Deceitful Gander Outdoors!!!

So I just got back from walking through the new Gander Outdoors in Sheboygan. Seems pretty similar to the old Gander Mountain store, nothing out of the ordinary.

Now when it was Gander Mountain I always found them to be shady with their marketing. For instance they would have a stack of hunting knives with a sign that said "Buck Outdoor Knives. $14.99" Then the whole display was $29.99 Buck knives EXCEPT for the bottom row which was $14.99. There was also many other deceitful issues Gander Mountain had that I won't get into here as well as other mismarked prices on products.

So when I walked in I seen tshirts on the left. Looked at them and the big sign says $14.99 above them. All shirts had a $14.99 sticker on them. However some had a $11.25 sticker. Lady says $14.99. I said "Sticker here says $11.25" And I brought the other shirts to show her there were more like that. She calls the manager and says "Ok, we will give it to him for $11.25". 

Now for the fun part. They had Daiwa Revros reels that said on the sticker and NOTHING ELSE. "34.99" Reg Price 39.99". And that was it. White and black. No club member logo or even club member verbiage. So the price rings up $39.99. Manager gets called again as I mentioned the sticker price. I walk over there with him and he says "That's the member price". "Do you wanna be a member?" I said "Where does it say member discount on that sticker?" He said "You have to be a member". I said "IT DOES NOT SAY THAT ON THAT STICKER OR WITHIN 30 FEET ANYWHERE WHERE THE REELS ARE". He says "I'm sorry you feel that way" In which I replied. "I'm sorry to see that Gander Outdoors has not learned anything from their deceitful practices when they were Gander Mountain. And in 2-3 years history will repeat itself and you folks will be looking for new jobs again". I then walked out and bought nothing.

I will say Wisco.....hook-and-bullet store caught me flatfooted...HA !

it seems they didn't change much...that was always the first thing one had to do was check your receipt before you left the store, especially a sale item....they aren't the only ones tho.

I don't see myself ever stepping into another gander more that fleet farm opened in delevan

Was driving thru appleton for work and stopped at the gander.  Appears not everything is discounted.  Lots of inventory there and much of it will be transferred to another store.  All their clothes are 30% off, also footwear and ice fishing stuff. 

Just bought some merino socks there.  Ive found better prices even compared with the 30% off so my savings were modest at best.

I first went to fleet farm since they advertised Fox River socks at 20% off and fox river makes some quality socks.  Apparently FF doesnt carry quality socks from fox river, very poor selection there at FF and this was the first day of the sale so its not like everything was picked over already.

What would ya'all  rather have - a local hook-and-bullet store where you have to look at your receipt and count your change?

Or no local store.

Appleton store closing. Was told yesterday that if you have something to return or exchange better get it done. I am sure this time Gander in Appleton will be gone for good. Not much difference to me however.

I received their grand opening coupon flyer. It had $8 dollars of gallon of Quick Silver 2 stroke oils to make it $27. That's the every day price at the two Farm stores. 

It just blows my mind ,they  almost got me with a few musky bucktails marked down from 19.99 to 11.99 , no membership or club sign in site, the manager just apologized and asked if I wanted to join. Is it possible the old gander in Sheboygan was better and this one might last a year..7 days until Shore lunch in Ontario...no worries..

As sports authority dropped areas for more clothes (bankrupt) gander mountain also did (bankrupt) and Dicks is also (eventually bankrupt?). I remember I used to go to Dicks in appleton for fishing stuff. Now those have far less stuff. Gander will do it again im sure. Matter of time. 

Most of the people that go to those stores dont want to buy a $50 tshirt when all we want are fishing baits. Id rather go buy $5 camo shirts from walmart im not afraid to get dirty. Thats why dunhams is going well. They offer nike and under armor but still have bottom of the line stuff for us cheapskates going in to buy a box of ammo.

Had a little time to kill yesterday. Walked through the recently reopened Gander store in Appleton. Had time to only browse the fishing and some clothing areas. Polite and friendly staff offered help if I wanted it. Didn’t ask for any help to see if they actually knew anything about the products. Store was bright and clean and seemed organized. Will give it another walk though in the hunting area and the rest of the store when I have more time. Didn’t see anything in the fishing area that grabbed my attention in a positive way. Many items priced the same as elsewhere, reels, lures, hooks and other items I knew prices of off hand. Seemed like a good selection displayed in a small area. 

Money talks  , markup on clothing is much greater . A firearm lasts forever and don't shrink or tear  .  Plus with clothing there is a greater chance of keeping your wife busy while your looking at fun stuff .

Was in the appleton area yesterday and one of ganders former gun seller informed me they were open and we ended up making a visit after his shift ended. 

I like the new look. Its spacious, de-cluttered, new lighting and pleasant to walk through.  What caught my eye were the Werner Kayak Paddles- sturdy beautiful and top of the line product. 

Used to be a really good stores years ago.Then they went from tons of fishing gear from many different manufacturers to just several manufactures. While they always had clothes. Seems they got rid of Camping, Hunting, Fishing gear to stock more and more clothes. s others have mentioned, Spring selection gets bought up and they do not replace it. Same with Ice Fishing gear. Speaking of Ice Fishing they used to carry every Ice fishing jig known. But then that to dropped off to mostly a few big name low quality jigs. With premium prices. I do not expect much has changed.

You would think for an outdoor store they would have some deer or fish mounts on the walls... nope, just plain white walls. If they want to go with a warehouse type look I expect warehouse type prices.  I always enjoy looking around at Bass Pro and Cabela's at the fish tanks, waterfalls and animal mounts.  I think they will be out of business within a few years and I hope they do close so maybe we can get another retailer (Bass Pro fingers crossed lol) to move into the area.  I won't be going back to Gander again.

my only beef with GM was that they stocked fishing stuff like a clothing store, spring stuff in spring, when gone, wait till next spring... but I need some NOW... tough luck ... that was enough to stop me from going many many moons ago