Wholesale Sports Closing

[fishjunkie]

FYI There might be deals on some fly fishing items.

 

"The operation owned by Calgary-based UFA Co-operative Ltd. closed stores — including two in Edmonton — on Thursday afternoon to tell workers their jobs would be ending by year-end. Inventory liquidation sales are to begin on Friday and run until Dec. 28."

 

http://edmontonjournal.com/business/commercial-real-estate/calgary-company-closes-12-store-wholesale-sports-chain-in-western-canada

[jgib01]

Lukewarm deals at this stage. Tying stuff 10%, rods/reels 10%, boots/waders 10%, clothing 20-30%. The best deal I saw was fly line at 30%.

[bcubed]

CPs has flies at 50% off right now, and they're not wholesale "quality"..

[Ricinus]

While you may get some "deals", 545 people are losing their jobs..

 

Mike

[jgib01]

While you may get some "deals", 545 people are losing their jobs..

 

Mike

 

Yes you are correct. Jumping to the "deals" end of things is a little callous, so apologies for my part in that. The impact will be significant on those who have been loyal employs for a number of years... some great guys & gals at our local store. It really leaves a gap in the consumer market too, especially in places like Lethbridge where we have no other option for tying materials & fly gear locally. Will have to drive the 2+ hours to Calgary, or 1.5 to the Pass, unless something moves in to fill the void.

[ericlin0122]

this closing deal is no better than their regular sale.

[Taco]

U-fa's head office micromanaged WS into the toilet, after Dec 28th they can then concentrate their efforts and do the same for the farm stores

[Crowsnest]

I always supported WSS and the Fishin Hole. I avoided buying stuff from Cabelas, as they were too pricey and too far from my home. When I started fly-fishing in 2002, I made trips to WSS North Side what seemed like every few days. Mike was always helpful. When the SS store opened up I started going there and got to know Rob C. Hope those hundreds of people can quickly find other work.

 

With the new BPS opening soon, it surely would of taken another bite out of WSS sales. Looks like I'll be doing all of my shopping at the Hole

[FinnDawg]

Pretty unfortunate for all the employees. Unfortunate that there is no where in Lethbridge to purchase fly fishing things now too. Not very great deals but I imagine as time goes on they will have better deals. Wholesale sports spring fly fishing deals were 25% off rods and reels. I imagine if lots of stock doesn't get sold off quick enough it will be in and around that ballpark.

[northfork]

Sad to see, the more competition the better. I still support the small local fly shops for the most part.

 

Side note figured I'd go see what all the fuss was about at the wholesale in GP since I'm working up here, and damn, it was probably worse than boxing day. Never seen so many people in a small sporting goods store.

[Sage]

my preference is always FishTales, however for the large box stores, wholesale was far better for fly fishing than Bass pro or Cabelas

 

unfortunate that those folks have to work in the store closing morale until December and then look for jobs in a still tough economy.

[jimbow]

Sad to see it happen not from a fishing perspective but from a hunting, outdoor clothing, guns, ammo, optics, camping, etc. Haven't set foot in Bass Pro for a few years and never in Cabelas. Unless an independent shop opens i suspect i'll have no choice.

[sldrose]

Bass pro aren't committed to Canada, their website is US based in USD, and its impossible to figure out what stock the store has.

Calling them isn't much better, and it's impossible to tell if anything is on sale.

I don't think I've ever seen so much as a sale from them.

 

At least Cabela's is somewhat better, but will probably be enveloped by the bass pro brand.

 

Sad to see wholesale go, and the people out of jobs

 

I heard an interesting comment that even though WS closing sounds good for the local shops,

If their annual revenue for western Canada is 100m, they are probably sitting on 4-5 times that much inventory, so 500m

which will be dumped onto the marked at a discount.

Even if fly fishing is only a small proportion of that, it's still a lot of business taken away from your local stores in the next 12/24mths.

[jgib01]

Wholesale Sports could not compete with the big box American stores - Bass Pro and Cabelas. It's too bad that big corporate American stores keep killing our smaller Canadian enterprises.

 

Now that Wholesale is gone it is most important we support our local Canadian stores so they don't disappear.

 

While likely an important contributing factor, I don't think the big box brick&mortars was the whole story. I'm sure online shopping took a heavy toll as well. Guilty here. I've purchased several things online for tying in the past year from Cdn Llama, Flymart, and the Fishin' Hole. I've bought camping gear online from Amazon, MEC, & Live Out There. I imagine there is a robust online retailer group for hunting stuff as well. Wholesale's online business was decidedly lackluster (at least for fly fishing & camping gear); if I couldn't find it in store, I didn't ever find any broader selection online. As for supporting Canadian companies, if there was one in my town after December 28 with decent selection of tying materials, I'd happily do so.

[ppb]

I'm sad to see all those employees losing their jobs in a already tough economic climate.

I used to frequent wholesale forall my flyfishing purchases for many many years, but the last couple years I have been taking my wallet else where as it seemed like every time I went there for tying materials or a new line or leaders they were always out of stock. It seemed as if they always had more empty spaces on the walls than product. After so many wasted trips to find empty shelves I've turned to other shops and online shopping.

I think whoever was in charge of their inventory and product selection has done a huge disservice to the success of the store.

[danhunt]

Pure speculation on my part, but I think they were/are likely carrying a lot of debt from UFAs actions in recent years and that it likely played a large part in the closing of the chain.

