# Sportsman's Warehouse(A message from a former employee)



## 257bob (Jul 28, 2008)

First of all I want to thank the ones who have wrote letters and made phone calls in support for our store. We all enjoyed working there and trying to make your outdoor experience more enjoyable. I would also like to say that no one in this store or company failed. Unfortunately many of our visitors thought we were a museum, and walked out daily empty handed. Many others shopped and then bought online to save a buck(shame on you, I guess you are all happy with the local economy). If it seems like I'm a little disgruntled, well I am. You see I heard 30 times a day how you liked our store and hoped we were doing good, but then didn,t buy anything. I may not be talking to the actual culprits on this forum, but maybe you will get my side of it. As for advertising, we did advertise on radio and newspaper. More importantly we donated money and time to dozens of SE MI clubs and organizations and the members of many of organizations did not show the same support to us. The company does not see the need to advertise to the masses when the masses don't hunt or fish. Unfortunately you will all have to pay higher prices and drive farther to get quality merchandise. Again to all of those of you who supported us, THANK YOU. This was in no way intended towards everyone. This is also my opinion only and does not represent Sportsman's.


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## Slice (Aug 2, 2007)

Wow! No need to be disgruntle. It is a tough economy, can't blame the people that wanted to save a buck. I did not even know there was a sportsman warehouse until my local archery shop informed me. I never saw a flyer in my local paper for your grand opening or anything. If your main source of Advertising was using forums and the Free Press/DetNews then shame on you. I never heard one radio add.

I am sure people who knew you were there will be sorry to see you go.


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## William H Bonney (Jan 14, 2003)

At first glance it appears as if the Sportsman's Warehouse missed the boat. Why on earth would they advertise on the radio and newspaper. First off,, who reads the newspaper nowaday's.... secondly, hitting your target market on radio is a shot in the dark,, at best.


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## dobes (Feb 16, 2007)

I havent once seen or heard even one advertisement for that store. I live very close to that store and did buy alot of tackle because of the cheap prices. I think a commercial or two on t.v. would have made a huge difference. Maybe even a billboard. Oh well.


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## Sib (Jan 8, 2003)

Do a search of this site. While some people enjoyed the store, some questioned if management had the skill to keep the doors open. Even employees thought management had serious shortcomings.

One thing for sure, when a business fails it is almost NEVER the customers fault, after all it's the businesses job to create and meet the needs of it's customers.


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## 257bob (Jul 28, 2008)

A tv commercial could have possibly helped exposure, but it wouldn't have created a return worth the expense. The advertising in every market that SW enters is primarily the same. The difference is in most markets word of mouth and support from the organnizations that we support get the word out to Outdooors men and women far faster than any public media. We did not get that support in this market. This is not the first SW that I have worked in and we did less advertising in that location than we did here and it is one of the 10 best stores in the company. The difference was the customer support.


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## 257bob (Jul 28, 2008)

You will find that all complaints about management are coming from one forum member and are not representative of the other 99% of the employees. As far as who's fault. If you want to put blame on the emplyees and management ok, let me apologize for bending over backwards to attempt to make everyone happy. We were unaware that superior customer service and a huge selection would put us under.


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## Sib (Jan 8, 2003)

257bob said:


> You will find that all complaints about management are coming from one forum member and are not representative of the other 99% of the employees. As far as who's fault. If you want to put blame on the emplyees and management ok, let me apologize for bending over backwards to attempt to make everyone happy. We were unaware that superior customer service and a huge selection would put us under.


I haven't put blame on anyone, you on the other hand have misplaced the blame on the customer, which I feel is a form of denial. The market is the ultimate truth in a business environment.


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## Huntinggirl (Aug 3, 2006)

The only reason I knew it was there was post on this site. Once I did hear about it, Believe me I never walked out empty handed. 

Sorry to see it go, but it is not right that the blame is being put on the customers.......


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## dsconnell (Aug 29, 2007)

257bob said:


> You will find that all complaints about management are coming from one forum member and are not representative of the other 99% of the employees. As far as who's fault. If you want to put blame on the emplyees and management ok, let me apologize for bending over backwards to attempt to make everyone happy. We were unaware that superior customer service and a huge selection would put us under.


