It appeared to be business as usual at Wholesale Sports on Saturday, March 9, but the packed parking lot and busy employees belied the signals that something was amiss. Empty spaces now adorned the walls where mounted trophy animals once hung, and the occasional barren rack in a shopping aisle revealed the reality of the situation. Tomorrow the store’s doors would close for good.
“Its probably the best job I’ll ever have in my whole life,” said six-year employee Nick DeVito, 24, Geomatics, Rose Lake. “I didn’t see any end in sight. I always figured I’d work part time, go to school for the Forest Service, but I always saw myself working there on the weekends.”
DeVito was just one of 35 employees to be laid off in the wake of the store’s closing—a store that by all accounts was turning a profit.
“It’s been busy; we had a record year,” DeVito said.
But the record sales were not enough to save the store that had been on shaky ground for some time.
Originally opening as a Sportsman’s Warehouse in 2007, the Coeur d’Alene store was rebranded as a Wholesale Sports outlet after the Calgary-based United Farmers of Alberta Co-operative (UFA) purchased the bankrupt chain.
Last month, UFA President Bob Nelson announced on the co-operative’s website that it would be selling Wholesale back to Sportsman’s Warehouse and a partnered investment firm, the Alamo Group.
“Over the past few years we have made significant progress and worked hard to turn the business around and we are exceptionally proud of the efforts that have been made,” Nelson said.
The UFA reportedly struggled to find its footing in the American market, describing 2011 as a year that “fell short of budget targets” in its annual report about Wholesale Sports to investors.
DeVito said the main trouble with the Coeur d’Alene store was not a lack of customer interest, but an inability to properly stock shelves due to the Canadian-based company’s inability to find solutions for logistical problems on U.S. soil.
“We’re just starting to catch up and become proficient, which I think has led to our success in setting a record year,” DeVito said.
The announcement for the store’s closing came on Feb. 21, after Sportsmans turned over four of its reacquired stores to the Alamo Group, who ultimately declined to keep them open.
For Alex McLean, wildlife biology major at NIC, the news was especially disappointing.
“I’ve been shopping at the store since it first opened and I’d always dreamed of finding a job there,” said McLean, who started working there last August. “I finally got hired, and now they’re closing the store. My dream came true and then I was shot down.”
McLean said the bonds between coworkers make the closing harder.
“Everyone in that store treats you like family; everyone is really close,” McLean said.
DeVito said with yearly raises, bonuses and gifts such as free guns, it may be difficult to find another local retailer with the same hiring benefits.
“Both companies, Sportsmans and Wholesale, treated employees very well,” DeVito said. “The employee incentives have been phenomenal.”
DeVito said he also found both companies to have a history of employing students and being willing to work around hectic school schedules.
McLean agreed.
“My managers guaranteed I would have the same amount of hours [after the semester began],” McLean said. “It didn’t matter what time I needed to go to school. I thought after my [class] schedule changed I would lose a bunch of hours, but if anything I’ve gained more.”
It was about more than work hours, however, DeVito said.
“Ever since I was a little kid I’ve wanted to make a living hunting, or fishing or in that industry. I’ve been able to make that living, have a life, these last six years,” DeVito said.
“I’m going to miss going to work and knowing I get to spend time with guns and people that have the same interests as I do. Not only was it my everyday hobby, passion, it was fun to mix it in with work too.”
