I stopped at Sydney several times on my way to WY to trap for cold weather clothing. It was Sydney or mail order only. Couldn't find real cold weather clothing anywhere around here at the time. Back then they sold a rubber boot that came almost to your knee. Had a draw string at the top that worked very well for keeping snow out. Had a liner that was silver on the outside about a half inch thick and white on the inside. They were cheap. 40 bucks. Used them with snow shoes. Great boots. Dry feet. Flat didn't get cold feet. Quit selling them quite a few years ago. wish I knew where I could still buy them.

Good luck with any new business they will need it. Over 60% of new business fail.

They were well on their way before Bass Pro took over.

I looked this up and there are actually two businesses started by former Cabela's managers. this is a man and wife show and the other Nexgen Outfitters started by several other former C's employees https://nexgenof.com
Both were sued on non compete basis and won against BP in De.
Sidney is subsidizing both companies apparently.

Why would anyone buy from either of these places. You can get almost everything on amazon, shipped quickly, at a lower price.

X10000000

Your right about most of that except the lower price.

Herter's starts successful mail order business in 1937
Starts to open brick & mortar stores
Cabela's buys Herter's foam decoy patents and factories
Herter's goes bankrupt in 1981
Bass Pro buys Cabela's
Ex Cabela's employees open mail order business

This business model has come full circle- I hope they do well, the online shopping experience is a little different than it was in 1937 and Amazon is a 900lb gorilla in that space. This is a tough road.

It was supposedly over the non-compete agreement Cabela's signed when they sold out.

For the same reason I buy what I can from our local merchants. The giants just keep getting bigger and at some point will become our only choice, going to be a sad day.

Have you compared Amazon's prices with other sources lately? If you had you would realize they are no longer consistently the cheapest place to purchase stuff and haven't been for a long time.

Wish them luck but realistically this is a tough market. Will be hard to create a very successful business in the long term in the outdoor market. Not crazy about their web page, could use some work. I have not been to Cabelas since the acquisition hoping prices havent changed too much?

I buy from my local hardware store because of the convenience. If I'm working on a project and need something I'd rather drive fifteen minutes than forty minutes to the nearest big box store even if it mean paying a few cents more.

And if you compare prices a lot like I do you'd soon realize that the big box stores are not the cheapest place in town, especially with hardware like nuts, screws, bolt and nails. You can sometimes pay double or more at a big box than at a local store for those items.

And the lumber at the big boxes? Don't even get me started. I have a commercial account at both Lowe's and The Home Depot and I get a 5% discount on everything at Lowe's. Even so, I stopped buying some products, especially sheet goods, from them. The stuff is terrible quality and overpriced. I get good 1/2" plywood at my local suppliers that is significantly lees expensive than Lowe's, even with the discount.

Originally from Revere, MN, so it's a Minnesota name Norwegian at that. I have known them all my life. First met Dennis Highby when he worked for Herters in Mitchell. They folded and was looking for Job when Jim & Dick Cabela found him. They started him out on a pretty small salary. He started making the James River Bear Traps at Vermillion, with a High School friend from the Revere area. Jim & Dick found out and said, whats up with that? Dennis said, I can't raise a family on what your paying me. Cabelas Boys said, we will give you additional 1.5% of total sales from Cabelas, if I'm correct. That was in the early 70's and Dennis done very good for himself till he retired from the position of Cabelas CEO.

Bass Pro taking over Cabelas hurt the Sydney location dearly, and they thought they could give back by starting another business there. I hope it goes well them and the community. I will buy from them in a heart beat!

Most of the stuff on Amazon is being sold by small businesses. Amazon is just an outlet to sell online.

The value proposition for Amazon is Logistics- harder to compete on small parcel freight for some of the littler guys.

Amazon is not a good option for Canadians when it comes to outdoors equipment of any sort. The price gouging and lack of selection make it uncompetitive for most items.
Cabelas Canada at least has sales once in a while.

I'm just not feeling it at Cabelas anymore. I was a little mad after the took my cabelas club Visa and stuck me with a Mastercard with a higher interest rate. I always bought all my hunting stuff from them. In my opinion I always felt that bass pro had cheaper made clothing and such. Now I just order everything thru my buddy at his gun shop he just opened. He has great customer service especially when I can call him when he is closed and he will open up so I can buy something. He is a little higher but when you factor in drive time etc, I'm getting a great deal.

Sidney also was the location of the Cabelas corporate offices (closed now) which employed more than the store, I'm guessing. All Cabelas employees at Sidney were offered a sweet deal from the local Ford dealer, and many of them drove nice new Ford pickups. That's gone now.

That new highly online store sells 16 gauge steel shot ammo and cabelas/bass pro does not. I'll give highly a try.