What is the point of this post? The store did not make it.. It is not the first time a store did not make it nor will it be the last.. Regardless of the reason behind why, You are certainly not helping by coming on to this site and ranting and raving about how we are cheap and dont buy anything. FYI - I have bought from that store on more than one occasion but that is niether here nor there.. If the sole purpose of you joing the M-S Site is to put the blame on the general public for this store not making it.. I would save yourself the trouble cause you will get torn up on this site.. No mercy here.. I have seen it first hand so I would stop while you are ahead..


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## Michihunter (Jan 8, 2003)

Is it April 1st already? Cuz this guy must certainly be pulling a prank blaming the people of SE MI for his store closing. Nothing like blaming people other than those responsible for the management decisions regarding location and demographics. If that's the case, then good riddance.


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## michigandeerslayer (Oct 24, 2004)

Is cabelas and bass proshops and gander mountain still open?

They are big box store's

I think its all about advertising and location

The Gander montain in Pontiac closed, look where it was..

Sorry about your store closing but its not the first and wont be the last


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## HeavyF150 (Dec 5, 2005)

I for one was only in the store twice. It seemed like a good store, but also seemed lacking in some things.
I stopped by the gun counter and tried to get a couple questions answered on my lunch hour one day. I wasn't in a hurry and didn't have a problem waiting until the one person behind the counter was done with the person before me. When he finally did come down (5 min) I asked him a question abaout a specific gun combo I was looking for and his answer was basically "if it's not on the shelf I can't help you".
The thing that ticked me off was, that was it! He walked away!
To top it off, the gun I had questions about WAS on the shelf, it's just that the combo wasn't, I just wanted to know if they could get it. Oh well, I'll take my $800.00 elsewhere.

This is my point, we have other options now a days. I don't care who you are, you're not the only game in town. You build your business two ways, A) Have the lowest price, or B) Offer something better i.e. customer service.
I got neither there the two times I was there.

You say they advertised.....yeah right! I live 4 miles from the store, the only time I EVER got an ad from the place was just before Christmas last year, it came in the Sunday paper. I never got anything in the mail (Cabela's sends one out about every other month), and I only got emails sent once I subscribed and while they were open I bet I got 3 emails.
Radio ads......nope, don't listen to hillbilly music, I cry enough when I put my own dogs down, I don't want to hear about someone else doing it.

The store didn't even have a board on I-94, Southfield Expressway, or either of the entrances at Outer Dr. or Oakwood, but I think Panera Bread does......

I hate to see ANY outdoor shop go away, and I'll be the first to tell you I don't HAVE to shop at either Cabela's or Bass Pro and would much rather see and touch things in person before buying them. I just don't think the place had a chance from the start.


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## William H Bonney (Jan 14, 2003)

257bob said:


> You will find that all complaints about management are coming from one forum member and are not representative of the other 99% of the employees. As far as who's fault. If you want to put blame on the emplyees and management ok, let me apologize for bending over backwards to attempt to make everyone happy. We were unaware that superior customer service and a huge selection would put us under.


Well,, now you know,, don't make the same mistake again. Huge selection and superior customer service doesn't do squat if there's no customers in your store.


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## 257bob (Jul 28, 2008)

I will now bow out of this thread. I wish we could have made it. I wish that EVERYONE who came in the store would have gotten superior service. I read the many posts on here in the previous weeks, and really take it personal when anyone says they know how it sholud have been. Was the location perfect? No. Did we advertise enough? Maybe not here, but we did what has worked in the past in over 60 locations. Again thank you to those of you who came into the store and made my job fun. As a store I can assure we all enjoyed our jobs and truely tried to help everyone in the same we would expect service.


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## Slice (Aug 2, 2007)

:rant: Well if you look at the original posters join date (July, 2008) and the number of posts (3) all in this thread. You will see why there advertising did not work. A little late to join the masses then complain after you are closed.


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## GuT_PiLe (Aug 2, 2006)

Never heard of the store untill someone on the board mentioned it was open and servicing customers. 

Pretty lousy job of advertising seems partly to blame...but mostly its the Michigan Economy. No one state is hurting as bad as michigan is right now. In case you haven't noticed. The "Motor City" is missing the "Motor" right now. With gas prices soaring, Many people are choosing to buy online...of course!...why wouldn't we be? Now its a legitimate calculation thats needs to be made by every consumer. Every purchase made has a $15 gas expense tacked onto it for travel to and from the store, whereas online, its delivered to your door for $5, sometimes FREE. So what makes sense to me, driving to the eastside to make a $20 purchase only to pay $15 for gas?...or hoping online or running to KD or BassPro both of which are within 1 Camel Light drive from my home?

