Garner Cabelas Grand Opening

NCST8GUY

Frozen H20 Guy
I went this morning. Of course it's not what other Cabelas are like. I thought the fish tank was very small in fact. Saw some stuff I hadn't seen in any Cabelas before like phone cases and accessories. The sasquatch dude was probably 5 foot 9 at best :(, and not in an impressive get up imho. Didn't really get to check anything out because of the crowd. I'll say BPS beats this cabelas hands down as far as decorations go. I could spend 2 hours just checking out BPS stuff on the walls.

The food at Cabelas is expensive and unimpressive. Parking will be a problem no question.

The people working there however, I don't ever recall a place so busy, run by such friendly employees. Helpful, polite, and appreciative. That part made my morning.
 

newdeerhunter011

Eight Pointer
went today around noon. parking wasn't too bad if you circle around enough you could find a spot. wasn't overly impressed with the store. reminds me a lot of field and stream but a larger version. it was so crowded though it was really hard to look at everything
 
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koszman

Ten Pointer
Contributor
I went yesterday for cabelas club members nothing on sale to benefit club members. They were friendly but I wasn't impressed. Bps and field and stream are closer. I have found great deals at field and stream.
 

Willie

Twelve Pointer
Sounds like we have just another average sporting goods/outdoor goods store in the area...was hoping it was going to be worthy of the hype.
 

NCST8GUY

Frozen H20 Guy
Sounds like we have just another average sporting goods/outdoor goods store in the area...was hoping it was going to be worthy of the hype.

I would never call a cabelas "average". Even this one. the only reason I was not overly impressed is because I have been in several others that were the Cathedral type stores, the kind you could spend 4 hours in no problem, including a nice meal.

Cabelas gear imho is better than redhead, 20X better than F&S, and they have the bargain cave as well. Definitely above average for this area, just can't compete with say, the Kansas City store. And with online shopping so high at Cabelas, why should they try to?
 

buckbuster04

Ten Pointer
Have to realize this is an initial inventory, once they see what they are selling and what they are getting a demand for they will reorder to fit. That being said I've never been to a cabelas and am excited to just go an walk around.

But for my every day purchases and gun needs, I'll be at springhill outfitters in Selma
 

gefecht

Guest
I went to the tuesday preview. People were very helpful. Walked out with a paid of snakeboots for half price in the bargain cave. Made me happy.
 

NCST8GUY

Frozen H20 Guy
I'm curious to hear how it didn't stand up to the unimpressed crowd?

For me, it was
A. Size. It's really about half a Cabelas. The fish tank is small, the bargain cave is small, even in the aisles I felt cramped.
B. I've always planned on eating every time I've gone to a cabelas, as a major part of the experience. This one doesn't have a hot kitchen. You can get a boar, or elk, or bison sub, but the meat they put on it makes a Subway sub look like a meaty bargain. The tables at this eating area are just that, tables. They don't have any decorations or anything to read like the tables at other cabelas.
C. No shooting range (that I saw) let down for the kids
D. Single Story. kind of mixes in with A.

Imho, my letdown is alright. This is a place to go if you need something specific, or if you have ordered something and need to pick it up. I have driven a couple hours to a Cabelas in years past, just to see it. I won't do that here and I timed my ride home Thursday. 17 minutes. :(
 
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NCST8GUY

Frozen H20 Guy
The upside again were the people. I don't know if they drugged them, or found a bunch of hippies and cleaned them up to work there, but every person there I spoke to went seemed genuinely interested in making sure my experience was a good one. That alone will keep me going back there probably 10-12 times a year...if my bank account can keep up.
 

CountryRN

Twelve Pointer
I have not been and probably can't make it for a while, but my take on the them opening is this. They know that there is a lot of other sporting goods and hunting stores in the area so there is no need to build a location the size of a small town. Also knowing that there are multiple hunting stores in the area, they know that they have got to stand out with customer service and quality products. Both of these have been mentioned multiple times by quite a few people here; saying that they were impressed with the employees. Anyone in business or with marketing experience can tell you that you can have the nicest place in town, but your employees will make or break you.
Third thing to think about is the fact that the economy has not been the best in the past few years. Knowing that a company with the reputation of Cabelas has built here in NC and brought a good number of new Jobs to the area is awesome. I know that they may not be the highest paying jobs in the area, but everyone counts.

