Fly Fishing Department Now At Wal-mart?

[chidders]

I just got back from driving down to Phoenix and back with the family (won't do that again with a 6mth old... but that's another story). We went through a snow storm in Idaho Falls so got stuck in town for an extra day. So what else is there to do but go shopping at Wal-Mart for baby stuff and get a box of beer for $15. To my surprise I find out they have just opened their first fly fishing department in the U.S. at this store! It isn’t part of the sporting section but rather has its own whole department. Well I send my wife off and spend the next 45mins scoping out the goods. Flies for .79, breathable waders for $79, pontoon boat for $350 and many other low cost items. I must admit the prices looked good but the quality was marginal. Anyway just thought I would share this with everyone if they are ever in the neighbourhood.

 

There are lots of awesome looking fishing spots through Montana and Idaho so might have to check these out at a later date.

 

It is good to be back and happy New Years to everyone. I hope to get out soon as it has been way to long!

 

Cheers.

[Hawgstoppah]

Yeah I've parked the truck in back there. That one sure SUCKS to get back to the freeway from though!!! I agree with you, prices look great but quality looks marginal at best...

 

Did you come back on the freeway or did you take hwy 20 from idaho falls up to Island Park? And then along the Madison river into Helena.... good road, and LOTS of fishy spots , plus all the BEST shops in Ennis!

[Hawgstoppah]

Google Map of what Im talking about

 

Follow hwy 20 north of Idaho falls, towards west yellowstone, then go up hwy 287 thru Ennis and Three forks... amazing fishing all the way I stop often along this road

[reevesr1]

Bought my son a pair of breathable waders at Academy in Texas for like $70. He wore them on 5 or 6 trips so far, no issues. For $70, just how good do they have to be?

[Hawgstoppah]

Would you trust your life to a $350 cheaply made pontoon boat though?

 

I suppose some stuff is "the cheaper the better" but some stuff just isn't

[chidders]

We could barely see more than 4 cars lengths ahead of us in some spots on the I-15 with very icy conditions, so I can't imagine how the less traveled roads would have been. We stuck to the I-15 all the way to Vegas.

 

I got to get back out there during warmer months.

 

Hawg you drive truck right? Those trucks on that stretch where passing cars like crazy.

 

I saw so many Alberta plates on the way down it was ridiculous. All snow birds heading out ofter Christmas I guess.

[Harps]

Google Map of what Im talking about

 

Follow hwy 20 north of Idaho falls, towards west yellowstone, then go up hwy 287 thru Ennis and Three forks... amazing fishing all the way I stop often along this road

 

Do you bring your rig up that way on Hwy 20? It's a great road, one I like to travel. I take the jaunt from the Henry's all the way into W. Yellowstone (good shops there too), before going on the north road past Quake lake into Ennis. There are always trucks on that route, and I was wondering if its a common alternative to I-15 (slower, though)?

 

Eitherway, for folks travelling south, its a nice side route, worth the little bit of extra time (okay lots of time, cause you stop to fish).

 

Cheers,

[Harps]

Actually, if you're coming from vegas (in the spring/summer/early fall), take the pass from the Salt Lake area to Bear Lake, than into the bottom end of the Tetons. Through Jackson Hole, and out W. yellowstone (or up to Mammoth). Beats the interstate, and there are a million great spots to hit on the way!!

[chidders]

Thanks for the tips Harps. I'll be doing the trip again near summer.

[Guest Sundancefisher]

Would you trust your life to a $350 cheaply made pontoon boat though?

 

I suppose some stuff is "the cheaper the better" but some stuff just isn't

 

Right now I am trusting my life to a $40 float tube bought over the internet. I try to ignore the occasional loud ripping noise. $350 pontoon seems safe enough. You would have to see it though. Would not float the Bow either. I am hoping to get a PAC900 Ferrari Outcast

[OneMoreLastCast]

I agree with you, prices look great but quality looks marginal at best...

 

Welcome to the wonderful world of Walmart....If they have them priced at $350, it can't be worth more than $50.

 

To each his own, but I don't shop at Walmart and really hope they don't bring their "Super" Walmarts North of the Border.

