Bass Pro to Kingston

Pro Tackle · **Posted:** Tue Sep 25, 2012 10:00 am

Hi guys,

I thought I would put a few words in. Here is my story. There is absolutely not 100% markup in fishing tackle. Jim has it right...its more like 20%-50% depended on the item and what the big box store set their retail price at.

I am a specialty fishing store.

I started my shop over 15 years ago out of my house. Obviously everyone knows my passion is musky fishing. Back in the day Musky tackle was almost impossible to get. If you did find some tackle there was a 100% markup compared to what retail was in the states. I decided to take the risk to help guys out and start importing. This is 15 years in the making and now I have a store with overhead. Because I was able to buy direct and with the NAFTA agreement allowing me not to pay duty...my prices ended up being basically the same as the US stores. I survived 12 years out of my house with an online mail order business. By buying direct...(having to spend large mins.) nobody in Canada really touches my pricing. Musky fisherman were about 5% of the fishing population. No stores wanted to invest the money it would take just to bring in a whack of Musky lures just to sit on the wall. If they did bring something in...most times it was from a distributor. Distributors in Canada are the ones that basically wrecked the market Canada having higher prices. They have a 20%-30% margin before the dealer got their hands on it. As for the little guys that are starting out....if you don't have investors or a couple $100,000 in your back pocket buying from distributors just killed you. You can not compete.

I think its great if someone gets a good deal on something elsewhere. I tell them to buy it! If a Bass pro comes to Kingston...we all know the kind of service you will get...plus I don't think their prices are that great. To me its not worth the drive other then they have a tons of items in stock and you may be able to see whats new.

Small guys like myself and Jamie down at Pro Advantage do this because we have a passion for it and it is our hobby as well. We are just fisherman just like yourself.

I sponsor well over 10$ grand a year towards fishing clubs, local charities and fishing events like Pat' Cops and kids fishing, fishing tournaments, and I am a major sponsor in the Kiwanis Walleye world....I also sponsor this board along with a few other fishing forums.

Being one of the little guys is tough sometimes...we obviously try to earn business with service and try to have competitive pricing. Drive an hour or more just to save .10 cents...that's not worth it. now if you did save a few $100's....sure it is.

Keep in mind that we are all friends and are here to help out. It is us little guys that give advice and share fishing techniques and drink beer at night with you. We have families as well.

There have been a lot of small shops come and go in the last 20 years in our area. We all have to adapt and by supporting the little guys...we all stay in business.

If you see a great deal buy it! But....by saving .10 - .20 cents on an item buying out of area and then coming into the store asking advice on how to use it or techniques.....

was that really worth it?

I hope my story wasn't to long.

Stacy
Pro Tackle

furious · **Posted:** Tue Sep 25, 2012 11:45 am

Well said Stacy!

100% mark up is impossible in just about any retail business. If it were then every store would look like Bass Pro because the owners would have more money they knew what to do with!

WalleyeWon · **Posted:** Tue Sep 25, 2012 12:31 pm

Stacey...I second Furious ...WELL SAID!

I am in the Commercial Lending industry and see it far too often where the big box stores moves in and squeezes out the small guy passionate about his business. Do they participate in local charity events, rarely! Citing it's a head office thing. O'Sure they've got plenty of stock because they belong to a much larger buying group but I guarantee you that if they miss your sale because of service ...little does it matter because of the volume of customers willing to come through thier door eveyday.

Stacey...I stopped in your shop last fall on my annual trip to Bay, spent $100 bucks or so and took in everything you had to say about the Bite on the Bay! Cudos...doubt if I would have gotten that treatment from a sales guy at BPS.

Keep up the good work you do, keep sponsoring and supporting and my only advice would be 2 fold...to the fisherpeople out there, these are the kinds of guy we want and need to support. And to you...perhaps you should consider opening a 2nd location in Kingston?

Steve

fireball · **Posted:** Tue Sep 25, 2012 12:52 pm

Thank you stacy, I really feel bad for you guys, Thank you for every thing you do for the local fishing industry, Guys like you really give the industry a great name.

You clearly explained why prices in canada, are completly different then they are in the states. Stacy, i buy what ever i can locally, but the deals in the states are less then 100% mark up before shipping.
if you dont belive me, have a look at the website below, they often have yammy senkos on for 3.99 vs 9.99 at canadian tire in kingston, there normaly price is 5.99

http://www.overstockbait.com/Fishing_On_Sale_s/1113.htm

Fred Fisher · **Posted:** Tue Sep 25, 2012 4:48 pm

Again very well said Stacy. I am a very firm believer in supporting my local boys and I spend quite a bit of my coin in your store. I like the fact that you do your very best with your pricing and also find it nice when you walk in the door you know my name. I know with the way the economy is people like to get the most bang for there buck but by keeping your dollars close to home, you help that retailer to grow and gain more buying power so he is able to pass the savings on to his FRIENDS. Thanks for being there Stacey and for all you do for us guys like cracking that door open at 6:00 am to sell minnows etc.... Fred...

