Kurz
Silver $$ Contributor
Cabela's has not always been high priced. I can remember back in the '80's when they were 15-20% lower priced than Bass-Pro. Shipping was quite reasonable,too.
This was in the heyday of catalog sales and merchandising. I use to love to get their catalogs in the mail and plan out my orders for gear and clothing.
That changed about the mid to late '90's and I quit buying from them as they were no longer competive with local retail.
This was the time when they made their decision in favor of a huge expansion in numbers of stores and interior square footage of existing stores. Nothing was too good to go in one of their stores, bigger and better was the motto. So much so that they teetered on the brink of insolvency for a couple of years. Rumors ran the circuit that a sale of the entire company was in the offing. But the size and value was huge, thereby limiting potential buyers. Then they got their banking/credit business set up and off they went. Enter Bass Pro... unfortunately.
I do like some of the clothing that Cabela's sells but I wait until it goes to the Bargain Basement or Clearance before I purchase. Their retail prices are simply stupid, unaffordable for me, at least. I don't see this sale as being a good thing for anyone except the owners of Cabela's.
Regards.