 

Anyone interested in seeing the side of Walmart they don't want you to see, check out "Walmart: High Cost of Low Price". It might make you think twice about shopping there.

 

Click here if the movie does not play.

Click here if the movie does not play.

[grannyknot]

I just hope they don't build one in Cochrane.

However, they do sell barbless hooks, that's good at least.

[Weedy1]

I have never purchased anything at Walmart due to the fact they put companies and people out of business.

 

I remember a TV show based on a company that produced ketchup for Walmart. I don't remember the exact figures but it went something like this. Walmart paid a price of $11/carton for the ketchup when the company first started production for Walmart. The ketchup company was relatively small at the time but of course grew drastically after getting the business with Walmart. The company continued production until Walmart turned around and said they were only willing to pay $3.50 per carton. The company could not afford to produce the ketchup at that price and ultimately folded due to not having any market share.

The show explained this was one of Walmart's business tactics.

 

The following article explains a bit about this tactic. A quote from the article:

 

"... Wal-Mart puts the pressure on these manufacturers to: "Come in here and sell me the same merchandise you sold me last year, but sell it at a reduced cost. And we know you can sell it to us at a reduced cost, because we've been to your factory. We've seen your books. We've seen your cost of product, cost of shipping," so on and so forth, "your wage cost." They look at all that, and they call it "partnership."".

 

 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sh...ews/lehman.html

 

 

I'm not the type of person that is going to drive fifteen minutes to a Walmart, fight for a parking spot, walk 300 yards to the front door, search 300000000 sq-ft of store for an item, then wait at the till for 10 minutes just to save a buck on laundry detergent. Even more though, I'm definitely not the type of person who would feed the mouth of a Walmart owner.

 

Some more shocking facts from the pbs.org site on Walmart:

 

Here are some stats and facts that capture Wal-Mart's size and scale.

 

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100 million: The number of people who shop at Wal-Mart's 3400 American stores every week.

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50 million: The amount of square footage Wal-Mart plans to add this year, including 50-55 new Wal-Mart stores, 220-230 new Supercenters, 35-40 new Sam's Club and 130-140 new international stores. [View a chart of Wal-Mart locations worldwide, as of Jan. 31, 2004.]

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1.2 million: The number of Wal-Mart associates in the U.S. Any full- or part-time Wal-Mart employee, up to and including the CEO, is considered an "associate," in Wal-Mart parlance. Internationally, Wal-Mart employs an additional 330,000 associates.

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600,000: The number of new employees Wal-Mart hires each year. The company's turnover rate is 44 percent -- close to the retail industry average.

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1979: The year Wal-Mart's sales first top $1 billion.

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$256 billion : Wal-Mart's sales in 2003. In the words of Wal-Mart CFO Tom Schoewe, Wal-Mart's sales are equal to "one IBM, one Hewlett Packard, one Dell computer, one Microsoft and one Cisco System -- and oh, by the way, after that we got $2 billion left over."

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35: The number of Wal-Mart Supercenters in China.

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$15 billion: The amount of Chinese products Wal-Mart estimates it imports each year; others suggest the number may be higher.

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$120 billion: The U.S. trade deficit with China in 2003.

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8 percent: The amount of total U.S. retail sales, excluding automobiles, accounted for by Wal-Mart.

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$9.98: The average full-time hourly wage for a Wal-Mart employee. The average full-time hourly wage in metro areas (defined as areas with a population of 50,000 or more) is $10.38. In some urban areas it is higher: $11.03 in Chicago, $11.08 in San Francisco, and $11.20 in Austin.

[OneMoreLastCast]

There are too many reasons not to shop at Wal-Mart if you look into it.

 

Good info Weedy. I will also throw in that Wal-Mart Considers Full time employment 28 Hours/week.

 

The clip I posted is only 9 minutes of a 2 hour video. I highly suggest watching the film and also doing some "Googling" on Wal-Mart before spending your hard earned money at their store.

[Weedy1]

Frontline also has the full video on-line.

