Outdoor retailer Gander Mountain files for bankruptcy

By Daniel Terrill

A Gander Mountain store behind a giant Gander Mountain sign. (Photo: Twin Cities Pioneer Press)
One of the nation’s largest outdoor retailers, Gander Mountain, petitioned a bankruptcy court for Chapter 11 protections, confirming rumors that surfaced last month about the direction the company was heading.
The St. Paul-based retailer issued a statement last week saying it is taking steps to “preserve the value of the company and position it for long-term success.”
Gander attributes its economic woes to changes in consumer habits. With more people relying on Internet transactions, brick-and-mortar locations were underperforming and unproductive, so “excess inventory hampered efforts to create a sustainable path forward,” the company says.
According to court documents, inventory levels leftover from fiscal year 2016 were valued at $583 million. The initial petition lists estimated assets as between $500 million to $1 billion, and liabilities as $500 million to $1 billion.
For the fiscal year, which ended Jan. 28, Gander shows $1.323 billion in annual sales, of which retail stores brought in $1.137 billion, and online and catalog sales another $185 million.
By the company’s own assessment — which confirms early reports by Thomson Reuters — the key issue that led to financial challenges was rapid growth. Since 2012, Gander added approximately 50 new stores,

Source: Guns.com