Your catering to sportsman....the reality is many of us are driving 5.0 to 8.0litre trucks right now because we're stuck in a lease from 2 or 3 years ago. So my $15 for gas travel is probably low....i drive a 4.0L

It's not us the "customers" fault. We are all battling and struggling to stay a float and save a buck when and where we can in the same economy right now. 

Save your store and lose our homes?....or lose the store and save our homes?.....gee...tough one...but the store is a "luxury" for us..and when the economy is the way it is....luxury has to take a back seat.

A different time maybe?...your store would have been prospering and making money hand over fist...but not right now....not for a long while.


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## U of M Fan (May 8, 2005)

I was dissappointed to see the store close. Its close to my house and they had good prices and a good selection. Josh, I think the big problem was advertiseing, not many people even knew that the store existed. I know the chain is bigger out west but alot of people have never heard of Sportsmans Warehouse. I think that you guys had a decent location, way better than the Gander Mtn by southland mall, but people didnt know about it. Plus like someone else said the economy is terrible, I've been laid off over 3 months combined this year and cant afford to go spend on things like that right now. If the upper management would have stuck it out and did some advertiseing I think that store would have been a success. And for you guys bashing him, he is a good guy, he is obviously very dissappointed and maybe coming off in the wrong manner. Good luck Josh.


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

Shame on all us sportsman for not finding him and emptying our bank accounts :tsk:


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## fishindude644 (Jan 3, 2001)

IMO i thnk that was one of the biggest problems. I didn't hear or see too much about them in the papers etc. either.


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## TheLando (Nov 9, 2005)

257bob... 

I'll start by saying, "Wow". 

_Many others shopped and then bought online to save a buck(shame on you,_

Really? Shame on us for trying to save a buck? Really? 

_Unfortunately you will all have to pay higher prices and drive farther to get quality merchandise_

Didn't you just blame use for shopping online for lower prices? So how would driving _and_ higher prices affect us all of a sudden _now_? 

_I will now bow out of this thread._

Really? But you started it... or are you following suit of the Sportsman's Warehouse?


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## bigcountrysg (Oct 9, 2006)

Went there twice. Both times bought things I needed. Yeah the first time I bought more then the second time. But hey I can't help that I guess there wasn't anything I really needed the second time I went. But I looked around and found somethings I could use that I didn't have.


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## Mitchell Ulrich (Sep 10, 2007)

To me, it sounds like you were resting on the strength of past performances, of prior openings, to prevail over the unexpected problems that you encountered with this stores' launch. 

Weather you were handcuffed by the higher ups at Corporate, or it was your own indecision to act when you seen that quota's were not met on the monthly, then at the quarterly level, that led to this closure. 

The common recurring thread is you failed to reach your target audience effectively. The collective "we" simply did not know that you were open or where to find you. 

It's my opinion that the advertising campaign was to blame. Doing what worked before was not enough to stimulate the required growth here. 

Unfortunately for all parties involved, this will most likely mean that a second try wont be attempted in this area or even this state.

Mitch


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## November Sunrise (Jan 12, 2006)

257bob said:


> First of all I want to thank the ones who have wrote letters and made phone calls in support for our store. We all enjoyed working there and trying to make your outdoor experience more enjoyable. I would also like to say that no one in this store or company failed. Unfortunately many of our visitors thought we were a museum, and walked out daily empty handed. Many others shopped and then bought online to save a buck(shame on you, I guess you are all happy with the local economy). If it seems like I'm a little disgruntled, well I am. You see I heard 30 times a day how you liked our store and hoped we were doing good, but then didn,t buy anything. I may not be talking to the actual culprits on this forum, but maybe you will get my side of it. As for advertising, we did advertise on radio and newspaper. More importantly we donated money and time to dozens of SE MI clubs and organizations and the members of many of organizations did not show the same support to us. The company does not see the need to advertise to the masses when the masses don't hunt or fish. Unfortunately you will all have to pay higher prices and drive farther to get quality merchandise. Again to all of those of you who supported us, THANK YOU. This was in no way intended towards everyone. This is also my opinion only and does not represent Sportsman's.


Well, if you're attempting to provide comic relief, you've succeeded. 

