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I stopped by one of their stores in Greensboro, NC yesterday evening on the way back from a meeting. I was impressed with the size of the store and the selection, but not too much with the fishing equipment (reels in particular) and the prices. Even the stuff that was "on sale" seemed kind of high. I'm just curious what other folks think about these stores.
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We've had a couple GM stores around here for a few of years now, and I must say I have been pretty underwhelmed by them... especially the fishing depts.. I must admit, haveing run tackle shops for many years, I'm a tough critic.. but I agree that prices are mediocre at best, and my biggest complaint is with their selection.. At first glance it looks impressive, but what i see is "wide and thin" For example... yes, you see hundreds of rods on the racks, but closer look reveals dozens of the same model, and the bulk of the selection is middle of the road freshwater fodder.. And by thin, I mean the pegs holding the most popular local items are usually empty.. Saltwater tackle selection is bleak in general.. Displays tend to be very dis-organized.. especially terminal tackle.. i know terminals are a nightmare to lay out (and takes a certain amount of knowledge of what the product is) , but trying to find a particular hook or swivel on their hodgepodge racks is a study in frustration.. My biggest peeve is the apparent lack of knowledge of the local fishery evidenced by their selection.. They often lack the most basic and popular equipment/lures for the local area, while being loaded with stuff popular in say, the midwest. For example, a couple years back they asked me to do a seminar on our local Striper fishery. Prior to the talk I tried to assemble some of the lures/ tackle I would be discussing from their racks.. but found almost NOTHING.. None of the right hooks, or hardware, or even a proper sinker..although they where loaded with big storm surf sinkers ( 100 miles from the nearest surf) A couple of colors of stretch plugs was all they had, and I did the presentation out of my own tackle bag.. The ultimate joke that day was when I saw their end cap display in the main isle leading to the seminar room. On this most valuable piece of real estate in the whole dept. they had it filled totally with sinker slides.. all the same size.. a featureless mass of nothing Someone needs to get a clue in their fishing departments..
i agree. i live in greensboro and the selection of salt water equipment is lacking. Your right the terminal tackle is a nightmare. Sad to say but Gander Mountain is a store that caters to the outdor person, but yet I can go to the Wal- mart in Morehead and find a nicer selection.
If you go to Gander's site http://www.gandermountain.com/, there are tabs at the top for Overton's and Consumer's Marine, which I believe Gander owns...CM has a good selection of salt-water rods and reels...not really sure how the prices compare to other places though.
Last edited by SkirtChaser32'; 11-18-2009 at 09:19 AM.
When I lived in Erie PA on Lake Erie we had one local. It was OK for selection for bass and trout fishing, but they were thin on walleye and lake trout. The two biggest fisheries in the area, they were completely ignorant of what people were looking for. I asked the guy behind the counter and he said corporate decides what they sell and its pretty much the same chain wide. Whats up Skirt? Fancy seeing you here.
They have the basic stuff for fishing if your looking for anything specialized then it is not going to be a good place for it. On a side note don't ever use their so called gun smith. I bought a rifle from them and got a free gun cleaning and scope mount coupon deal so i took a old savage rifle i had back to have the scope mounted and cleaned. They ended up striping screw threads the stock of the rifle and the tightend the screw till it would not allow the bolt to fully close on the rifle. They handed it back to me like nothing was wrong. need less to say i was a little worried and took the gun completely a part and put it back together once i got it home correctly this time. so i would not recomend there gunsmithing or haveing anyone who works there touch anything that could result in bodily harm if it malfunctions.
GM is not a saltwater tackle shop, by any stretch of the imagination........
Buy local - get local tips on what been working & where the bite is ......... ICM
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I love GM. There's one in Delaware that I stop at on the way to OBX. Good selection of offshore tackle and good prices. Last time I was in Jacksonville FL I stopped at one and totally scored. 80% off lots of tackle. Spreader bars for $22. Green machines for $3 I left with a cart full of goodies.
We have a lot of Gander Mountains in the midwest ( Wisconsin). They are a store that tries to be all things to all people outdoors so they will generally not have a lot of specialized or regional stuff. Their racks and their stores in general seem almost overloaded shelfwise. Seems to me because the stores are physically smaller than Cabelas or Bass Pro they try to make up for it by overloading the shelves. In their defense they put some stores in smaller city locations than Cabelas or Bass Pro so having access to an outdoor store without having to drive 100 miles is a plus. I don't think Wisconsin even has a Bass Pro store and only 2 Cabelas so Gander Mountain fills the gaps ( we are a pretty big state mileage wise). I don't know how many Gander Mountains are in Wisconsin but I would guess 10-20. If you compare price without a promotion I have found the prices from Cabelas, Gander Mountain, and Bass Pro almost identical. Example I just bought a Shimano Curado reel and all 3 have the reel listed at $179.99. In conclusion yes they aren't Cabelas or Bass Pro but they have a reasonable selection of outdoor goods and you don't have to drive 100 miles to a Cabelas or 150 to a Bass Pro. I have 2 Gander Mountains within 35 miles.
