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I received a call today from Stu Utgaard the CEO of Sportsmans Warehouse, and he said their grand opening is May 29 here in Tallahassee, and they are in a center with Kohls, Costco, and one other place. Can't get much better information than that.

The important thing here is the CEO called on a Sunday to tell me this. Not his secretary or a minion. But the man himself. Thats customer service.

Thats good service, but I can get Heath Sanders on the phone anytime I call South GA Outdoors. And if he don't treat me right I can get Jett Cox on the phone just as fast.

I think I'd rather spend my money with a local business.

birddog wrote:Thats good service, but I can get Heath Sanders on the phone anytime I call South GA Outdoors. And if he don't treat me right I can get Jett Cox on the phone just as fast.

I think I'd rather spend my money with a local business.

Yep.

For someone who has over 70 stores to call little ole me back though is pretty cool.

I support the local stores too, but those big stores brought a lot of little stores in line 15-20 years ago. At one time there were a lot of little grocery stores charging outrageous prices in small communitites because they could and people would pay. But the big box stores came along with big buying power, and those "Little Guys" (Who drove $60k trucks, pulling $50k boats living in million dollar houses, off me paying them way too much) brought their prices in line and adapted to it by selling items the big box stores did not, or closed up shop (because they refused to accept the change and adapt to it). So I support the little guy as long as they are supporting me. In this area we are fortunate to have a lot of smallers outfits that do support the communitiy and offer discounts to club members. But a little healthy competition helps us all. I remember driving down here three years ago and every bait and tackle shop sold the exact same things out of the Henry's catalog, and everyone fished with live shrimp on a popping cork.

I can also remember when those small grocery stores got all inflamed about those big box stores called Winn Dixie, Piggly Wiggly, and Harveys came to town. Worked out pretty good though.

My how things have changed.

I am sticking with Heafus...oh wait a minute....my phone didn't ring for a duck hunt this year....hmmmmm j/k

I've got some good friends with a tackle store here and they are a stocking bass pro dealer. Can't imagine bass pro coming to town will help them. Carlton's just closed their fishing section last year and they had a real good year because of it. Overall, I would ten times rather shop at Cabelas than BP.

jsuber wrote: those "Little Guys" (Who drove $60k trucks, pulling $50k boats living in million dollar houses, off me paying them way too much)

... sounds like a sporting goods store I know of on CCNE, cough

Bring these big guys in. I will still support local business as much as possible but 9 times out of 10 their selection is just too small and here I am paying shipping to BPS & Cabelas.

I was actually talking about someone else not even in this area.

Thanks BD, glad someone sticks up for the little man! Next time your kid needs a baseball team sponsored , give me or Heath a call, let the other guys call the box store and see what they say!!! I agree competition is healthy and I welcome any store to come in and try to compete with us. Not only will we bust their arse on price, we eat em alive with our service!!!

BAD BEHAVIOR wrote:Thanks BD, glad someone sticks up for the little man! Next time your kid needs a baseball team sponsored , give me or Heath a call, let the other guys call the box store and see what they say!!!

Now that you mention it Jay, I do have this little fishing team fishing the IFA Redfish Tour and we really need some traveling/lodging sponsor money.

If little means kids, let me know how much. If little means a few adults, youre on your on, I didnt even get an invite!!

BAD BEHAVIOR wrote:If little means kids, let me know how much. If little means a few adults, youre on your on, I didnt even get an invite!!

Chalk and I have been told we act like children.

Yea I am definitly in favor of Cabellas over BPS. But anything besides Kevins will be fine with. Kevins jack their prices and have horrible service. Atleast in my experiences the past few years. Cabellas is #1. I just do not like Kevins. Sorry.

gitrdonegrouper wrote:Yea I am definitly in favor of Cabellas over BPS. But anything besides Kevins will be fine with. Kevins jack their prices and have horrible service. Atleast in my experiences the past few years. Cabellas is #1. I just do not like Kevins. Sorry.

I share that feeling about Kevin's. Somehow, the place is popular and he has made a killing, so somebody likes it. I don't, at all.

It attracts the North Florida/Georgia Thomasville Plantation, Killearn crowd with too much money and not much sense. It also has a rather snooty, newly rich redneck atmosphere.

I go there because Tallahassee has NO alternative quality sporting goods/saltwater fishing stores. West Marine and Boater's World carry some stock, but their rods and tackle in general are low end, Wally World or maybe one step above. If Sportsman's Warehouse is just another cheapie line chain it will be no big deal to me. The cheap, entry level stuff at Wally, West, and Boater's is nearly identical, and the staff doesn't even fish. Reels are O.K., but price controls keep those prices all the same, so I would much rather buy at a good, locally owned store if we had one here.

EJ

EddieJoe wrote: but price controls keep those prices all the same, so I would much rather buy at a good, locally owned store if we had one here.EJ

Littoral wrote:If Basspro has it Advantage will get it for you for the same price.
Dale said if you give him the product number as it's listed online then he'll have it in 4 days. No shipping.

Next time you go in Kevin's ask to talk to Lynn and see if he won't give you a low price on what you need. I thought the same thing about Kevin's for a while, just from what I had heard. I was going to buy a new Curado and found the lowest price ($198.00) at Wally World. Thought I would save a few bucks, but after the WORST experience I have ever had with customer service at any store, I decided that I would not be giving the Walton family anymore of my fishing money and I let them keep their reel. So I decided to run by Kevin's just to see what they had. I talked to Lynn and he gave me the reel right off for $179.00. I didn't have to dicker with him or anything. I was shocked, but that's what happened. I'm sure others have had different experiences, but that's mine.

I'm all for supporting local business. Even if it does cost a few dollars more, which was not the case with Kevin's in my experience, it's worth it to me to get good service.

I'm not against BPS coming to Tallahassee, we bought a Mako Inshore at the Destin Store. I like the store. But again, buying that boat was a customer service nightmare. It was over a month from when we paid for the boat until we were able to pick it up. We were promised earlier pick up times over and over. We finally had to go over and sit 8 hours while they did the work they were supposed to have finished. It was like watching the Key Stone Cops set your boat up. We actually had to tell them how to hook up the battery charger correctly (they told us they couldn't install it becuase the cables were too short derrr, lengthen the cables), install the right radio antenna (they had an 8' fiberglass antenna on the console that a bimini top could not clear ) and they installed the bimini top too far back on the boat so that when you laid it back it sat on top of the motor cowling . There goes the hull warranty with the holes that had been drilled. We had to take it back for them to make fiber glass repairs(another two weeks before we could pick it up). That was fun . It's bad when you have to become your own customer service manager. With all that said, we like the boat. We've already made a lot of good memories in it. Ok, there's my .02.