I can't wait for my opportunity to get out there.
 

NCST8GUY

Frozen H20 Guy
Third thing to think about is the fact that the economy has not been the best in the past few years. Knowing that a company with the reputation of Cabelas has built here in NC and brought a good number of new Jobs to the area is awesome. I know that they may not be the highest paying jobs in the area, but everyone counts.

I can't wait for my opportunity to get out there.

Actually, it has been the best in the past few years, especially in high paying jobs. And the customer service counts. But considering how BIG Cabelas is, and how "small" Mace Sporting goods is, the fact that I find both equivalent in customer service imho eliminates the middle stores.

Then it comes down to price, and locations, and I'll decide what it's worth for me to go to either.
 
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Homebrewale

Old Mossy Horns
I find customer service to be great at most stores opening week. To find out what the customer service is really like, go back in a few months when all the excitement has died down.
 

buckbuster04

Ten Pointer
Actually Brian, I just did a financial analysis project on cabelas..they aren't as big and bad as people would assume. They have decreased in income the last 3 year as well as having a debt to equity ratio of .88. Meaning if you don't know financial ratios, that they are losing money and can barely afford to pay notes 1:1 ratio means for every dollar you make you can cover 1 dollar of liabilities. They aren't even there! They are a publicly traded company but since I believe 2006 can't recall, they haven't declared their dividends so stock holders aren't drawing on investment.

The store was small, lacked the taxidermy I expected, isles cramped, no real deals, bargain cave was a bust, and the seasonality BS everyone is going to. There isn't an offseason for most hunters I know. Keep it stocked
 

onthefly

Guest
Haven't had an opportunity to visit this Cabelas, but the ones in Buda Texas as well as PA was awesome. I spent hours in Tx just observing the Taxidermy
 

WakeHunter32

Eight Pointer
I've been to the store twice. The first time was just to look around and check out all the hype and see if there was anything I "needed" This store is quite a bit smaller than others. I did find that the staff was overly aggressive to help which is not a bad thing, they were all excited but when you have 200 people on staff and on the floor and each of them asking you over and over again if you need help it gets annoying. I thought the fish tank as small but that's not what makes the store in my opinion. The taxidermy work I thought looked great and I noticed on my second trip how much of it I missed seeing the first trip. I'm surprised they didn't have ANY waterfowl related things. I know it's out of season but BP always has something from all types of hunting in their store year round. I know the store just opened but I thought that was strange. I thought their gun selection was kinda small but they had tons and tons of scopes and knifes. Prices on ammo were a little high on most things in my opinion and when one of the staff asked me about it I told them they were slightly higher than other places and he got all butt hurt about it. I do like the gun library they have. It is smaller than other Cabelas but they still have some really neat stuff in there even if it's over priced. Their used gun selection prices I felt were high but it is what it is. Overall I think the store is great for the area and I hope it doesn't have too big of an impact on the smaller stores locally owned. It is convenient for me and I do enjoy walking around there but for the most part i'll be sticking to our locally owned stores.
 

willb

Eight Pointer
Haven't had an opportunity to visit this Cabelas, but the ones in Buda Texas as well as PA was awesome. I spent hours in Tx just observing the Taxidermy

I agree here. The first Cabelas that i visited was in Buda, Texas and i got spoiled. This one here has nothing to compare. I was sadly disappointed.
It is a Cabelas
 

apexhunter

Ten Pointer
I went Saturday mid morning for a look-see and my general impression was of being fairly impressed but overall I'd rank it as so-so. Above and beyond the taxidermy which was fairly impressive given the smaller size of the store I found the inventory to be as expected...a decent supply of hunting gear, more non hunting clothing and shoes and a very limited waterfowl section. That said I am a devout Cabela's shopper as their private label stuff is of higher quality and variety than that of Red Head and others' but gear and clothing I am looking to buy in the near future wasn't on the racks. As others have said I do hope and believe they will adjust the inventory to match the season and the regional demands of this area. For me Cabela's is where I get hunting clothes & gear and BPS is where I buy my fishing gear as each has their specialty or focus based upon how they were formed. Granted each carries both but BPS has rarely had the type and quality of hunting clothing that Cabela's has and BPS always has anything I need for fishing readily available.