 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/view/

[Hawgstoppah]

Hate top break it to ya, but I am not going to stop shopping at WalMart, nor will I watch the vids. Fact is, it's *MY* hard earned money, and if I can get a better deal on something like diapers, milk, and so on to support my family, then I'd be stupid to pay more elsewhere and not have enough to get what I need each month.

 

I'm sure I'm not the only guy that feels this way.

 

But I don't buy fishing stuff there, that $$ goes to the shop that treated me best during my years of guiding, and continues to do so today.. fish tales.

[Hawgstoppah]

We could barely see more than 4 cars lengths ahead of us in some spots on the I-15 with very icy conditions, so I can't imagine how the less traveled roads would have been. We stuck to the I-15 all the way to Vegas.

 

I got to get back out there during warmer months.

 

Hawg you drive truck right? Those trucks on that stretch where passing cars like crazy.

 

Did ya see a stepdeck with a log home package on it go flyin by yah?

 

Actually, truth is, were a lot higher up which gives us beter visibility, and when loaded up heavy, we have about 80,000lbs on top of those tires to keep us on the pavement.... so a lot of the time we do find ourselves in the hammer lane passing a LOT of cars when it's icy. Of course, the empty trucks, would be a different story...

[johnbransfield]

I can understand why people shop at walmart and i respect that it helps alot of big families save money. but its hard to bring yourself to shopping there after seeing your grandfather close all 9 of his smalltown stedmans truvalue stores in a span of five years after having surved those communities for over 5 decades......

[fisher26]

For everyones benifit, don't get me started on Wal-mart...

[Weedy1]

For everyones benifit, don't get me started on Wal-mart...

 

Chicken

[OneMoreLastCast]

Hawg, I understand that people shop there to save money and that some things are cheaper there for the same exact product, but don't be fooled by the majority of their merchandise.

From their clothing lines to their electronics, etc., the quality is ridiculous. Even though it might say "Black and Decker" on it, it is not the same product as you'd get at an actual hardware store. It is a "Cheaper" version that looks the same, thus the lower price. This applies to most of their brand name merchandise. (ie- Bum Equiptment)

 

In the end, you might save a few bucks on a 12 pack of socks from Wal-Mart, but when you have to go back to buy more because you bust thru the toe after 3 washes....(but you save a couple bucks each time).

 

I would never suggest that someone not shop there. I would only suggest to get educated before doing so. There are better options out there like Zellers for instance. A good portion of their merchadise is purposely Canadian made and their prices are very competitive with Wal-Mart.

 

The True Value example is perfect because they were the first victim out in Stettler where I live. They couldn't compete with Wal-Mart and had to close. If they start a fly fishing department in the stores in Calgary, the first victims will be the smaller, specialty fly shops around town....Like Fish Tales, West Winds, etc. and that would be a shame. And don't think it can't happen, because it will. People forget about loyalies really fast to save a few bucks.

[reevesr1]

Hawg, I understand that people shop there to save money and that some things are cheaper there for the same exact product, but don't be fooled by the majority of their merchandise.

From their clothing lines to their electronics, etc., the quality is ridiculous. Even though it might say "Black and Decker" on it, it is not the same product as you'd get at an actual hardware store. It is a "Cheaper" version that looks the same, thus the lower price. This applies to most of their brand name merchandise. (ie- Bum Equiptment)

 

In the end, you might save a few bucks on a 12 pack of socks from Wal-Mart, but when you have to go back to buy more because you bust thru the toe after 3 washes....(but you save a couple bucks each time).

 

I would never suggest that someone not shop there. I would only suggest to get educated before doing so. There are better options out there like Zellers for instance. A good portion of their merchadise is purposely Canadian made and their prices are very competitive with Wal-Mart.

 

The True Value example is perfect because they were the first victim out in Stettler where I live. They couldn't compete with Wal-Mart and had to close. If they start a fly fishing department in the stores in Calgary, the first victims will be the smaller, specialty fly shops around town....Like Fish Tales, West Winds, etc. and that would be a shame. And don't think it can't happen, because it will. People forget about loyalies really fast to save a few bucks.

Brett,

I gotta beg to differ with you. If it says Black and Decker model blah blah, it will be EXACTLY the same as a Black and Decker blah blah at a hardware store.

