Well... Gander Mountain is now stupid as well as crazy...

[schoolmaster]

haven't been able to shop or trade with Gander for several years. Just can't justify the higher prices. The guy behind the gun counter in the FT. Wayne store treated me like an idiot and didn't seem to care whether he sold me anything or not. Maybe he was having a bad day. Anyway I haven't been in there since.

 

[thecollector]

Gander Mountain

It is not just your store, seems like all of them have taken the quick downhill ride. Can't deal with them hardly at all anymore. Taken their good employees and put them on a back burner for the younger.?? Doesn't work to well when they don't know too much about the business.

 

[Dentoro]

I also do not like the new lay out. I like to handle them, that was the only real reason to go. They also are getting out of reloading. I suspect they will go into bankrupcy in the next year. They do have nice sales sometimes though. Normally you can catalog order and pay for shipping and still beat most their sale prices!!!

 

[2500ekW]

so I went to Second Amendment Guns in Whitestown. Nice little shop and it felt good to support a locally-owned business. (Plus I like their name!)

+1

I love having that place nearby! But, every time I drive through Whitestown I check to make sure they are still in business since that area is like a ghost town most of the time!

 

[Bunnykid68]

Last year, you could buy 100 rounds of Federal American Eagle .223 for $30, and even last month, you could get them for $35...those same boxes of ammo are now priced at $50. Those were the only things I would buy there, so I guess I'll just go elsewhere.

$50 has been their standard price for over a year on those. They just usually have them on sale

 

[Relatively Ninja]

I go to the Gander Mountain in castleton because I have a friend that works there part time. I've known him for several years aside from firearms so I go in from time to time to say hi and chat with him. I won't buy anything there (I'm too broke for reasonable gun prices ) but I've always seen him treat other customers with respect and knowledge. I had a discussion with another guy that worked the gun counter just the other day about AR-15's. I don't know much about the platform so I can't verify the accuracy of what he said, but he was very nice and had no problem explaining things to me despite the fact I wasn't going to buy anything. I agree their prices are too high, but at least I've had the good fortune to talk to knowledgeable staff.

Oh, and the redesign of their firearms counter is HORRIBLE!!!!!

 

[feriil]

I can't believe the Gander Mountain in Merrillville is still open. With the opening of Bass Pro/Cabelas their parking lot is 99% empty all the time. I've been there several Saturdays while the wife is in the mall next door and there are literally 3-4 people in there. It amazes me they have not closed up yet.

That being said, shop the ads @ Gander, their clearance & specials for fishing usually can't be beat, and the "niche" they've found is backpacking gear, not guns. I've been to Bass Pro, Cabelas, and Gander up there and by far Gander has the best selection of backpacking gear. Prices for those things are very close/on par with the big stores, and if I buy retail backpacking its usually there. There are some local stores I frequent when down in Indy, but none up North there.

 

[kludge]

Yep, I was in the Castleton store on Saturday too. With all the guns behind the counter now I have little reason to go back.

There were 3 people at the counter and two guys working and I stood there for ~20 minutes, before I was acknowledged. He did show me a few things and was polite, no problem there (was looking at shotguns, and the prices weren't too bad on those items), but the handguns under the counteer were about $100-$150 above where they should be - as always.