate to see a gun store go out Bus. When they stand there and lie out there a.. to your face about what is being made, the factory is out of stock, ect.... when all you have to is go on line and get the factories phone # and ask. I got to pay my bills, so should they. Why would anyone want to buy a sinking ship that has been sunk buy it owne grew?

wildcatshooterlongrange

Your buttmouth stinks with all the crap coming out of it.

I work a couple of days a month for SW, so I know what I am talking about here.

Latest update on Sportsmans,

Stu the owner is selling off all the NW stores from Portland, OR
to AK includes all the WA, AK, MT, and ID stores except for one of which they are going to close down.

They are also closing down 24 stores, mostly midwest and east.
Stu is keeping the rest.

The NW stores are being sold to a Canadian company with deep pockets and will retain the SW name for two years then we'll see.
This group of stores will be the better off no doubt than the Utah corporation.

The last time I was in SW I was told a different version of that story Bob...I believe you over the dude in the Round Rock store. I like SW alot and hope they keep it going...

SU35, I got a lot of friends that work in the Salem Oregon store. I used to spend lot of money there, they have one of my game heads hanging there. I know what I am talking about, maybe not in your store. Guys have been told to hang anything on a peg so the store doe not look empty, Store Man. told me the shotguns shell where not made any more by Kent. Called Kent yep still making them, order a case that day at a diffrent gun store. Complained to Stu, the case of shell was more the store required for spcl. order. Then the next thing I knew it went up to a $250 Min. Order and thet had to have it in one of thier warehouses. I don't attack someone for expressing themselves on Forum. Next time you think about trying to trash talk someone on this forum remember you agreed to be ethical in your answer's. Notice I sure didn't call you any names, or request that you be removed for unethicl respons given to a post which was no way directed at anyone on this forum. Just the bad times I have had at that store. The truth and nothing but the truth.

I used to work PT for SW. It was a great outfit 6 years ago when I started. They over extended and ruined their credit. Even when I worked for them, I usually spent a couple hundred a month or so with Midway, Midsouth, or Natchez.

It was great fun in the beginning, but it became harder to go to work each time. They have a sorry tendency to promote incompetence.

Thats pretty much what I heard today at work. Not looking good

According to localnews8.com, based in eastern Idaho...
"POCATELLO - Sportsman's Warehouse in Pocatello will be closing within the next couple of months, confirmed the store's owner, Stu Utgaard, Monday...

The Pocatello store is just one of 23 stores nationwide that will be closing. A majority of the stores closing are located in the east. There are a total of 67 Sportman's in the country.

The Coeur d'Alene store will also close, but the Idaho Falls store will remain open."

There is no shortage of fishing lures at SW. There is no shortage of boots or shirts or canoes or camp stoves at SW. The ONLY things they're out of are ammo and reloading supplies - and that's because every SOB who shows up buys all they have. Of COURSE the freaking shelves are empty! But it isn't the store's fault.

Now, SW has the world's worst distribution system. They truck every item to every store from one warehouse in Utah. Their shipping costs (especially at $4.50 a gallon for diesel) had to be killing them. Whether the new owners can raise enough capital to simultaneously fix the distribution system while keeping stores open during an economic downturn will remain to be seen. I truly hope they make it.

But I wish even more that the self-centered infants among us would quit whining over a problem they themselves create.

What new owners? The canadian deal is a bust. Is another company looking to invest into it

I think you're oversimplifying it rocky. I can go to white elephant and they have a better selection of guns, powder, bullets, ammo, and primers than SW. White elephant is just a small locally owned business. You can't blame it ALL on the hoarders but they do get some of the blame. Not a great selection especially as of late but it's been better for the last year.

The credit problems make sense to me.

I'm with wildcatshooterslodge. There's a couple good guys in the store in the spokane but there's some real pricks too. They do flat out lie just to get you to shut up. I had a buddy order 1000 primers a few months back. They said they'd call. after three weeks still no call. He called the store and they still hadn't come in. He stopped by the store on the way home from work to pick something else up and they were putting his primers on the shelf to be sold. It's crap like that that really stinks. When he confronted the guy stocking the shelves with HIS primers he said " Oh you must be Nyles". That shows they did have the note to call him but chose not to.

I used to really like SW and I still go in quite a bit only because they are so close to home but I generally don't ask any questions anymore. I'd actually be surprised if they don't go out of business.

It almost certainly is more complicated than just a single factor. But that doesn't make any single factor UNtrue.

SW is saddled with that poor supply system, and it is almost impossible to get large loans now. People are in fact buying less, so there's a cashflow problem. The on again-off again change of ownership has to hurt employee morale (not to mention having to face belligerent and unreasonable customers all day long). And there ARE hoarders who snatch up everything they find, leaving empty and unfillable shelves behind.

If you have no cash and no credit and no income, you can't order stuff. Neither can a store.

Just got this yesterday....

here the latest on what stores are closing

http://www.sportsmanswarehouse.com/company.cfm

I hope the rest make it. I've been shopping there since the first drafty warehouse store in Midvale, UT.

Hopefully the outcome from this will improve the quality and shopping experience at the remaining stores. In other words, stock the shelves for crying out loud.

And get rid of the turkey, elk, and racoon stuff.

Looks like our store here in Billings MT is going to remain the way it is. Good. I like their store and so far have not had one problem with any of the employees.