Gone Fish'in · **Joined:** Thu Feb 25, 2010 10:42 am **Posts:** 1047

Great post Stacey, much respect.

steve-hamilton · **Joined:** Fri Apr 25, 2003 7:40 am **Posts:** 1776

with our sail in burlington, i'll never go to bass pro again.

its just an outdoor flea market, with mostly garbage, while sail has a ton of hard to find, quality baits!

TrophyHunter · **Posted:** Wed Sep 26, 2012 8:23 am

It's really funny how guy's get all excited for a Bass pro shop to open , i guess it;s just something new , the guy's in the know head to pro Tackle ,Stacy can find you those hard to find baits that are first run and he keeps on top of all major trend's , Not only does he field test a lot of the tackle but has a large compliment of anglers that pass information to him that he will share with you , I do know that when it comes to supporting clubs and charities he always steps up to the plate , Just a week ago we had our Muskie's Canada outing and the prize table was a sight to behold , for those of you that were at the Battle on the bay last year remember how good the prize table was , well multiply that by 10 and you still aren't close and most of what was on that table came from the local dealers ,the little shops , , Any bait can catch a fish , but the knowledge of when and how to use it at any given time ,,,,,, that is priceless

Stacy my hat is off to you , you are a gentleman and a valued member of our fishing community , keep up the good work and thanks for all your support

JamieErwin · **Posted:** Wed Sep 26, 2012 1:04 pm

Very well said Stacy!
Could you imagine 100% mark up!
Fishing stories are heard and told at our shops.
Questions are answered the best we can, try asking a question at basspro!

Sometimes you got to go where everybody knows your name!
lol had to throw that in there!

Red shad · **Posted:** Wed Sep 26, 2012 5:19 pm

Just spent a few days in Pennsylvania.....stopped off at the BPS at Auborn NY on the way home. Well we had to eat and gas up somewhere! Spent an hour walking around with the boss (wife) which had absolutely nothing to do with the fact I bought nothing. She bought a new Turkey frier and some clothes. Got to say, prices were not all that great for the majority of stuff....and certainly not enough for me to make the trip down there particularly. The one thing BPS does have in its favour imo is choice! Loads of tackle items and patterns to choose from. Have to say though that in comparing a number of lures, line etc with what I would pay at Crappy tire Kingston....CT really up there, a good 25 to 30% higher. Guess I am lucky I don't need much these days... :mrgreen:

Good fishes...

Hutchy · **Joined:** Thu Dec 29, 2011 6:06 pm **Posts:** 399

When I was at BP in Vaughn this summer what I did notice was almost everything had "made in China", maybe they will become a WAL-PRO, lol

Grizzly · **Posted:** Wed Sep 26, 2012 5:41 pm

Outstanding post Stacy............. truer words have never been spoken. God Bless the little man out there some think he is just trying to get rich but they have no clue lol ....... even comming close to competing with a big store like BP is near impossible you spend what you can to try to stock one store they on the other hand order 50 cases of one item just to stock 10 stores there is a big saving on a 50 case lot so they if anyone is working much closer to 100% mark up than the small town shop.
only clear advantage i see with places like Gander Mountin would be there bargan bin. big mark down clearance . mostly un advertized, right place right time deals so thats why they are always worth a stop if passing by, but other than that anything, NEW, anything in high demand there is no real great savings it seems there prices are no better than any one elses.
Way I see it is what price can you put on a man saying Hello Jim Or Bob, or Fred as you walk thru the door..... what will you learn from a 19 year old salesman when it comes to a sport you love..........and lets no forget the smell and constant humm of the bubbler in the minnow tank at the small town bait shop......... to me this is simply priceless and ill always spend a buck or two even on something i just dont need to show support and try to keep them in buisness .......... good luck Stacy. hope yer winter season rocks and im looking forword to the walleye derby and fish fry............. OH YAH>>>>>>>>>> another thing you wont see it PB lol ............... Grizz

Josh_ · **Joined:** Wed Nov 10, 2010 9:52 pm **Posts:** 132

I'll shop at BP, being in Kingston it is great news. Other than Norris' up in Westport it is tough to find anything unique in town. With that said, I'll go in to BP and leave with nothing but what I was looking for, while spending 10 min with Stacy, I'll buy a bunch of stuff and then after chatting at the cash, I'll buy 2 more. I think BP will be good for the random crap that I buy like camo baby clothes, and I will continue to visit guys like Jamie and Stacy when I'm headed that way but to be honest, if I'm fishing the bay from Kingston, I'm launching at the ferry or finkles making Belleville pretty far out of the way.

Hey maybe I'll become a bass fisherman, I've got a little girl now and bass seems like a great species for little girls to target!!!

Stoty · **Joined:** Tue Feb 05, 2008 2:47 pm **Posts:** 200

Cabela's...... trumps all!

BigMac · **Joined:** Fri Nov 28, 2008 5:18 pm **Posts:** 1383

Josh_ wrote:

Hey maybe I'll become a bass fisherman, I've got a little girl now and bass seems like a great species for little girls to target!!!

Best quote ever!!!

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