Sportsman's Warehouse at Hamburg is Closing

[MrSplitshot]

Just got an email from Sportsman's Warehouse saying the the Hamburg location is closing July 31 and liquidation starts now. Wow...

That's a big new building that will be empty in a prime location.

[fishhunter]

That will be good news for Backwaters.

[rustedhook]

Just got an email from Sportsman's Warehouse saying the the Hamburg location is closing July 31 and liquidation starts now. Wow...

That's a big new building that will be empty in a prime location.

This will be no great loss. The shelves were always empty anyway.

[know1]

I never even went in it. The one time I stopped by there to shop it was a Friday night about 8PM and they were already closed. They never seemed too serious about being successful to me.

[MrSplitshot]

Well, I shopped it, but supply was always an issue. Bought some guns there and shooting supplies...occasional fishing gear, but very little in that department. I think the supply issues were out of the local guy's control because of the way corporate did the ordering, and then the corporation going into bankruptcy didn't help.

I don't know that it will help Backwaters that much, because Sportsman's never had anything on the shelves in the fishing department to challenge with anyway. Maybe at first, but once they were out, they were out.

I just hate to see any business fail in this economy and add more unemployed workers, empty buildings, and missed car/rent/mortgage payments to the hot mess we're in. If I was a millionaire I'd swipe that nice piece of prime real estate and wait for the economy to rebound.

[fishincreek]

I'm with Mr. Splitshot- hate to hear it as well. I know the manager really tried to make/keep folks happy and did the best he could. The people always treated me great.

[ladybass]

walmart has a better selection on lures than they have

[monsterfisher]

I went in several times to buy specific items and every time I came out empty handed. I tried to buy stuff, but they were always out of stock. They had a lot of crap on the shelves but all the good stuff was always out of stock.

[Fntsyfbgod]

I went in several times to buy specific items and every time I came out empty handed. I tried to buy stuff, but they were always out of stock. They had a lot of crap on the shelves but all the good stuff was always out of stock.

I have to disagree. They carried lots of quality baits that are hard to find baits. Lucky Craft, Yamamoto, IMA, hard to find chatterbaits, quality shakey heads, among others. Plenty of quality baits just maybe not what you are used to seeing and using. I will miss the store they had baits I like that I cant find anywhere else. I plan on making a couple trips there the next couple weeks. But I think it will help Backwaters if I had $100 to spend instead of 50 to backwaters and 50 to Sportsmans Warehouse like I usually spend it will be $100 to Backwaters.

[smljaw]

Went over a lunch today and the place was packed. You can tell that stuff is getting sold but there's plenty to still choose from. Lots of soft plastics and crankbaits left in good colors. I'm sure the discounts will get deeper but by that time there won't be much left.

They close the store July 31.

[smljaw]

I just got back. Baits are all 30% off now and the selection is still pretty good. The cashier said they had 60 people waiting at the front door when the store opened this morning... Crankbait and soft plastic selection is still solid if you need some. Uhhhh, I didn't "need" anything but bought a few things anyway. Can y'all relate?

[MrSplitshot]

Yeah fishincreek, I never had any problem with the people up there...took care of me just fine.

I'm a business person and I'm always interested in the why's and how's of stuff like this when it happens. If you dig a little online and read some stuff, it appears that the corporation got into financial trouble during expansion when it took it on the chin through some hefty expenses incurred while trying to implement a new supply chain management system as they grew. Supply chain is absolutely critical in their kind of business, and it knocked them into the dirt when it didn't work. They ended up on credit hold with some vendors that wouldn't ship them product, went into bankruptcy, and secured some new credit from a Canadian bank. When you look at their map now, they are backing out of the expansion stores in the East/South (even though they admit about half of them were actually profitable) and will be left with mostly the original stores out West - Closest to their new money man in Alberta Canada. The list of "successful retail bankruptcies" is very very short, so it will be interesting to see if they come out of this deal in tact enough to keep their remaining stores up and running.

Meanwhile, I still wish I was rich and had that building at Hamburg.