were has sporting goods gone?

[deathb4disco]

Now due the corporate greed, most everything is made in China. When will Wal-Mart fly the Chinese flag over each store location?

You could say the same thing about Bass Pro, Cabelas, Gander Mountain and BnM Poles -- but nobody ever does. I have been on this forum for four years and have yet to see a "I hate those Chinese-made BnM poles" thread or a "I hate those Chinese-made Wally Marshall poles" thread. Only Walmart gets grief for doing exactly what everybody else is doing.

[DavidP]

I quit buying my fishing supplies at Wally World several years ago even before they cut back on the sporting goods departments.

I shop Academy because the same stuff even the same brand was cheaper than Wally World! So, when Wally downsized the fishing stuff it didn't effect me one bit!

[Dogsled]

I bought a used military shotgun sling and it had made in China on it. All of those big cargo container ships that come in heavy from China go out just as heavy......our money must weigh alot!!!!!!!!!. My cousin worked security at a shipyard and said he saw 20 large containers going to China loaded with defective alternators and starters sold at Auto Zones AND dealerships now!!!!
Most of the stuff going back to China seems to be defective products.....Hey we got complaning alot down pat.
I had a cousin working at Hoover in Akron. All defective items were sent thru a grinders whether it was a simple repair or not and the grinding were sent back to China to built new stuff that will break in one week.
I think we're ****ed personally....thank god i'm old.
I remember my first American car a 100% pure ford 1970 van. Piece of **** never ran right from the first day i bought it, service sucked, parts (american made) were junk and there was nowhere to get satisfaction. I bought my first Datsun pickup and drove that monkey to death for 6 years and one oil change. The entire time the American auto industry was getting sky high raises every contract.....All the way up til they blew themselves out of a job....what's this got to do with fishing???? I broke down in that van and never got near a lake for 2 years. Hey, are you allowed to say **** on this sight???? if not, i'm sorry

[wwwUncle]

You could say the same thing about Bass Pro, Cabelas, Gander Mountain and BnM Poles -- but nobody ever does. I have been on this forum for four years and have yet to see a "I hate those Chinese-made BnM poles" thread or a "I hate those Chinese-made Wally Marshall poles" thread. Only Walmart gets grief for doing exactly what everybody else is doing.

Yep. Probably because Walmart is the way biggest target, thus easiest to hit on.:D:D:D

[CTom]

The problem is not exclusive to just the two "marts" in this country. The essense of the problem is is Chinese ideology. The Chinese do not recognize American patents, nor do they recognize America standards for quality. And to make this even a deeper matter, American corporate greed capitolizes on the Chineses' labor practices to keep the bottom line at its lowest while they charge the angler dearly.

Ever go into a Wally or K or a Gander, or Cabelas, or Dicks or even Bass pro and look at the packaging on thier house brands? Ever notice how this stuff looks just like a major competitor's product, except maybe for colors. China. Say Bass pro orders thier yearly quotas of plastics to fill thier customer demands, the Chinese still have the molds and will continue to shoot plastic to sell to the "Marts" or anyone else. "Made In China", "Packaged In China", simply circumvents any American patent or patent pending. It would take an international patent to protect the product and tackle doesn't fall under those rules.

State-side, we seem to get stuck on labels and names....GMtn, Cabels, Bass Pro....it just seems that if one of these company logos isn't stuck on a guy, he doesn't mean much. This has been solcialized into a lot of people at an early age. Look at how we send kids to school today in new jeans that have holes in the knees and cost 90 bucks a pair. Ninety percent of today's consumers are image-based shoppers. The consumer is largely to blame and the package stores, knowing how the consumer thinks, only have to have the doors unlocked for the fools to arrive.

Now I'm pretty darned frugal when it comes to my tackle shopping. Still, I use mostly St. Croix rods....made right across the Mississippi River from me in Wisconsin. The plastics I use are made right here in America and the internet has done wonders to provide a shopping service for all of the home-grown tackle makers....many of which are hosted on this site! Some things I cannot put my hands on without seeing China scribbled all over the package. I use only Shimano reels, but not a one of them can be found being sold in a bubble pack or in Wallyworld, or Kmart. I go thru line like MacDonalds does cooking oil, yet I use only Trilene XL for the bulk of my crappie fishing. I don't buy reel-filler spools of line. I buy the 1000 yard spools to the tune of about 4 a year.....cheaper than 9 reel fillers if I shop smart and that means not using the package stores.

All of these places we are dunning have integrated clothing and women's wear into thier markets to lure the girls into what has been a mostly male domain. Don't like it, stop at the service counter and tell them that by eliminating some of your tackle to make room for clothing doesn't cut it with you. Then send a letter to corporate and trim thier knickers. If every angle who used these stores did this, eyes would be opened.

Someone in a previous post mentioned corporate buyers. They are a scourge. Corporate tackle purchases are done by some text-book twink who studies the bottom-line and would probably be a danger to himself if he handled hooks. Buying for a whole region is cost effective for the bottom-line, but explain to the fish that what's good to hit in Indianna is good to hit in North Dakota. To some degree even tackle distributors are at fault in this department too. Many have eliminated warehousing....try getting tackle from some of the package shops when the initial shelving order is gone.

Any more I buy close to home and on the internet when I can't find it on a shelf. We've got some outstanding "tackle/bait" shops here in Mn that is go to and I can generally get anything I need from them. I keep my buying dollar as local as possible, but when I have to get on line to get my fix I try very hard to keep it in this country, in both the sale and in the production. Walmart? Just walking up to the doors of this place makes me feel like I'm walking into a welfare office.

[Dogrockit]

Why let "Wally World" take all the profit?Same with Bass pro or Cabelas;I shop local tackle shops-period.You have better service,better advice,questions from someone who KNOWS what they are selling.Sure,you may pay a little more,but its worth it.Sam Walton is turning over in his grave over what his kids have done to his legacy.....(The book on Sam Waltons life is a good read!)

[hnd]

we have 1 1/2 aisles of fishing stuff at our walmart. most of it is crap. i have to assume there is like a general walmart fishing and hunting blueprint that many of the walmarts just go with. it has a few things for each type of fishing but not anything specific to your region. ours is this. need steel leaders or salmon eggs? they've got them (i'm in illinois) need saltwater gear? got it.

i was in a walmart in mn a few years back and it was specialized to the hilt for the type of fishing that goes on there.

the only thing i buy at walmart are the cheap 1" red and white bobbers for fishing shallow brush during the crappie spawn. other than that, i don't. its like a buck for 8.

[Hanr3]

I have no idea what Wal-Mart does nor do I care. I dont shop at Wal-Mart.
I hate Wal-Mart, they put a lot of local small business owners out of business. Thsoe small business people are part of the community, and they give back in ways Companies like Wal-Mart never can.

You could say I am against corporate America. I buy as much as possible from the little guys. Im tired of Corporate greed, and lack of decent wages.

[Hanr3]

You could say the same thing about Bass Pro, Cabelas, Gander Mountain and BnM Poles -- but nobody ever does. I have been on this forum for four years and have yet to see a "I hate those Chinese-made BnM poles" thread or a "I hate those Chinese-made Wally Marshall poles" thread. Only Walmart gets grief for doing exactly what everybody else is doing.

I prefer American made products, like St Croix, and not the one product line made in Mexico. I buy Cooper tires, only brand made in america by an american owned company. You have the power to make corporate america change, they want your money, spend it wisely. Send the message.

[sac-a-lait]

Everything has closed up shop and gone to China.