Cabelas Naniamo

[TESKELLY]

Well they finally announced it. http://www.cabelas.ca/news/42/cabelas-canada-announces-plans-for-nanaimo-british-columbia-store

[Aheny]

This is great for Nanaimo, but I do find it odd that they still havent built in the Lower Mainland

[Kudu]

With Bass pro opening in Delta - I guess Cabela's are sucking hind tit!

Snooze you loose baby!!!

[swamper]

Good for people on the island, but it sucks for the rest of us in BC. No way I am making a trip there and have to pay the outrageous ferry costs.

[Pioneerman]

Good for people on the island, but it sucks for the rest of us in BC. No way I am making a trip there and have to pay the outrageous ferry costs.

Now you know how we feel for years having to come to mainland for anything. Guess you can still go throiugh border line ups an ddrive south to one of their stores. But I do understand the ferry sucks, time and money from us all.

[1/2 slam]

With Bass pro opening in Delta - I guess Cabela's are sucking hind tit!

Snooze you loose baby!!!

And where did you see this?

[Weatherby Fan]

This is great for Nanaimo, but I do find it odd that they still havent built in the Lower Mainland

Nothing wrong with putting one on the Island but I am baffled as why there isn't one on the mainland ?........as I don't think money is an issue with that outfit.....????
They are obviously looking at BC so one can only hope !

[hawk-i]

I would have thought putting it on the mainland would make more sense.

[Jagermeister]

Nothing wrong with putting one on the Island but I am baffled as why there isn't one on the mainland ?........as I don't think money is an issue with that outfit.....????
They are obviously looking at BC so one can only hope !
They picked the island because they understand that pretty soon, those on the island won't get off because the ferry costs are going to get too pricey, hence a "captive" market.
Mail order costs are escalating in leaps and bounds. I wanted to buy $18 worth of product from the US, it would have cost an additional $53 to the cost to ship it and it was not a hazardous product.
So you should not despair that Nanaimo is getting the first, you will be able to travel to one without the ferry ride in due time.

[ru rancher]

ya i agree the island doesnt make much sence to me sure there is hunting there but compaired to the people on the mainland and farther north there is a much bigger need id think but i guess the online buys is what sealed the deal geuss ill be takeing the old ferry more often now haha

[ribber]

Well, that's good news, WholeSale Sports should last about 1 week after Cabela's opens, eh? I think those WSS guys will go back to selling shoes or whatever they did before WSS opened.

[recoil]

I think they didnt open on the mainland because they would mostly just be poaching sales from their North Seattle store which is already usually half full of Canadian cross border shoppers anyways. The local stores in BC are just lucky we are not allowed to bring firearms and ammo back, i like to support the local guy but $9 more for a box of 25 steel shotshells, really?

[ru rancher]

ya doesnt nainimo already have a whole sale sports? isnt that good enough? lol

[Weatherby Fan]

They picked the island because they understand that pretty soon, those on the island won't get off because the ferry costs are going to get too pricey, hence a "captive" market.
Mail order costs are escalating in leaps and bounds. I wanted to buy $18 worth of product from the US, it would have cost an additional $53 to the cost to ship it and it was not a hazardous product.
So you should not despair that Nanaimo is getting the first, you will be able to travel to one without the ferry ride in due time.

Captive Market hahaha that's awesome !

WoW $53 to ship thats just plain old theft.......well at least we can go for an hours drive and be in the Tulalip store !
Not that I buy so much stuff from their stores but I sure do enjoy walking through their stores and browsing all the options and the wildlife mounts are pretty neat !

Hopefully they put a huge destination one in the Lowermainland somewhere !

[huntcoop]

I think they didnt open on the mainland because they would mostly just be poaching sales from their North Seattle store which is already usually half full of Canadian cross border shoppers anyways....

That's exactly why I bet.

[mots]

Well I would agree that it seems odd for us to have 2 large store like this! It also seems a bit strange that there isn't a store in the LMD! I can also tell you that we in Nanaimo may not get raked over the coals for pricing anymore now that there will be some competition! Further more Wholesale Sports I think has been expecting this they sure have dumped a lot of money and upgrades into the store to give a better selection!

[Bowzone_Mikey]

Good for people on the island, but it sucks for the rest of us in BC. No way I am making a trip there and have to pay the outrageous ferry costs.

Edmonton is closer to you in terms of time traveled than Naniamo anyway Hairball ..

I make the doorstep of edmonton store in 7 hours ... from your place call it 8 ... takes me 11 to drive to Nanimo ... North shore ferry terminal and 1.5-2 hours on the boat .. call it 10 from your place

[AltaElkhunter]

Don't expect the prices to be any better than wholesale, and selection has been a problem in the Edmonton store. But they have a strange marketing plan, they are going with two stores in Edmonton, but none in the south alberta or mainland bc? Seems they would want to spread them out among the population. But prices are not what you see in the US stores.