I'm assuming by your post that you're a youngster and that your lack of business savvy and understanding can at least be partially explained away by your age. Regardless, do yourself a favor and put your nose to the grindstone and pursue an education. Commit to developing a solid understanding of how business and free enterprise works. Find someone who's successful in business and who will mentor you in areas such as learning how to accept personal responsibility. Life is filled with hardships, such as job losses, that are big in the moment but that will pale in significance over time. Along with pursuing an education, if you haven't already done so, dust yourself off and get out there and find a new job. Quit whining and suck it up and get back into action.


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## milmo1 (Nov 9, 2005)

November Sunrise said:


> Commit to developing a solid understanding of how business and free enterprise works.


Amen. Regardless of what you percieve, management failed. Perhaps not at the store level, maybe more so on the corporate level. They set up shop in a high rent district. They came in at a tough economic time for this area. Everyone in business knows, you don't just waltz into a profit. The first 2-3 *years* can be losers. Apparently, they had not prepared for a long haul to prosperity in this store. 
Advertising was not prevalent enough. I only knew about the store from folks I knew who went to work there.

The prices were good, better than Gander by a lot at times. If folks walk out of your store emptyhanded, it is not their fault, it is the employees/managers. Anyone in retail will tell you the same. Low prices should have facilitated many sales. Service was not given, or not given properly. Buying online does not give you customer service. Additionally, places like Gander Mountain are still hitting sales goals in this slow economy. Why? Service, Selection, Location, Advertising, Loyalty...

I hate to see Sportsman's go as they provided good competition to keep the other stores honest, and they provided jobs, but they screwed themselves.


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## dankoustas (Sep 18, 2007)

Rant, rave, whatever. The fact remains that we are stuck with Gander Mountain in Taylor, and their selection on just about everything completely sucks. Too bad the Sportsman's Warehouse couldn't have gone where the Dunhams is at the corner of Outer Driver and Southfield. I don't think we would be discussing it's closing today had the store had a better location.


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## U of M Fan (May 8, 2005)

dankoustas said:


> Rant, rave, whatever. The fact remains that we are stuck with Gander Mountain in Taylor, and their selection on just about everything completely sucks. Too bad the Sportsman's Warehouse couldn't have gone where the Dunhams is at the corner of Outer Driver and Southfield. I don't think we would be discussing it's closing today had the store had a better location.


I agree. I just dont understand how the company is gonna spend all that money to just stay open for 8 months. I think should have let it stay open alot longer than that before bailing out.


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## Sargeyork (Dec 9, 2004)

I live in Oakland county and only learned of the store from this forum. Dunham's manages to put an ad in every Sunday paper every week and Dick's and Gander do put out fliers occasionally. I go into dunham's about once a month and they are never that busy except during or just before hunting seasons, I don't know how they stay afloat and seem to have strategically placed stores all over town. Their prices are not spectacular and the customer service varies greatly from store to store yet they are doing well it seems. I guess I should have drove 25 miles through construction traffic to check out a store not knowing if they had anything I would be interested in.

Sargeyork


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## Biggbear (Aug 14, 2001)

257bob said:


> First of all I want to thank the ones who have wrote letters and made phone calls in support for our store. We all enjoyed working there and trying to make your outdoor experience more enjoyable. I would also like to say that no one in this store or company failed. Unfortunately many of our visitors thought we were a museum, and walked out daily empty handed. Many others shopped and then bought online to save a buck(shame on you, I guess you are all happy with the local economy). If it seems like I'm a little disgruntled, well I am. You see I heard 30 times a day how you liked our store and hoped we were doing good, but then didn,t buy anything. I may not be talking to the actual culprits on this forum, but maybe you will get my side of it. As for advertising, we did advertise on radio and newspaper. More importantly we donated money and time to dozens of SE MI clubs and organizations and the members of many of organizations did not show the same support to us. The company does not see the need to advertise to the masses when the masses don't hunt or fish. Unfortunately you will all have to pay higher prices and drive farther to get quality merchandise. Again to all of those of you who supported us, THANK YOU. This was in no way intended towards everyone. This is also my opinion only and does not represent Sportsman's.


