Bass Pro & Spro

[Bill Babler]

Mitch, that is a total lie that you were told.  It is a simple Bait and Switch that they have been known for the past 20 years.  They have tried to pull it on every name brand they stock.  They can make way more off their copy cat junk products.

Tried to pull it with both Shimano and Daiwa on their reel discount/trade in program and both companies said we will no longer be involved.

When you buy a name brand your buying Prime or A-1 Choice.  When you buy Bass Pro Brands your buying Cutters and Canners.  Still meat, you just don't want to eat it.

[ness]

29 minutes ago, top_dollar said:

This is the logical result of 40+ years of legislation that incentivizes corporate consolidation.  Investors in these companies do not care about quality, or selection, or your favorite lure.      

Investors in all companies are interested in return on their investment. That’s why we’ve got the massive and constantly evolving economic juggernaut we have. 
 

If BPS doesn’t deliver the products people want at a price they’re willing to pay they will become available elsewhere. 

[top_dollar]

37 minutes ago, ness said:

Investors in all companies are interested in return on their investment. That’s why we’ve got the massive and constantly evolving economic juggernaut we have. 
 

If BPS doesn’t deliver the products people want at a price they’re willing to pay they will become available elsewhere. 

           That's correct, but clearly BPS doesn't make as much money from SPRO lures than they do from bass pro brand crap, so it would be stupid of them to carry less profitable merchandise. 

         

 

 

[Blll]

Not in love with BP but mostly because of out of stock issues. That said, the Cabela's in Rogers was much worse before becoming a hybrid. BP has doubled the size of the fishing area and yes plenty of it is their own brand but many more rods and reels than before, and the electronics selection is much greater. I agree the fly dept.  is lacking. I tie flys and they are out of most everything I go there for. How can they not carry Spro?  Cabela's never carried Dixie spoons.  I guess the days of the $50 Pro Qualifier bait cast reels are over too. Any thoughts on the BP brand outboard oil? Half the price of other brands with same specs.  JMO

 

[Blll]

1 hour ago, ness said:

Investors in all companies are interested in return on their investment. That’s why we’ve got the massive and constantly evolving economic juggernaut we have. 
 

Question: If BP was a traded company, would you invest in it? 

 

[M_Taylor]

Not to create a run on lures, but the coronavirus is going to affect the ability to get lures and hooks. Spro is one of them but there are others, regardless of what store. Will be interesting to see how long it affects inventories. Aaron at HL&S mentioned the other day when I was in there. So now stocking up on lures has become a matter of survival and preparedness. 😃

[ness]

1 hour ago, Blll said:

Question: If BP was a traded company, would you invest in it? 

Don’t know enough to make an informed decision. But, I wasn’t expressing an opinion on the BPS business model. 

[ness]

2 hours ago, top_dollar said:

           That's correct, but clearly BPS doesn't make as much money from SPRO lures than they do from bass pro brand crap, so it would be stupid of them to carry less profitable merchandise. 

Stupid? I don’t know about that. Their objective is to make money. That will include trying to find the right balance of high and low-margin merchandise. Sounds like a lot of folks on this forum don’t like the tackle offerings at BPS and opt for Tackle Warehouse instead. Do we matter in the grand scheme? 

[Devan S.]

7 minutes ago, ness said:

Stupid? I don’t know about that. Their objective is to make money. That will include trying to find the right balance of high and low-margin merchandise. Sounds like a lot of folks on this forum don’t like the tackle offerings at BPS and opt for Tackle Warehouse instead. Do we matter in the grand scheme? 

Exactly right. The tackle/rod/reel market is heavily saturated. You have tons of options at tons of price points and there isn't a single manufacturer that needs BPS or that BPS needs to have at this point. You can buy almost anything you want with a simple keystroke. 

At the end of the day, almost all these manufacturers are using the same input costs via labor, nearly the same input costs for machining, and the same costs for raw materials. 

I bet if there was someone really in the industry at the actual manufacturing level they could tell you that from a costs standpoint there probably isn't a serious cost difference between expensive items and cheap items and the bulk of the difference is made up to cover things like overhead, sponsorship's, and corporate profits. 

[Bill Babler]

I believe quality control is probably the biggest issue.  Uniformity in products and material cost for higher quality raw materials and also quality workmanship  are a factor.  I have nothing against BP, and their marketing department has always catered to the beginner or the guy that is very cost concience.   They copy a known product and have it made for a little less with a little less quality.  Lower cost materials.

A good friend worked in Springfield for them at the main store for 20 plus years.  When he first started over 90 percent of their product was national brands.  He moved on a year or two ago and now national brands are only 10 percent so they did a complete reversal, and every experienced angler or hunter knows this.

There is plenty of places to buy quality stuff online so that's what I do.