[smeegle]

feel bad for gone fishing and the smaller more personable outfits that will get pushed out of business.

[BlacktailStalker]

Hopefully it puts wholesale out of business, that place is a dive. Yeah CDN prices suck compared to US but if they have the inventory, who cares. As was said,
shipping' costs are ridiculous and its pretty obvious it is used to raise the profit margin on items coming from certain destinations. Getting 25-50% off isn't a bad perk either so I guess I'm biased :biggrin:

[steel_ram]

Odd choice but I'm sure they did their research. Guess there will be less cross border shoppers on the rock. WSS doesn't seem all that busy. Wonder which of the two pays better? That's where the staff will go. It's not like some new wonder staff is going to come out of the wood work to earn retail wages.

[Hose Dragger]

Odd choice but I'm sure they did their research. Guess there will be less cross border shoppers on the rock. WSS doesn't seem all that busy. Wonder which of the two pays better? That's where the staff will go. It's not like some new wonder staff is going to come out of the wood work to earn retail wages.

With the cost of leaving the Island to hop across the line, it is not really an option for us to do so. The Island is an outdoor playground and a huge percentage of the residents live an outdoor lifestyle, couple that with the fact that we are surrounded by water and have one centrally located shopping hub like Nanaimo and you have yourself a recipe for success within that market (which has a combined population of some major Canadian cities). We did the same thing with our products and it has proven to be very successful. I think that it is a great move for them, or I could just be happy because I live here... either way.

[Ron.C]

Hell, I'm all for it. I think its great. More options. More choice.

[Moe.JKU]

I think its a good choice for them. Sucks for us on the mainland. However like said before there is a huge percentage of people that live an outdoor life on the island. Fishing, hiking, camping, boating and hunting. Hunting is what we are concerned about but, they have so much more to offer in a store than just hunting.
And i'm sure people wont have a problem with travelling anywhere on the island to go to the store if they can keep stock and customer service up.

[Cyrus]

With shipping almost next to nothing from bass pro (usa store) to canada I will stick with that!!

[bandit]

With shipping almost next to nothing from bass pro (usa store) to canada I will stick with that!!

Yah I tried to buy some stuff from bass pro in Ontario. They wanted between 25 and 50% over what their US stores were charging. It wasn't a long conversation.

[huntcoop]

Ya gotta welcome them with open arms. Brings competition and awareness to outdoor activities, how can that be a bad thing.

[OOBuck]

Woooo hoooo!!!!

[Aheny]

"They picked the island because they understand that pretty soon, those on the island won't get off because the ferry costs are going to get too pricey, hence a "captive" market."


This makes no sense, the entire population of the island is similar to Richmond. I'm not sure what their reason is, but I dont think its that, and I seriously doubt it involves Cabela's considering how much our ferries cost.

[guest]

Gone Fishing Will Not go out of business, you can't get the one on one service and expertise like GONE FISHING from Big Box like WSS and Cabelas ......... yes the smaller guy can't offer the GIANT selection but they are far more SPECIALIZED then WSS or Cabelas ..........

Hang in there Gone Fishing ........... all family and friends in Naniamo and around support G/F and go to WSS or now Cabela's as a last resort. They do not offer the discounts that people think !

CT

[steel_ram]

I hope the few small stores can stay alive. I WILL SUPPORT THEM. They may or do have to change strategies. Customer service for sure, but perhaps narrowing their lines of big ticket items so they can buy and sell at competitive rates.
Many people on the island can't afford to venture off the island much to go shopping so we won't. Many folks in Greater Vancouver would rather brave customs and support the US economy rather than their own.

[tightgrouper]

I to am puzzled by the choice of the island. WSS wreaks of death every time i'm in there. A. they seem to never have what I am looking for. B. The store is often MT. C. Ordering from them online is painful, slow and arghhhh it just is. So I just shop on cabelas online and the other shops around the island. Id like to say I am excited about a cabelas in Nam but if its anything like the other big store, meh.

[Rainsford]

A little surprised that if they were coming to the Island that they chose Nanaimo over somewhere in the Greater Victoria area. Nanaimo already has a Wholesale Sports (not that it would necessarily be much competition) where the Greater Victoria area has a larger population and absolutely no competition.

[steel_ram]

Rumour was WSS was going to plop a big box in Langford. That would make sense. Maybe that will be the fate of the Nanaimo store.