So you watched people walk out empty handed and did nothing to change that? And now it's the customers fault the store folded? Did you personally ever ask anyone walking out empty handed why they were? That would have been pro-active. To come on here now and cry the blues that we as sportsmen and customers took your job is just about the most ridiculous thing I've seen on this site in a long time. You, not us, sat by and watched money walk out the door, and did nothing about it. I don't care if you were the floor sweeper, worked behind the counter or were the manager, you could have done something and chose not to,that's on you, no one else. This post is the problem with a tremendous number of people lately, it's always someone else's fault. It sucks that you lost your job, join the club, it's getting big. You'd be better off expending your energies finding an new job instead of whining about how someone else is responsible for losing that one. Take some personal responsibility, learn from the experience, and move on. Good luck in your job search, with the boo-hoo, poor me attitude you're going to need all the luck you can get.


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## DANIEL MARK ZAPOLSKI (Sep 23, 2002)

U of M Fan said:


> I agree. I just dont understand how the company is gonna spend all that money to just stay open for 8 months. I think should have let it stay open alot longer than that before bailing out.


can you say CORPORATE BOZOS


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## beer and nuts (Jan 2, 2001)

Typical Corporate robots being taught by high level corporate robots...seeing this type of business "philosophy" all the time lately as corporate america tries to gooble up small business america... what works in Denver, CO or Baltimore, Maryland...does not work in smalltown Midwest America. Corporate bigwigs swooping in and try to robot manage every store by some corporate manual in a week...and then wonder why the new young freshly hired GM making 30 grand and expecting to work 70 hours a week can not make the box store turn and show profit every quarter. How in the world does a business expect to prosper with a mediocre location and limited or poor advertising?? Two basic fundamentals of the business world. 

I never knew this store existed unit some threads popped up couple weeks ago...and I'm pretty savy about outdoor store locations in Michigan..at least I thought I was...heck blame it on me!!


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## Swamp Monster (Jan 11, 2002)

You mean to tell me a company spends all that time, money, and effort into opening a brand new location and can' teven stick it out for more than 8 months? Are you kidding me? Wow, whoever was in on the decision process and planning process devoted to this endeaver needs to be unemployed asap! And I don't care how rosey a picture someone wants to paint of the Sportsmans Warehouse success, trust me, if they can't manage to keep a new store open for more than 8 months, things are not well in their financial world. I can understand if they decided to cut their losses and run after looking at the long term financial outlook but it goes back to the whole original planning.....man did they miss the boat completely. 
Blaming customers is ridiculous really and if that is the conclusion they come to after studying this lesson in economics, the future is dim for this company.


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## Ricky Missum (Jan 10, 2003)

the store until reading threads on the site??? Never made it to the store and never made any purchases from the company!! Company pulled out of town, it's nobodys fault but mine


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## walleyeguy22 (Feb 12, 2007)

This is an example of the kind of people that worked there, and it closed it's doors? How could that be?


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## Banditto (Jun 9, 2000)

Do you carry Whitetail Institute products? "No but these are the exact same thing" 

uh no they aren't, that is like me wasting $80 in gas to put in a food plot

honestly Whitetail Institute is Whitetail Institute... everything else is do it again in 2 years...


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## King Quack (Jul 16, 2003)

None of these stores think about the West side of the state. We are lacking a decent "true sporting goods" store in Muskegon. I actually emailed sportsman's warehouse three years ago and suggested opening a store in West Michigan. It's an open market here for a box store. I guess they couldn't resist the population draw of SE Michigan Oh well


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## soggybtmboys (Feb 24, 2007)

Thats too bad. I liked the store, lots of help, clean, very good prices and it was another option to the stores already around. I got a great deal on an ice shanty this past winter and glad I got it then. Picked up a new safety harness from them bunch of other stuff can't remember. Wished they could have stuck it out, should have advertised some, sounds like a lot of folks didn't even know they were there. Still can't believe they didn't make it a year, some one didn't do their homework on the location or someone got cold feet with slow rolling profits. There were other options than cutting and running. Sunday sales fliers, we can read.


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## HeavyF150 (Dec 5, 2005)

They never even made it through a deer season. They opened after it started and closed before the next season came around.
What a shame, mismanagement at it's finest.
The area could have used some good old fashioned competition, but they never had any "game" to begin with..........


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## ESOX (Nov 20, 2000)

I shopped there several times. I found the employees to be knowledgeable, helpful and courteous. I was really happy with the selection and found the pricing to be very competitive. I think the location they picked was less than ideal. I think the woeful lack of advertising is the biggest culprit in the stores closing. I will miss it, I liked the place.


