08-16-2005, 01:19 AM
Mike -- I pretty much agree with everything that you wrote. I am looking forward to Cabela's moving in because I am hoping with so much floor space devoted to fishing that they will have a larger selection than Sportsman's has. I was one that hated to see Angler's Inn go out of business. Often I could find products in there that Sportsman's didn't carry. I rarely care whether or not the small or the large store will special order something for me. The reason I feel that way is that in today's world one can order anything that they need on the Internet. With the exception of KMart, I don't really have any department or fishing stores that are close to me, so I am not interested in having something special ordered and then having to make a second trip to pick it up -- if I can't find it locally I would just as soon order it Online myself and have it delivered to my house.
I would estimate that on well over 95% of the fishing items that I purchase I really don't want or need any input from a sales person. I know what I want, and often the only help I need is to know where it is located in the store, or if they stock the item I am looking for. Having employees standing talking to each other about personal business, and in the process not even realizing that a customer needs help, is not unique to Sportsman's; unfortunately, it is a far too common experience in many business establishments.
I agree that whenever possible one should support the smaller shops such as Hooked, but on the other hand one shouldn't feel guilty about finding the best deal in town, if it happens to be at the large box store.
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I would estimate that on well over 95% of the fishing items that I purchase I really don't want or need any input from a sales person. I know what I want, and often the only help I need is to know where it is located in the store, or if they stock the item I am looking for. Having employees standing talking to each other about personal business, and in the process not even realizing that a customer needs help, is not unique to Sportsman's; unfortunately, it is a far too common experience in many business establishments.
I agree that whenever possible one should support the smaller shops such as Hooked, but on the other hand one shouldn't feel guilty about finding the best deal in town, if it happens to be at the large box store.
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