I will add that now that they are open I'd give Gander Mountain about 6 months or less to exist in Cary based upon a few trips there in December. Just 2 weeks before Christmas I went to BPS to pick up something only they have in inventory in the entire triangle area- I bought my stuff and goofed around for a half hour among the crowd equal to or larger than Saturday at Cabela's. Leaving there I stopped by GM on the way home to see if there were any deals for Christmas gifts and not counting the employees I was one of maybe 20-30 people in the entire store...crickets could be heard.

The only downfall I have with both merchants now having locations in the area is that when I order something online because the store doesn't have it on the shelf. even with free shipping deals I now have to pay tax which wasn't the case before they came to NC (granted BPS has been this way for a while due to the Concord store).
 

TravisLH

Old Mossy Horns
The upside again were the people. I don't know if they drugged them, or found a bunch of hippies and cleaned them up to work there, but every person there I spoke to went seemed genuinely interested in making sure my experience was a good one. That alone will keep me going back there probably 10-12 times a year...if my bank account can keep up.

Amen, Brian...its 8 miles from the new house and spells disaster for my savings account, and im sure Bre will ban me from there pretty quick lol.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

23mako

Ten Pointer
Does anyone know if a cabelas' store will accept a return item that you ordered online?
 
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Mr.Gadget

Old Mossy Horns
Yes I believe they do and payments along with ship to store options for heavy items so more bang for your buck.
 

MJ74

Old Mossy Horns
Stopped in Cabelas this afternoon and although its basically like every BPS I've ever been in I like it better for some reason.

Also I seen a Mountain Lion in NC there.........lol.
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Southern

Ten Pointer
Went to Cabelas today. WAY underimpressed. Very little in the way of clothing, ammo considerably more expensive than Field and Stream and Walmart and online retailers, too few sales people on the floor. Saw very few people coming out with bags.
 

chevync20

Twelve Pointer
I was there last night. I know it is out of season, but I did not see the first duck anything in there. Quite disappointing. As the season gets closer we will see what they roll out. Nice to have a place to get everything you need. I was looking at there boat selection, kind of underwhelming as well. I did like that Lowe Roughneck 2070 they had. That looked like a duck boat.
 
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treein dixie

Twelve Pointer
Stopped by yesterday also. They only carried about 5 different deer stands, said they didn't carry turkey chokes, which I later found that they only stocked 6 different ones, most items on the shelf were only one of. They wouldn't return a mail order item unless they only give you back half the price. Place was way to crowded but to be expected because of new. 85% left empty handed as they came. Barging cave didn't have much, but it shows they will take back a pair of shoes no matter how much they been worn or covered in mud and put in the cave. Customer service sucked they didn't have a clue when asked where something was and then just pointed you in a direction.
Left went to Bass Pro store was empty far as customers, just like Cabela's will be in a month. Bass Pro offered more of a discount, store was well stocked to suit the needs and earned my business for the future. Bass Pro was higher on one item that I purchased but priced match Cabela's by me just telling them. Bass pro had lots of stock. Negative for Bass Pro is that there Credit Card folks worry the hell out of you everytime you walk by.
 

Larry R

Old Mossy Horns
Dang, was planning a trip (150+ miles one way) but now that you folks have made it so dismal I guess I'll just forget going period.

I stopped in the Cabelas store at Buda, Tx on my way back from Mexico City, Mexico a couple of years ago. It was awesome but I had two problems. First I was maxed out on allowable airliner weight and secondly I was dead rotten with a serious sinus infection. Spent about an hour just looking around but felt so terrible I just couldn't spend any more time there. I bought a tube of chap stick. LOL.
 

treein dixie

Twelve Pointer
Dang, was planning a trip (150+ miles one way) but now that you folks have made it so dismal I guess I'll just forget going period.

I stopped in the Cabelas store at Buda, Tx on my way back from Mexico City, Mexico a couple of years ago. It was awesome but I had two problems. First I was maxed out on allowable airliner weight and secondly I was dead rotten with a serious sinus infection. Spent about an hour just looking around but felt so terrible I just couldn't spend any more time there. I bought a tube of chap stick. LOL.

I wouldn't make the drive for it to be honest!
 
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