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## GrizzlyHunter (Jun 17, 2005)

bob257,

If the management at SW feels as you do then they'll destined to fail....AGAIN! The customer is your boss...PERIOD! If you take care of them they'll come back. Either you didn't take care of them - or - most likely in your case you didn't inform them that you were even there. I'm an avid hunter, and I also like to fish and camp and I can honestly say I have never once seen or heard an advertisement about SW. To be honest I don't even know where it is (was). Sooo I guess that's my fault right. Sorry SW failed because of me. But I do know where Cabela's, Jays (both of them), Bass Pro Shop, Franks, Guns Galore, a # of Gander Mountains are. And guess what...they're all still open for busines. Hmmm.

How dare you come on the board and blame everybody else for the results of your own actions. :rant:

P.S.-Sorry for your future failure also since you obviously think this failure it's somebody else's fault so you'll be doomed to repeat the same mistakes.

P.S.S.-I'm in business also and our absolute #1 priority is to take care of our customer. And believe it or not we are enjoying the best year in the history of our company.


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## TheBigEasy (Dec 27, 2004)

I dont agree with the poster at all, and i am a former employee also, but i left the store before this happened. This is not the customers fault. I dont know any blue collar workers, which is the area the store was placed, that are looking for a 1.3k dollar custom cooper rifle, or for 2k dollar+ browning shotguns, they needed to advertise a lot more, they were against and look what happened. They screwed a lot of good people(employees)especially the ones that left their jobs to work there. The management blew smoke up everyones butt to get them to work there, and then 3 months into the store opening, half the fulltimers were cut to part time while the prt timers kept their hours, way to run a business. A few of us there saw this coming at the beginning of the year, i am suprised it happened this fast, but i guess when your company is this big, you have the cash to close up shop and try somewhere else until you get it right.


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## TheBigEasy (Dec 27, 2004)

oh, and to respond to the thread makers comment about having to drive far to find quality outdoor gear, that is a joke, there are a lot of good small and large outfitters in our area.


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## TheBigEasy (Dec 27, 2004)

I'm glad someone from management made a thread, it proves my post that was locked a couple weeks ago about how the store was ran.

now what do i do with my old work shirts. oh, i have an idea. MOP!


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## duckcommander101 (Jan 14, 2003)

I am also a former employee of SW.

While I do not subscribe to the same feeling about the whole closing as The Big Easy or 257 Bob; I do have a few observations of my own to ad.

I worked in the Hunting Department Part-Time and I was new to retail but definitely not new to hunting or hunting equipment.

Many of the other Hunting Department employees had many years of experience working retail in this type of store and all were more than willing to share their knowledge with a newbie like me.

Alot of these folks left longtime employment at other stores to work at SW and it really sucks that they are now out of a job.

My Department Managers were very knowledgeable and patient with an employee who was learning the ropes of retail and completing ATF paperwork for firearm purchases. And they were all good guys as well.

I learned alot about handguns and rifles (I am a waterfowler by trade so they don't really interest me much), and I shared my knowledged about waterfowling and chasing turkeys (however limited my turkey hunting knowledge is) with my coworkers.

The employees and managers in the other departments were all very friendly to me, well except one guy, but you can't get along with everyone.

There have been comments that the store manager was lacking in some areas, I did not see that as the case, but everyone is entitled to their opinion.

Everyday that I worked I heard multiple times from customers "I never even knew you were here until I was at Best Buy and saw the sign" or "This is a nice store, great selection, great layout". These often spoken words are testament to the fact that the advertising that was out there was not working, or at the very least not working well enough.

I agree with the multiple comments about the perect storm economy that SW came into, you could not pick a worse time to try and establish a store in the area.

I think that the selection available in the store was excellent, and it was quality equipment as well.

The staff were knowledgeable and helpful with the customers, at least as far as I witnessed, and the store was very generous with MANY local conservation minded groups and organizations.

I also believe whole heartedly that opening on 11/1/07 was less than desirable as half of the hunting season was over already and with the closing they did not even give the store a chance to show what kind of monies it could generate from an entire hunting season.

I actually applied half heartedly, figuring I would not hear from them last fall. But as it turned out I am glad I had the opportunity to work there, I just wish it lasted a lot longer.

If SW ever decides to come back to the area, I would hope to be able to go back to work for them as other than the obvious store closing I have nothing but good things to say about the experience.

TBE, when you say "They Failed" it sure looks like you're telling your former coworkers they also failed. The torn up shirt picture is very weak by the way.