 

Walmart keeps their prices down by having the most amazing distribution system in the history of anything. And by applying severe pressure on their suppliers. I'm not saying they don't have cheap stuff in there, they more than obviously do. But they have no reason to try to trick anyone by making you think the product is anything else. If you buy Cheerios there, its the same Cheerios as Safeway.

 

Oh, I'm not defending Walmart practices. But if I had a big grocery shop in the states, you bet your ass I'm going to a Walmart superstore. If I can save 15-20% on a $300 grocery shop, I'm doing it. It's up to the other grocery stores to compete.

 

Now if I have several hundred dollars of fly gear to buy, I'm going to my local fly shop. And the local fly shops and fishing shops in South Texas (where Walmart totally rules) are doing just fine. The beast of Walmart doesn't always spell doom.

[OneMoreLastCast]

Sure it might be a "Black and Decker", but it's not the same one that you will find at a store like say "Home Depot". Look at the product number....A lot of the models that Wal-Mart stocks aren't even available at real hardware stores. They are the cheaper models that the "Home Hardware's" won't carry because of warranty issues.

Toshiba TV's are another example. You can buy Toshiba brand TV's at Wal-Mart and I guarantee they are not the same TVs you will find at Best Buy or Future Shop.

 

I never said they are trying to trick anyone because in the end, you would be buying a "Brand" name, but it would be a low end model of that "Brand" that is low in quality, thus the lower prices.

 

Lastly, just because a few people state that they would remain loyal to the local stores doesn't mean that the majority of people wouldn't eventually make the move to save money. It happens without any bad intentions. It starts with small purchases like Tippets, Hooks and the odd trinket because "What could that hurt....and look at how much Country Pleasures wants for the exact same thing...."

 

To each his own in the end though.

[grannyknot]

The kid at Wal-Mart will never be able to tell me what the 'bows are biting lately, or show me how to tie a superior knot to the one I've been using. Also, I'm not buying a crappy reel and cheap line. The local flyshops have nothing to fear in Wal-Mart. Half the reason I go to a flyshop is for the atmosphere and the people, and the whole "kid in a candyshop" feeling. Wal-Mart clearly will never be able to replicate that.

Try it; next time you go to a Wal-Mart ask the fifteen year old stocking shelves whether he'd recommend flouro or mono, and in what diameter.

[reevesr1]

The kid at Wal-Mart will never be able to tell me what the 'bows are biting lately, or show me how to tie a superior knot to the one I've been using. Also, I'm not buying a crappy reel and cheap line. The local flyshops have nothing to fear in Wal-Mart. Half the reason I go to a flyshop is for the atmosphere and the people, and the whole "kid in a candyshop" feeling. Wal-Mart clearly will never be able to replicate that.

Try it; next time you go to a Wal-Mart ask the fifteen year old stocking shelves whether he'd recommend flouro or mono, and in what diameter.

 

Exactly. High end stores (and fly shops certainly qualify) typically don't suffer when Walmart comes to town for the reasons you pointed out. I would also say that sporting goods stores in general don't suffer greatly, but in the states that usually means the BIG sporting goods stores.

 

Hey Brett,

Not sure I understand the warranty issue. So lets say Black and Decker sells some of their low end stuff to Wal-Mart. Are they selling gear with a shorter warranty than what they sell to say, Home Depot? And if so, who's issue is that? If I'm Black and Decker, aren't I taking a significant risk in lowering my product quality in order to secure volume sales? I would say that is a Black and Decker issue more than a Wal-Mart issue. If I buy a Black and Decker drill and it breaks after 1 month and I discover there is no warranty, I'm mad at Black and Decker, not Wal-Mart. At the end of the day, it's up to the suppliers to decide whether they want to participate. Basically a decision of volume vs. markup. Walmarts sales strategy isn't really much of surprise to any of their suppliers.

 

Oh, and the other way they keep prices down is by not paying their employees much.

 

Anyway, its fun to knock the biggest company in the world. And there is no way to get to be the biggest without pissing a lot of people off with aggressive business practices. But I'm raising 3 kids on one income. Make it cheap and I will come, for some things anyway.