Sportsmans Warehouse big mistake

Guys... please DO NOT believe everything that a store employee tells you about a company. Some times you are just speaking with the wrong guy on the wrong day. Who ever told you that they only get 5% off is lying to your face. Most bigbox retailers have a great discount policy. I have worked for three of the large retail outdoor stores, Gander, Bass Pro, and Sportsman's. All of them have their problems and all of them have their high points. The high points far out weigh the trouble. The first thing you have got to realize is that these corporations are sometimes run by people who don't have a clue that all these "little" problems leads to one big one, lose of customers. That is the last thing that these companies want. They want to hold on to every last person they can, but just like anything else in life they can not help everyone with every problem. Your best bet (in any situation) is to talk to the store manager. They are the ones that will make things better with a quickness. They DO NOT want anything bad to get back to their corporate office. They will take care of the problems at the store level and keep many more problems to a minimum for future visits. These companies can't fix problems if no one lets them know.

You also have to understand that sometimes it is just out of the retailer's hands. The vender's can make a retailer's life a living hell when they do not meet deadlines on delivery of products. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
Man, I never expected this post to go where it has. I certainly wasnt trying to dissaude anyone from shopping at SW or supporting a boycott. My point was I felt they were making a mistake as far as worrying TOO much about the bottom line as opposed to developing a loyal customer base with exceptional customer service. Regardless of the fact that some have spoken to their local stores and these services are still in place, it is true that Corporate has put a kabosh on some of these things. No more lay aways, no more outfitter discounts and no more Military discounts. They also have said that the little $10 off coupons they use to hand out when you spent $50 or more are a thing of the past. Maybe not all stores are on board yet but they soon will be. I still think SW is a good store with good prices and some good inventory but they also have trouble in some areas with their ordering system. It often results in them not having what customers want or need. My whole point was that if they want to compete with the other big chains, I think they should step up some of their customer service practices and do a better job on controlling inventory or stock. Maybe if enough customers expressed their dissatisfaction with the termination of some of these things or their lack of inventory, it could make a difference. My intent for this post was not for it to take the direction it has.
 
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My intent for this post was not for it to take the direction it has.



Since when does intent have to do with the direction of a thread. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
I didn't talk to them, but my dad did. I was told that they still had an account with the company's but they just didn't see the need to order what the consumers was asked for. We carry what we carry. My dad owns a golf show that i work at one day a week. And if a customer wants something we don't have, we bend over backwards to hunt it down for them. Even if it means opening new accounts.
 
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but they just didn't see the need to order what the consumers was asked for. We carry what we carry.



OK, here are the options as I see it.

1) The wrong person was talked to.
2) We are missing a lot of the back story.
3) Since this is second hand information it is not being passed on with all the details.
4) They can't get what is wanted and thats legit (ties into #3).
5) Misunderstanding on the phone.

Not saying that everybody in every company is the equal (Lord knows they are not) and maybe it should have been escalated to somebody else. I am very certain that if I was in a similar situation that I would have a lot more detail than "we carry what we carry" if I chose to push the issue. Sorry, there is something missing in this story.

Not trying to bust your chops on this at all but the answers were to vauge. Heck, I'd even call for you and I can assure you I would have much more detail to the problem.
 
At the SW I frequent, I was pretty disappointed when I went to purchase a new set of snow camo duds for the upcoming coyote hunting (this was last Nov.). They only had two choices and only a couple sizes in what they did have. I asked one of the clothing assistants about possibly getting some more snow camo clothing in and she told me they were done getting camo coats/pants in because hunting season was over. When I told her "no, we hunt coyotes all winter long" she scoffed at me and said they didn't stock stuff for coyote hunters!!?? Before I left I talked to the store manager, not complaining, just asking if they could get some more snow camo in. He was surprised at the response of the clothing assistant to coyote hunting (he himself being a coyote hunter) and a week later a whole pile of King's snow camo was on the racks.

I did check at our brand new Cabelas about a half mile from my house and their selection consisted of a rack of white cotton overcoats, (they did have about 2 acres of mossy oak camo, which nobody uses around here) and when I inquired about getting some more in they told me I could order anything I wanted out of the catalog (well duh!). A week later, Cabelas still had the same crappy selection. I also looked for white tape for my rifles, and they had none. Most serious hunters and shooters that I know around here don't even bother with Cabela's as it is more of a tourist trap than anything (they do have some cool mounts). Most of us shop at SW and another local sporting goods chain.
 
Ok, I just read all of the comments about SWO. As I currently work at one, I will try to dispel the inaccurate info I see.

First, yes, they did cancel the layaway program. It mostly had to do with the fact that people would put guns on layaway, and either never pick them up or cancel about 2/3s of the way thru the 90 day time frame. This does prevent a person who has cash on hand from buying a firearm that is the only one in the store but on layaway. I have suggested that people contact our corp. office to voice their opinion on this matter. (I have learned that when dealing with corp. people, the nicer you are the better your chances are at coming away with what you want). Also, the more people who call and say they would like the layaway program back, especially in these economic times, the better the chances they will reinstall the program.

Second, as mentioned before, we are at the mercy of our vendors for just about all of our stuff. Many people do not realize that manufacturers make their items in "runs". If they only make 500 of a particular item, and 500 are shipped out and then sold, there simply are no more items for a retailer to get until the next "run" is produced. This applies to most everything as machines need to be retooled to make the different items.