257Bob (if that's you Josh) I don't know if the local people, the stores customers, should be blamed for anything. If they don't know the store is there how can they support it? 

The ones who knew it was there may not have spent money every time they came in, but at least in my Department some repeat customers were contemplating making a large purchase (like a gun) and wanted to see the item before they spent their hard earned money on a want instead of a necessity in these tough economic times. 

Many people were just in looking around on their lunch hours.

I told everyone I know about it and many came in and made purchases, my Dad personally spent several grand on hunting equipment as did several of my Uncles, my boss and the club that I run (we bought 34 dozen decoys a few weeks back for our youth hunt and spent $1400.00 in March on items for our dinner). I have heard so many "I can't believe they closed, it was the only place i could get .......", "They had great prices", "I liked that place".

Irregardless what's done is done.

And you know who the one employee that I didn't get along with is, he's a tool plain and simple and I made sure he knew that.




Quite honestly, the whole thing is just sad for everyone involved. The employees, The local economy, The local sportsmen and women and SW.


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## TheBigEasy (Dec 27, 2004)

Hey, i do not mean at all that the co-waorkers failed, they were great, I never worked with such great employee's. i learned so much working with you guy. Matt, i belive it is, by your Screan anme here, you were prolly one of my favorite people to work with, i never met someone with such greta knowwledge of waterfowl hunting. Imean management completely when i say "they" failed, this was a coporate fail, this was not on the floor lvl.


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## TheBigEasy (Dec 27, 2004)

hold strong guys, try to get your jobs back at gander if you can, sportsmans screwedd over a lot of people. Matt, you werte a pleasure to work with, this is Eric L if you were wondering, left in Febuary afte i was cut from full time to 3.5 hrs per weeks.


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## duckcommander101 (Jan 14, 2003)

Eric, I knew it was you. Your avatar (the one you used to have) is a big giveaway.


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## snaggs (Jul 20, 2005)

........................george w bush........................


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## Hoyt_em (Aug 2, 2008)

didn't even know it existed...as a matter of fact, I work in a shop, a lot of us hunt and fish...never heard a word about the store. Sounds to me like a poor business plan, starting with the location, and followed up with a lack of advertising...shame on the customer for not finding, and passing word of mouth.


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## symen696 (Nov 7, 2006)

Huntinggirl said:


> The only reason I knew it was there was post on this site. Once I did hear about it, Believe me I never walked out empty handed.
> 
> Sorry to see it go, but it is not right that the blame is being put on the customers.......


One real sportsmen cant go to a store and not buy something. Two I never heard of it until a week before it closed. So I would agree with you


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## fulldraw (Nov 20, 2002)

I was in the store 3 times and bought 2 items. I most items sportmens was over priced including ammo, guns, and clothing. I did find a couple of items in the archery dept. that were good prices I believe me I bought them. but for the most part nothing caught my eye as a great deal. I hate to see sports store close but if the prices were more competitive than it may have stayed open longer.


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## Rasher (Oct 14, 2004)

What fulldraw said and then some. I had 1 great trip there a few so-so trips and a hand full of why are you even open trips. The 1 stand out trip my wife and I were looking for something for my son for his birthday, they did not have what we were looking for, the lady clothing mngr. went way outa her way to find it for us and have them hold it for us at a rival(GM) store.

A few trips I got what I was looking for but getting someone to help me was like pulling teeth, 2-3 employees leaning over the gun counter bs'n with each other and when I interupted them they acted like they were doing me a favor to help me.


The gun mngr, was the worst of all, (they had shelf tags that were empty without product, stuff that I would have bought, that stayed empty from the day the opened till the day they closed)when I asked him about the empty products, he said" if there is a tag we will get it" and I said I have been told that 2 months ago, his reply "I cant help when it gets here", then I asked if I could special order these items he said "no we dont do special orders". The whole time he was leaning on the gun counter with a outside magazine in his hands.

My wife and I worked for the Meijer chain for 5 years, if a customer wanted something that we could get we got it, and NEVER would they open a store with empty shelf tag. Who doesnt do specail order for Paying customers.

I just seems to me that the powers to be might have ment this store to fail right from the start, I live about 5 mile from the store and never got a flier----ever, that and no sign, what corprate planner is going to let a store go up with out a sign.