Ammo and reloading inventory is skinny but aren't they all having that problem? Their stock of rifles and handguns still looks good.

This morning, I heard on the radio they're closing the one in the Green Bay area(De Pere). That sucks because they had the cheapest powder prices around here. Oh well, Powder valley it is then.

Well crap! I was hoping the Round Rock store would be spared and maybe better stocked in the future. Used to be my favorite place to buy reloading supplies, admit it has sucked the last yr or so though. Only 30-35 min from the house too.

Still figured it might be make it since it seemed to stay fairly busy and is the only one for quite a distance.

The closest Cabela's (Buda) reloading section SUCKS, and SW's priceess were better.

Oh well.......

Bill

Yeah, They're closing 28 stores nationwide. The store I work at in Meridian, ID isn't closing but the one in Nampa,ID is. Haven't heard anything about any sales/clearances. Hopefully now that they know which stores are staying open they will start ordering some inventory.

I work at the Memphis store, and it is on the close list. I hope the owner learned something from this, and can correct a few obvious wrongs with the system. I made several treasured friendships, and heard many great jokes and stories. I will miss it.

They closed one in central Calif. last June. Just opened two in the Las Vegas area this past fall. I think he just spread his self to thin, to many stores. I don't know why the deal fell through with the canadian outfit. We were told they had lots of money and there would be no worries when they took over. Maybe it was the economy that scared them off.

The CA company wised up and only grabbed 15 of the stores in the NW.

I worked part time for these clowns for 5 years and watched Stu and his kids run it into the ground by over expanding and as Rocky said the shiiity distribution system. We knew this was coming over 3 years ago when the big expansion began. We couldn't get any inventory because Stu was starving the existing stores to pump up the new openers. The next big hurt came when they introduced the state of the art computerized ordering system that never worked. Then the hunting managers were not allowed to place orders for the department or customers in an effort to cut shipping costs.

I'm sure the CA COOP owned stores will do well. I'm not so sure about those retained by Stu and his knumbnut crew. I doubt they actually learned anything from the disaster.

One thing was for sure, customer service was the first thing dropped when the troubles began. It was a real shame to watch a great outfit fall apart.

I tried to apply for a job at corporate in 2005 just after completing my MBA in marketing and supply chain management. The only opportunity they had was to start at ground level part time in the retail store, I think about $8/ hour. Basically told me they promote from within and you have to work your way up, and that they don't hire at the MBA level. They also said they had huge expansion plans and that opportunies to move up should be plentiful.

I couldn't help but wonder at the time how they could have huge expansion plans but not have any opportunities at corporate or be willing to hire at the MBA level. I realize a company can sometimes grow some great talent within especially if they have great training and education incentives but they had neither. And, talented supply chain managers and marketing managers weren't looking for $8/ hour part time jobs at the time, although they might be now.

I asked a friend who worked there if he thought I could move up quickly based on my education and qualifications and he told me, "That stuff doesn't matter to them, it's all about whether they like you or not." I couldn't turn down six figure offers for an $8/hour job even if it was in an industry I loved. I gave up the idea of working for them at that point and have since just watched with morbid curiosity as they overexpanded and subsequently imploded.


Bb

GotDang it the Oklahoma City store is closing to just got word from my buddy there that's a manager in the firearms dept. darn that hurts.

BurleyBoy, you got it. That outfit was the most brown nosed based bunch I've ever had the misfortune to be associated with. The average guy there was just like anybody else, but as soon as they moved into "management" things changed overnight. Major suck up required and expected. I didn't consider anything about the that business as management. Stock shelves, write schedules, audit 4473s, inventory. A slightly educated monkey can do it.

I greatly enjoyed hanging with the other regular guys and all of my buddy customers. It was great to work in my hobby and life. I've always told folks that "hunting isn't what I do, it's what I am". SW was the place where I could hang out with others of same motivation. That's the only thing I miss about working there.

I still drop by the store to place my Brownells orders and check in with friends, but most of my best buds are long gone. I order all my handloading stuff online, as I did even when I worked for SW.

Guess the "coming fall 2009" sign on the empty lot in Flagstaff will mark a non-event.

Due to this country's tax laws, all businesses are dependent on banking for financing their business operations. When the banks got into trouble, they didn't have the funds to support their customers needs, especially those that carry huge inventories. Economic slowdowns hurt, but businesses can adjust. In retail, however, there are contracts for annual budgeted purchases from their suppliers, and some can get caught in an economic pincer. I expect that both circumstances have influenced SW's situation.

SW hasn't been able to pay their bills for 2 years, Win. It wasn't a bank problem.

I just found out today that the 28 stores he kept are still for sale. So, if anybody is interested...... By the way, everybody at our store is great. Nobody seems to be stuckup or brown nosers, even the managers. Our store manager is a really great guy. We had a really busy day yesterday. Just wish we could get some more inventory.

Sioux Falls SD store is closing as well

Wow, I've also heard they will be going chapter 11, probably if they don't sell.

I work a couple of evenings a month for them/Canadian owned.
Nice to get those pro-forms.

They figure it will take at least 5 million to 7 million dollars a store to get them back up to where each store was last year in inventory.

Good on the Canadian owned stores, sorry for the Utah owned stores. The managers in Utah ran them into the ground with
incompetence. That stupid Nike system wrecked the whole outfit.

The Canadian owned stores are already putting in their sku orders.