Third, the inventory issue is a multifacted one. Yes, corp. switched over to a new system and yes they are still trying to perfect it. But, if the stores do not have accurate inventory counts, they will not receive the merchandise from the warehouse. Case in point is primers. Our store just wasn't getting them and kept calling the warehouse to no avail. Well, came to find out that the computer said we had hundreds of them when in fact we didn't. We fixed the count and we are getting them with every week's truck (& our primers are now being counted weekly!!).

Fourth, about the bonus check referred to earlier. Each store does have a goal to make. Bonuses would depend on if you met or exceeded your goal. They were not as high as the person mentioned in the 3 years I have worked for them. Just like any other company, don't make the numbers, don't get a bonus!

Fifth, we at the store level send speical purchase requests to our buyers. In order to do a speical order, the amount has to be greater than $300 as we have a minimum dollar amount we must purchase from a vendor. If only 1 or 2 people ask for an item and it does not meet the minimum dollar amount requirement we cannot order it. I imagine that if 100 people were seeking the same item, they would more than likely pursue making it a regularly stocked item.

As for the comment on the predator supplies, only one store was a test market for it in the beginning. I found out that the Goodyear store had the wire stretchers, fleshing knives, tail strippers and so on. I called the hunting field mananger and told him our store could certainly sell those items (I belong to 2 varmint calling clubs & knew no one else in town had them) and within 2 weeks our store recevied the items. We sell just about every one of the previous mentioned items within a week of getting them in.

I will close with this: Granted some of the items given at the yearly party may not be the "best" of the returned stuff, but most of the items are brand new! We had new coolers, fishing rods & reels, gift cards for popular restaurants ect. I am sorry that you feel how you do but I do my best to insure the customers I deal with on a daily basis are taken care of and made to feel important. That is why they return and ask for me when they come in. I enjoy working with hunters and shooters and sharing my stories but I get miffed when someone has a bad day or bad experience and blames everyone associated with the company they are mad at. Hmmm.... punish the masses for the actions of a few.

Sorry this was so long but felt I had to try to set the record straight.
 
I am patiently waiting until the walls and final construction is started here in Visalia. SW says store will be open by holiday season, we'll see.
 
I guess I will jump in here with a little history about Sportsman’s because I my family was close to the guy who started it and know the current owner. Sportsman’s was started by a guy who was in a partnership with my father in a chain of fishing tackle stores in the late 70’s in Salt Lake City. His goal on opening Sportsman’s was to sell products at the lowest price, and he sacrificed almost everything to do that. In the early days they did not answer the phone, sale licenses, or have any customer service. The only staff they had was minimum wage high school kids to stalk shelves and prevent shoplifting. Knowledgeable guys could get anything they wanted at 15-20% less than anywhere else including catalogs. It work well for experienced hunters and fisherman but people new to the sport always complained about the service or lack there of, and would shop at a higher priced retailer until they knew what they were doing. Then enviably they would head on down to Sportsman’s to save money. I taught ton’s of guys how to fish in my families fishing tackle stores only to have them start shopping at Sportsman’s a year or two later. That was their business model and it worked very well.

In the late 90’s the guy who started Sportsman’s sold it to a guy who buys, grows, and then flips businesses. When he bought it there were 3 stores, now there are around 60!!! He still uses the same business model; except he has better staff and prices are about 10 % higher. The biggest problem with the growth is their new company wide central shipping program. It has been a nightmare for stores because the system is not working well. Reports are that they bought the wrong system. Product can not get shipped fast enough to the stores outside of Salt Lake. In the past few months it is getting a lot better.

As to the complaints by employee, you will find those in any retailer. Sportsman’s does not pay that well because they do not have to. There are a million guys who think it is their dream job until they actually work 8 hours on concrete listening to a bunch of complaining customers. Ya turnover is high but there is another 10 guys wanting the job.

I have a Cabela’s 15 miles from my house and I NEVER go there. #1 I hate anything that says Cabela’s on it. I do not want to buy store brand stuff, period. #2 the people at Cabela’s do not know anything more that the people at Sportsman’s in fact I think they know a lot less. #3 The Prices at Cabela’s are easily 10-15% higher if you can find what you want that is not a knock off Chinese crap with Cabelas written all over it. #4 I got a $50 Cabela’s gift card for Christmas last year and need about 4 things, I could not find one of the things on my list. I ended up buying 4 bricks of 22 shells just to get rid of the thing.

I know Sportsman’s is far from perfect and I actually shop there less than mom and pop stores, but they are not in trouble and are growing incredibly fast. I think they are now #4 and in 2 years should be #2 in total sales nation wide, right behind Wal Mart in sporting good sold.

Just my $0.02 sorry for being long winded.
 
NevJohn,
Is that going to be a SW or a Cabelas? I live near there and heard it was going to be Cabelas.
Dont know.
 
I have only been to one SW and it wasnt too bad. I have seen better and I have seen worse. They have a wonderful selection of childrens cap guns! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
We don't have a SW here in Rapid City but we are getting a Cabelas by the end of the summer! I can say goodbye to all of my free time and my paychecks!
 
SW has been pretty good to me so far have not had to many problems with them. I do know that I talked with one of the managers in the archery section and he said that they do not fletch arrows. Which is fine with me b/c I am actually in the process of building up a small achery shop now. I am currently working out of my garage helping guys finre tune their bows and building arrows for them. I asked the store manager about putting some cards up at the achery desk just for fletching and he said that it would not be a problem. So far I have done about a dozen different orders for SW customers.The closest BSP is 2.5 hrs away and no Cabelas even close soon other than mom and pops or SW what other choice do I have Walmart (I don't think so) So SW will continue to get my buisness. Our store is one that has tanning solutions, stretchers and so forth.
 
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