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## duckcommander101 (Jan 14, 2003)

Rasher said:


> What fulldraw said and then some. I had 1 great trip there a few so-so trips and a hand full of why are you even open trips. The 1 stand out trip my wife and I were looking for something for my son for his birthday, they did not have what we were looking for, the lady clothing mngr. went way outa her way to find it for us and have them hold it for us at a rival(GM) store.
> 
> A few trips I got what I was looking for but getting someone to help me was like pulling teeth, 2-3 employees leaning over the gun counter bs'n with each other and when I interupted them they acted like they were doing me a favor to help me.
> 
> ...



Rasher,
It was embarrasing to say we did not do special orders, as well as we will get out of stock in at some point, but that's really what was going on.
Out of stock items were only replaced if corporate sent new stock to replace it, there is no calling to say "we're out of this send us more next week" because they (distribution warehouse) absolutely send what they want to each store, not what the store necessarily needs.


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## Swamp Monster (Jan 11, 2002)

duckcommander101 said:


> Rasher,
> 
> Out of stock items were only replaced if corporate sent new stock to replace it, there is no calling to say "we're out of this send us more next week" because they (distribution warehouse) absolutely send what they want to each store, not what the store necessarily needs.



And that is a big, big problem. Tell that to a corporate buyer at Cabelas or Bass Pro and they'll get a good laugh!! GM had/has the same problem but to a much lessor extent. At leat they are able to get some regional items in stock that local customers want. Soudns like Sportsmans upper management really dropped the ball. I deal with corporate (in a different field) and I cannot even imagine ever being set up to fail so miserably. It's a shame for some fo the good folks that worked there, and it's a shame for the potential customer base as well.


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## Rasher (Oct 14, 2004)

duckcommander101 said:


> Rasher,
> It was embarrasing to say we did not do special orders, as well as we will get out of stock in at some point, but that's really what was going on.
> Out of stock items were only replaced if corporate sent new stock to replace it, there is no calling to say "we're out of this send us more next week" because they (distribution warehouse) absolutely send what they want to each store, not what the store necessarily needs.


 
That leads to believe without a doubt that this store was a tax write off from the word go.


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## Rugerdog (Sep 19, 2005)

A lot of posters on this thread feel the same way I do/did...

I went to SW 3 times, I think. The most I got there was a Diet Coke. I could never find what I was looking for.

The last time I went there, I was looking for 3 specific fishing items, and they had none of them.

As I left the store, I sent my friend a text, which read, "For a store loaded with so much stuff, they don't have a goddam thing!"

A week later, I read of their closing on this site.

I feel bad for the former employees, seems their hands were tied by a poorly run deal.


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## MERGANZER (Aug 24, 2006)

I never knew they existed anywhere in MI. Maybe some advertising woulda helped out

Ganzer


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## duckmeister (Dec 4, 2004)

Guys/gals,

First of all, I would just like to say that I am now an "outsider"; because of a job situation I had to move from MI to the Denver, CO area. I hope people don't mind if I still visit the site, because there is a lot of good information and a lot of great people on this site.
That said, there is a Sportsman's Warehouse near my new home. They are well stocked and the people are very friendly. I think that the situation that has been talked about in the previous threads was just a bad deal all around. Not every store in a chain will be great, whether it is location, staff, poor planning, lack of corporate support, etc.
Incidentally, for the people who complain about Gander Mountain, depending upon the store, they are great out here. The store in Aurora is the top grossing store in the chain. The Bass Pro Shop on the other hand is a different story. I went in to buy a new fly rod, and the staff was more concerned with talking fishing with a couple of buddies than actually making a sale. I walked out and went to a mom and pop store and spent my money. I guess the moral of the story is that no matter what the chain, you will have good and bad stores/employees.
Take care all, and I miss Michigan already.
DM


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## Gander Club (Dec 31, 2004)

Talk to some people that supply SW and find out how long it takes to get paid. They sure aren't paying their vendors like they used to. The company has problems plain and simple.


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## UPhiker (Jul 13, 2008)

Gander Club said:


> Talk to some people that supply SW and find out how long it takes to get paid. They sure aren't paying their vendors like they used to. The company has problems plain and simple.


Bingo! We have a winner. That's the problem in a nutshell. With the tightened credit in all businesses, many suppliers wouldn't ship unless they were paid upfront. SW decided that they were better off closing stores that _might_ be profitable in the future and transfer the merchandise to stores that _will_ make money. In better times the store would have had at least another year to get on its feet.


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## Wishn I was fishn (Mar 4, 2001)

Sportsmans Who?


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