This is bad news!

[reeltime]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/ec0d93a2-854a-11e0-871e-00144feabdc0,dwp_uuid=e8477cc4-c820-11db-b0dc-000b5df10621.html#axzz1NKmsC6IC

No more sport's and outdoor's!

[Dawg]

Its not a done deal yet, I have noticed a few of the store I visit in Houston have downsized their fishing department, they use to have 2 aisle of saltwater lure & now are down to one. They added 2 aisle of tackle bags. I saw that Sports Authority is doing away with all their fishing gear.

[poonchum]

The one on the island is lacking, to say the least, in the salt water department anyway. I never understood how a sporting good store right on the gulf could have such a meager selection of gear. I'm ready for a Galveston Bass Pro or a Cabelas to open on the seawall. Now we're talking!

[kenny]

It'll stay virtually the same. Why would anyone buy a successful billion dollar business and make a lot of changes?

[PasadenaMan]

I wonder if this has anything to do with the amount of people that never returned to fish in Galveston to Free Port after Ike. It used to be pretty crowded at every pier on the weekends......

[Beandaddy]

They are building a new one on Garth Rd. in Baytown.
Beandaddy

[Robalo]

The Galveston store used to give me a 10% discount when buying $5k+ worth of goods for the fishing T I run-then they got a new manager and he was not friendly and said "No Discount" 3 years ago, so I said "No sale" and went to BPS (yes, I do prefer Academy) and BPS gives me a discount for the tourney. I just kinda hope the manager from the Seawall Academy takes it in the shorts-funny thing was other Academy stores said yes to giving me a discount but I had issues getting enough items in stock (reels) when needed.

I just hope it doesn't end up like Oshman's-in the 70's, Oshmans was a pretty good tackle place, then turned into a Sports Authority type place and pretty much is useless for fishing stuff.

[Muddskipper]

We made a call to a contact in their corporate office .... they have been up for sale before ... this is not a new thing

there are also rumors of an IPO in the next 12 months as well ...... you should not expect anything different from them anytime soon

[PasadenaMan]

They are building a new one on Garth Rd. in Baytown.
Beandaddy

Pump and Dump.....

[Gilbert]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/ec0d93a2-8...#axzz1NKmsC6IC


No more sport's and outdoor's!

lol.....how do you get no more sports and outdoors off that article? this isn't the first time its been for sale vato.

[Swells]

Too funny ... but I remember when Academy fold surplus an remaindered stuff, like military, jeans, work clothes, ammo, and all kinds of good stuff - that was the mid-70s in Austin. Don't hardly recognize these chain stores anymore, but the business is especially cutthroat and margins are thin. Many fishermen know what they want and get it n the internet. By the way, many of these internet sites don't pay Texas sales taxes.

But yeah, the days of the old bait camp is about over, although bridge Bait and Tackle gets a lot of traffic because of their boat ramp and fuel dock. When Wal-Mart opened, three old bait camps went out of business down here by SPI. Because they buy stuff by the container load and railroad car, often from China, they sell stuff below what you can buy it yourself so you can resell it.

Oh well, sounds like a "market teaser" to me!

Does it mean the end of fishing, hunting, and camping? Statistics such as the US Census of Hunting and Fishing say so, that it's off by a large numbers and big percentages. The problem ain't us - it's the kids. There's plenty of stuff to hunt, contrary to what the enviros say. There are so many feral hog to hunt that the Legislature approved Gilbert to be able to shoot, shoot, shoot from a helicopter!

[reeltime]

It'll stay virtually the same. Why would anyone buy a successful billion dollar business and make a lot of changes?

This is what i hope for!but you never know theses days.There's more money in all the other carp they sell there than tackle.

[FlatoutFishin]

Even if they get sold, drop fishing tackle completely, and become a 24 hour bookstore and video place...we'll still figure it out. I personally only buy small items from them for the most part. I don't believe I've bought a rod, or a reel , or gun in maybe 5 years. now small tackle stuff...and yeah it adds up, but for the most part that's it. Online sales, and specialty like Hookset and a couple others usually get my biz nowadays. Marburgers and mom/pop stores would resurface and I'd be good with that. As far as reels go...you can find cheaper online if you look! Just like video killed the radio star...maybe online sales have killed the large retail tackle star!

[kenny]

Academy doesn't make it's money on fishing tackle or guns. It makes it's money on the shoes and clothes where the mark-up is huge.