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Looks like BP bought out cabelas for 5.5 billion.

yup - sounds like they will still retain the cabelas name and brand though.

Do you think they will keep all the retail stores open??? Rudey

They will probably close a few is my guess

R.I.P. to competition, anyone remember how cheap the storm lures used to be before Rapala bought them out?

Capitalism is and has always been the American business way, if you can't beat them then eat them. I would not think this would bode well for the outdoor consumer. B.P. is already high priced on their goods. I did hear the people who had Cabela stock got a increase on stock values from the sale which I thought to be strange. I would have thought the share value would had gone down.

Your right Don,
the bad part is how many mom and pop shops have been put out of buisiness becuase of these two. Now going to one. Kingme also mentioned a good point. Rapala lures usually have a 7-9% kick on pricing yearly. They cheapened up the storm lure brand to keep the original rapala brand strong. Then your forced to buy what ever colors they decided to put out. I probably buy most of my stuff on ebay anymore and am glad to have Jay Hunter as a friend to do my custom painting.

To convince the share holders to approve the transaction, the share price would have to be a premium over current prices, that is how the game works. It motivates large share holders to approve the deal.

Also, this merger will NOT be bad for the angler/fisherman/hunter. One the surface, I can see why one might think that, but we have to take a step back to fully evaluate the situation. Both Cabelas and Bass Pro have been sliding a bit on year over year results. This is primarily due to online sellers, whether it be mfg direct or Tackle Warehouse etc etc. They do not have the INCREDIBLE COSTS of brick and mortar establishments. Once Bass Pro and Cabelas are one, they will have double the leverage with their suppliers, ability to like design similar branded products, reduce overhead and so on. In the end this brings us lower prices and gives them the ability to grow and stop the bleeding with losses to online establishments.

Jeff I cannot agree with that . Its about the money to share holders. Prices are not going to go down they will go up. It almost a monopoly. If you want it there it is pay the price or find it some where else, will be there motto.

If there was only one charter boat out there he could name his price. Don't like the price go fish from the docks.

When Bass pro came in along with cabelas they held there prices down until they got rid of the small guys. Then the tide turned. Prices went up and alot of the good help they had was let go. Now not much on the selves but"WE CAN ORDER IT FOR YOU SIR"

For Columbia clothing, go to the Columbia outlet store in Michigan City. There you will find the same clothing that BP and Cabelas carry and it is usually priced 1/2 of what they charge at the other stores. At 1/2 price they are still making a profit. Plus they have sales all the time with the clothing being marked way down and then its a buy 2 get the third free. If that isn't enough savings they will also give you coupons for the next time your in 50 to 100 bucks off the next purchase. How can you beat that?