Some of us aren't lucky enough to have a Cabelas, Bass Pro or good local speciality store within reasonable driving distance.
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A GM is located about 25 miles from me, and a Bass Pro Shop about 50 mile here in East Tennessee. I am constantly disappointed by GM, both price and selection. It just doesn't have he equipment I want, is higher-priced that Wal-Mart, and the staff know nothing. If I really need something, I'll either go online or off to Bass Pro. The BPS in TN has little saltwater tackle, but since Bass Pro has opened an Outdoor World in Spanish Fort, AL, it is close enough to our boat in Alabama that I can spend an efternoon drooling over all their stuff before I stock up on what I need.
GM in central florida has a poor selection of saltwater rods, reels and general tackle. Prices are average to high nothing special. Prefer local tackle shop or even BP over GM.
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The one here in Jacksonville pretty much sucks as far as salt water tackle their just a step above Walmart. I think they can't seem to decide if they want to be a clothing store, hunting supplies, boat dealer, dive shop, salt water fishing or fresh water fishing store, boating supply store, camping store or knife store and they don't do any of it very well.
The Gander Mountain in Hattiesburg MS has a pretty good selection, but their prices are appreciably higher that Academy Sports. I noticed that Mirro Lures were 1-2 bucks higher per pop the other day. Some prices were decent. I was not greeted or offered help at all as I strolled liesurely through the store. I was in a buying mood and I walked out empty handed. Their bathroom first thing in the morning was nasty enough to make a bum puke. Other than that it was a fantastic browsing experience.
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Gander has a decent selection here in North Palm Beach. While the standard pricing is high on some things, I continue to score great deals on sale and clearance pricing. I have learned that whether it is advertised or not anything ending .97 is 50% off. I bought a bunch of trolling lures and the C&H lure rep at the Ft. Laud boat show confirmed that I was buying them from gander at below cost. I have also got to know the guys working in the fishing section, and they spool my reels exactly how I ask, and they give me great pricing. I assume due to their volume, their frozen bait is very reasonable as well.
One thing I will warn however is more times than not, the front cashiers seem to make an error in their favor when it comes to discounting and sale items, so I have learned to watch them closely.
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I live about 5 miles from one GM and 30 to another. Large stores with plenty of hunting inventory. The one closest to me caters more to saltwater fishing while the other is more bass fishing. I usually do not shop at GM due to having a BPS and a large Academy store less than 10 miles from home. When GM throws a special sale on certain items in the bargain bins and it is something that I use; I will load up.
Our local Gander store is great. It doesn't have the huge selection that our Bass Pro has but they have a great selection. I like Gander Mountain especially when I'm looking for something specific. It seems like Bass Pro I have to look forever to find something specific because they just have SO much stuff. Gander Mountain's selection is more specialized for our area (Lake Erie) where Bass Pro has lots and lots of everything.
One thing you guys may find of interest is the 10 ball bearing Gander Mountain private labeled fishing reels. They often have them on sale for $39 for both spinning reels and baitcasting reels. I now have 4 baitcasters and 3 spinning reels, I use these Gander Mountain brand reels almost exclusively now. They are very smooth reels, cast excellent, and have proven to hold up very well. I have one baitcasting reel that I have been using for 3 seasons with no problems at all.
I am also a fan of gander, by the way a shoutout to perrysburg, called it home for a couple of summers. I try to go to the local bait shops when i can, but there are times when i need random things, or a late night bait run for an early moning bottom fishing trip, that the bait shops are all closed. Also our local one here has some guys that are knowledgeable and also very helpful. Not to mention the tall tales cafe at our place has the best chicken nachos around and my son loves going there and looking at the dead critters on the wall.
Gander Mountain 
My biggest peeve is the apparent lack of knowledge of the local fishery evidenced by their selection.. They often lack the most basic and popular equipment/lures for the local area, while being loaded with stuff popular in say, the midwest. For example, a couple years back they asked me to do a seminar on our local Striper fishery. Prior to the talk I tried to assemble some of the lures/ tackle I would be discussing from their racks.. but found almost NOTHING.. None of the right hooks, or hardware, or even a proper sinker..although they where loaded with big storm surf sinkers ( 100 miles from the nearest surf) A couple of colors of stretch plugs was all they had, and I did the presentation out of my own tackle bag.. The ultimate joke that day was when I saw their end cap display in the main isle leading to the seminar room. On this most valuable piece of real estate in the whole dept. they had it filled totally with sinker slides.. all the same size.. a featureless mass of nothing 
Someone needs to get a clue in their fishing departments.. 