[Moe.JKU]

A little surprised that if they were coming to the Island that they chose Nanaimo over somewhere in the Greater Victoria area. Nanaimo already has a Wholesale Sports (not that it would necessarily be much competition) where the Greater Victoria area has a larger population and absolutely no competition.
Probably a more central location for the entire island. I could be wrong but i always thought that more of the hunting was doneon the top half of the island, as well as most of the fishing.

[steel_ram]

Lots of credit card carrying outdoors people in Victoria including myself. I often travel through Nanaimo but rarely during business hours if I going hunting or fishing. Nanaimo is not a destination.
It's going to be a pretty small Cabela's. I got bored in the one just South of Bellingham pretty quick.

[Cedarstrip]

Never had any love for WSS, but I do have mixed feelings that yet another American big Box retailer is coming in to take over Canadian turf. Yes... there are job opportunities for some people, but the bottom line is not staying in this country.
WTH, I`ve got all the hunting, fishing hiking, camping, whatever you do in the outdoors crap I need anyways.

[knockturnal]

If I'm looking to go to any outdoors store, I head south into Spokane/Post Falls. You have Cabelas, WSS, Black Sheep Sports, Spokane Valley Archers, a few good malls and a Hooters all in the same general location. Shop all day and hit up Hooters for dinner. It's a win win.

[lawlu]

Strange that its not opening out Langley way as the population is much higher and would draw from all of the south coast area. Don't get me wrong, I'm an islander and am happy to have more choice, but a it is an odd business decision to me. Having said that, I buy most of my gear online and don't usually get a chance to touch and feel the goods in person, especially for sizing in clothes. This will give us the opportunity to do so without jumping the moat.

Now, we just need someone just open a decent store down here in Victoria/Langford! Although this may not be in the cards with the heavy anti-hunting sentiment in Vic.

[steel_ram]

To be honest, I haven't noticed a "heavy anti-hunting sentiment", here in Victoria anymore than anywhere else on the Island. Victoria would be a perfect fit, lots of self entitled civil servant, gov't types that think they're the only ones deserving of good wages. Lower mainlanders will happily save a few bucks and support business' south of the border. The success of Bellis fair and Tulalip malls proves this. Why build a crappy Canadian Vers. of Cabela's in Vancouver when there's one 30 min from the border?

[Peter Pepper]

ya doesnt nainimo already have a whole sale sports? isnt that good enough? lol

Talked to a dept manager at WWS (he was in shopping at the little local tackle shop I work for...)
He said they average 70 firearm sales a day at WSS. I think he meant to say a per week or 17/day, but he clarified 70/day. Seems crazy to me, but if it's that many then there must be room in the market. I mean they are always sold out of whatever gun I want.

[ratherbeshooting]

I am not in marketing and the logic doesn't make total sense to me either (I live in Nanaimo and less than 5min from the location) but...Costco opened up in Nanaimo first and it was successful so someone knows what they are doing. I suspect it is the central location of Nanaimo and the availability suitable real estate.

I don't shop at WSS unless I am desperate. Shops need to work for my business and when some kid tells me I need a 300WM to shoot Island deer or else I am undergunned (an experience at our local WSS), I laugh. Can't remember the last thing I purchased in WSS.

[Wolfman]

I agree it will be a bit of a drive to Nanaimo but hey as others here are saying at least they are finally building in BC. I guess they will always want to stay out of Vancouver though - a lot of antis there.

[keithb7]

If Pro Bass is in Delta, Cabellas should consider Kelowna. We need something up this way. WSS has the most selection around here, so I do shop there. However I'd rather go somewhere else local. I am not a big fan of WSS. I do make a point of visiting The Powder Keg and like them, but selection is very limited.

[xcaribooer]

can anyone confirm the bass pro rumor? the website shows one coming to Tacoma but no mention of Delta.. Wishful thinking?? also if the cabelas in nainamo is going into an old Canadian tire building it doesent sound like it will be very big compared to the Big cabelas stores elsewhere so it will not likely be any better than the wss there now.

[Kudu]

can anyone confirm the bass pro rumor? the website shows one coming to Tacoma but no mention of Delta.. Wishful thinking?? also if the cabelas in nainamo is going into an old Canadian tire building it doesent sound like it will be very big compared to the Big cabelas stores elsewhere so it will not likely be any better than the wss there now.

They are on their way - remember you heard it here first.

[trailhunter]

I travel from the island to hunt at least 2 times a year........ I know 20-30 people who do the same. And every single place I go ...... I meet more guys from the island than anywhere else. You should see the ferry line up in oct,
And nov. .... Id say it's 50% hunters on so boats. It's crazy really. The island has more hunters than the lower main land. That's why it's comin to the island.

[Dirty30-30]

Yes, We're crowded with hunters here, and Nanaimo is such a hub, even to the mainland. Cabelas will do quite well here, I can't wait!