Bass Pro / Cabela's terrified of competition rising from the ash?

[ChrisHanson]

Looks like Johnny Morris and the band is terrified of some new competition rising from the ashes of the small town they have elected to destroy.

[url]http://www.ksidradio.com/news/details.cfm?clientid=37&id=272084#.W6o85F5KiUk[/url]

I have a few friends that were let go from the original Cabela's that had mentioned something coming back similar to the Cabela's customer service model of the late 90s and was waiting for them to launch. But now it looks like Bass Pro is electing to squash that bug before it can even make a sale of 1 single jig head.

Pretty sad really, its like Bass Pro wants nothing more than to destroy a community of 6000 people that are passionate about Hunting, Fishing, Boating, Camping, and Shooting. All in the name of EGO.

I wonder how many other former Cabela's employees will be sued for going to work for competition just to feed their family's and make a living. I know there were a few that went to Gander/Academy/Scheels.

I guess the true colors of Bass Pro's "Conservation" tactics are starting to show, the only thing they want to CONSERVE is your money going into their stores. As they surely aren't for the right to work.

If this blows over, I know exactly where I plan to start shopping!

That's the way non-compete agreements work. All they had to do was wait the 18 months. It's one thing to go work for a competitor, which non-competes are rarely enforced, and another to go into business to directly compete against your former employer. It sucks for the town, but these guys brought their problem on themselves with their lack of patience.

[Moff]

Also, the former board of directors hired the last CEO that drove Cabela's into mountains of debt. That made Cabela's ripe for the picking to be bought out by someone. Johnny was just being a shrewd businessman. If anything blame the people in Sidney.

[JDS]

Bottom line...they should've waited the 18 months. This kind of stuff happens all the time with buyouts/non-competes

They were in management and accepted a severance package in exchange for signing a non-compete. They should've known better than to violate the terms of the agreement. No sympathy here.

[CKM]

it'll depend on how the state handles these. in some states non competes are worthless as the paper their written on.

Non-compete agreements are generally enforceable if they are tailored fairly narrowly in scope.

If the agreement said that they couldn't work for or start another sporting goods company for 18 months within a 50 mile radius then its probably enforceable.

If it says that they can't work for any retail establishment that sells any type of sporting goods at all for 5 years in the entire state, its probably not enforceable.

It all has to do with what's reasonable and that's up to the court to decide. Either way, someone's going to be paying a LOT of lawyer fees. They should've waited.

[QUOTE=CEUL;6248726]That's the way non-compete agreements work. All they had to do was wait the 18 months. It's one thing to go work for a competitor, which non-competes are rarely enforced, and another to go into business to directly compete against your former employer. It sucks for the town, but these guys brought their problem on themselves with their lack of patience.[/QUOTE]

1. No one at Cabela's Corp in Sidney signed a Non-Compete with Bass Pro. If Bass Pro is using the OLD Cabela's Non Compete from 2016 that is far longer than 18 months old. And if it would stick to that agreement, it specifically listed GANDER MTN, SCHEELS, BASS PRO, Sportsmans, and Academy as competitors. So all the folks still left as well as those that have moved on to any of those listed would also be in violation. Pretty bad thing to do to people whom you kicked to the curb. Be like telling an electrician he can't perform electrical work anywhere for 18 months and expect him to feed a family.

2. Nebraska is a Right-To-Work State, Non Competes are usually worthless unless you name the competitor (Refer to bullet 1)

3. The Severance packages were for the employees that Bass Pro said they no longer needed or didn't have a place for, FAR from Voluntary leaving.

4. Cabela's was NOT in a mountain of Debt, if they were they would've went bankrupt similar to Sportsman Warehouse. In fact they still owned all the Retail property and stores unlike Bass Pro. What would the people in Sidney have to do with the fiduciary duty or a public company to unlock top value for shareholders??? CAB was a publicly traded company, from the date it went public it was always for sale to the highest bidder.

5. The only thing Highby Outdoors has done so far is manufacturer pallets for shipping companies, that's a long ways off from competing.

So from someone that has seen the severance agreement, this is complete BS and the article doesn't even come close to touching on all 8 cylinders to paint a clear picture of what is really going on here.

[ChrisHanson]

Looks like the names are starting to pile up!

Another business being hit with the same charges.... NexGen Outfitters

[url]https://www.omaha.com/money/businesses/bass-pro-shops-sues-retail-startups-run-by-former-cabela/article_d66053f3-eb7e-5990-abff-12a7a03de3e5.html[/url]

Next will they be calling up on Academy to go after their newly acquired Senior VP, since he was the Chief of Staff and VP at Cabela's until early 2018? Just guessing that would be doing a lot more harm than these startups that haven't even made a single sale.

It's looking to me like JM's business is struggling and he is realizing all the good talent he let go was needed. So this is the crutch he is going to lean on for struggling sales.

[Moff]

Obviously you have an axe to grind. A breach of contract is a breach of contract. All they had to do is wait 18 months.