 

UFA bought Wholesale in 2008 and later that same year they bought 15 Sportsman's Warehouse locations in the US and rebranded them as Wholesale Sports. Sportsman's Warehouse was strapped for cash at the time and the remaining stores were forced to apply for chapter 11 in 2009. UFA closed their first US store in 2011 and they ended up selling the remaining locations by 2013. At the same time, they were expanding in Canada, opening locations in Edmonton, Lethbridge, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Kamloops, Prince George and West Kelowna. Excluding Edmonton and Winnipeg, the rest of the cities they opened stores in only have a combined population of about 650,000 people. Kamloops, for example, only has about 90,000 people and they already had a specialized flyshop as well as a general outdoors competitor in Surplus Herbies. My point is, they likely lost money on the US deal and even if they did grab a lot of the market share in those smaller cities in Canada it would still likely take quite a bit of time to generate enough revenue to pay off the setup costs. A lot of this expansion was done when the price of oil was high and the Alberta economy seemed invincible. I'd guess that UFA management likely expected their "flagship stores" in Alberta to grow and to be able to shoulder a lot of burden with respect to servicing this hypothetical debt. Unfortunately, when the price of oil fell and the Alberta economy took a hit... Closing the entire chain rather than trying to sell it or restructure seems like too drastic a move, considering they opened their last store in 2014 and the media reported that they saw a 9% reduction of sales in 2016 when compared to 2015, unless they were already close to the brink. Again, this is 100% speculation so take it with more than a grain of salt.

 

It is a shame and I wish the employees well, but hopefully this will create an opportunity for someone other than the big box stores to step in and fill the void.

[cgyguy]

Does anyone remember the fishing store on 9th Avenue S.E. that had a huge fire and the place burnt down? I seem to remember that as being the original Wholesale Sports or am i mistaking it for another store? I know I am dating myself, but i think that was in the 80's? Anyone remember?

[angler]

cgyguy You thinking Ribtor?

[Current]

"Frenchy's". Frenchy's and Barotto's. Moved down to 58th then became the original Wholesale.

 

I remember going to the fire sale with my dad when I was a kid.

 

Ribtor was pretty awesome too. For cheap stuff.

[aaa]

End of an era.

 

Maybe Sliver Doctor, Taco, or others can chime in to add details, but it all started in the 1960's when Barry Deacon and Otto Krumes started a sporting goods store downtown called Barotto's. Their shop were more geared to shooting and hunting.

 

Barry, and Otto, were killed in a car accident in 1970-71. They were on their way to go hunting in northern AB in Barry's new El Camino. After their estates were settled, the amalgamation of Frenchy's and Barotto's happened and were combined at the 9 ave SE location. I am pretty sure Frenchy's was there before. I know in 1971 I bought a new Mitchell 300 there, and am pretty sure it was just called Frenchy's at that time. As I remember after that, in 1972, the fishing side was Frenchy's, the firearm/hunting side was Barotto's. My purchases in 1972 were a Berkley Cherrywood 7 weight fly rod with 'matching' Diawa 720, and a Zebco Cardinal 4. That Cardinal cost more than the fly rod and reel combined.

 

In January 1986, the store was badly damaged by a fire that started in one of the rental suites above the main floor. I remember this part because my just purchased brand new Browning 1886 was in the back and did not survive the fire. I am sure by that year, the Frenchy's name was gone and it was just Barotto's.

 

After the fire and resulting massive water damage fire sale, the store ended up on 58 ave SE as WSS, then on to its present, and apparently final, location.

[cgyguy]

Yes, thats it, i think! Either Ribtor or Frenchys, or Ribtor!! Lol! My memory is not as god as it used to be, but it was a pretty big fire as I recall. The sale was held across the street. I do remember that they moved to 58th t.

[aaa]

Ribtor was over on 10th ave, just east of Macleod. Acme Novelty was also nearby, another great place.

 

The big fire/water damage sale was indeed held across the street, and east a door or two. I waited in line on the first day. I wanted to check on my Browning's survival status, and check everything else out. You were there too! Amazing.

[Crowsnest]

I supported WSS, but I think the Edm market may have been oversaturated. We have/had

 

Army and Navy

Cabelas

Campers Village

Canadian Tire

M.E.C

The Fishing Center

The Fishin Hole

WSS

 

+ as others have said, the on-line shopping prolly took a bite out of each of the above retailers. We've lost the Fishing Center and with the closing of WSS, you would think it would mean more market share between the remaining, but alas, Bass Pro is coming to town. I hope the Fishin Hole can survive. I've been going there since I was a kid.

[jgib01]

I supported WSS, but I think the Edm market may have been oversaturated. We have/had

 

Army and Navy

Cabelas

Campers Village

Canadian Tire

M.E.C

The Fishing Center

The Fishin Hole

WSS

 

+ as others have said, the on-line shopping prolly took a bite out of each of the above retailers. We've lost the Fishing Center and with the closing of WSS, you would think it would mean more market share between the remaining, but alas, Bass Pro is coming to town. I hope the Fishin Hole can survive. I've been going there since I was a kid.

 

Maybe an opportunity for the Fishin Hole to expand to secondary markets like Lethbridge? There certainly is a ton of commercial space down here right now (and lots of eager college students looking for work), so am sure they could keep their overhead reasonable.

[Smitty]

I supported WSS, but I think the Edm market may have been oversaturated. We have/had

 

Army and Navy

Cabelas

Campers Village

Canadian Tire

M.E.C

The Fishing Center

The Fishin Hole

WSS

 

+ as others have said, the on-line shopping prolly took a bite out of each of the above retailers. We've lost the Fishing Center and with the closing of WSS, you would think it would mean more market share between the remaining, but alas, Bass Pro is coming to town. I hope the Fishin Hole can survive. I've been going there since I was a kid.

 

For camping and clothing, ...sure.

 

For a specialty fly shop, I'd say we are under-saturated. We don't even have a specialty fly shop!!

 

Yeah, I know, Edmonton can't / won't support one. I get it.

 

But we're down to Cabelas and TFH for fly fishing stuff. Not enough, imho. (No, I don't count Crappy Tire)

 

Smitty