Less than a year after the Gander Outdoors store opened in Paducah, Kentucky, it has shut its doors, and without any warning. A notice was posted on the store’s front door Sunday night announcing the closure.
The notice said in part, “For RV accessories, please visit us at one of our other retail locations or at CampingWorld.com.”
Good Sam and Camping World Holdings CEOÂ Marcus Lemonis acquired bankrupt Gander Mountain about two years ago and has reopened many of the stores as Gander Outdoors. The stores sell guns, camping gear, hunting apparel, footwear, RV accessories and other outdoor sporting goods. Many stores include an RV dealership with approximately two-dozen more set to open.
Gander Outdoors had previously abruptly closed its Florence, Alabama, store only months after it opened there.
Approximately 65 former Gander Mountain stories are currently operating as Gander Outdoors.
I would be willing to bet this will happen to the Eau Claire WI store in the not too distant future. Gander Mountain built a store that was inconvenient to get to and no one ever went to that store. When I heard they would make is a Camping World I thought it might have a chance but this Gander Outdoors is essentially the same as the Scheels that is nearby that has better prices and is easier to get to.
We will soon have another ghost big box store in town.
Quite apparent that the reason that Gander Mountain went out of business was partly due to their expansion as stores that opened in the two years after Camping World took them over would have been in the works before the acquisition.
Owned by Camping World, this should not surprise anyone. Marcus Lemonis will shutter the doors of any UN-Profitable Store.
Please help Mr. Lemonis go completely out of business, Don’t shop or buy anything from Gander Mountain or Camping World.
Well, I can’t blame ole Marcus for shutting down money losing businesses. After all, the ONLY reason you start a business is to make money. If it doesn’t, you HAVE to shut it down. But that being said, I am NO fan of Lemonis and his business practices. I never go to CW for anything.
I never use Camping World Either. It’s a {bleeped} shame that Good Sam’s is part of the Lemonis empire.
Good Sam is no longer a real RV club. It’s a marketing device for Camping World, which Marcus has admitted in remarks to the industry. He once called Good Sam members “marketing tools.” Makes you feel real special, doesn’t it?
Tommy, that makes sense. But you would think Marcus and his chums would have done some better research about particular market locations before going to all the expense of opening a store and then closing it only months later. That sounds pretty darn stupid to me.
He is loosing a lot of customers like myself when he said if you voted for Trump, he doesn’t need you as a customer. I passed that to everyone I know. I also wrote a letter to him. I got back a feeble reply that he didn’t mean it. Sorry, I have a choice where I spend my money, and it won’t be with a Liberal business. I also am in business and as much as I disliked our past commander in chief, I never got violent like people do today. Good bye Camping World.
Hee Hee. Wonder why. I don’t like either one, but to put out a letter like that does not say much for common sense. Politics aside I see the humor in this.