Just now, rangerjockey said:

Exactly. that's why I said to call the shop about the price of the GLX. I would never question anyone with 6 years of experience.

1 minute ago, rangerjockey said:

Exactly. that's why I said to call the shop about the price of the GLX. I would never question anyone with 6 years of experience.

Or they could price it correctly at 35% off retail to begin with and avoid the song and dance. If they did the rod I linked would already be sold.

3 minutes ago, TNBankFishing said:

Or they could price it correctly at 35% off retail to begin with and avoid the song and dance. If they did the rod I linked would already be sold.

Well, when you open your tackle store you can price rods however you want.

Unrelated to the Rod Locker but a very well established local shop near me refused to come off the price of their old GLX models when the new ones came out. The manager told me I was ridiculous for even asking. They are still sitting on the shelf over a year later. 🤣

42 minutes ago, rangerjockey said:

  47 minutes ago, TNBankFishing said:

Or they could price it correctly at 35% off retail to begin with and avoid the song and dance. If they did the rod I linked would already be sold.

39 minutes ago, GReb said:

Unrelated to the Rod Locker but a very well established local shop near me refused to come off the price of their old GLX models when the new ones came out. The manager told me I was ridiculous for even asking. They are still sitting on the shelf over a year later. 🤣

I have a local shop just like that, except they have NRXs next to NRX+ with the same price tag.

Owning and running a business requires a wide range of skill sets. Some people excel at customer service, others at management. Some are exceptional at booking and finance, while others shine in program or project management.

Great leaders understand their own strengths and weaknesses and build teams around them—bringing in people whose skills complement where they may fall short.

That said, even with the right skills, success also depends on the right fit. Retail, for example, isn’t for everyone. A person’s talents and personality may be better suited for marketing, engineering, or any number of other career paths.

Separate from skill sets, some people are simply a pleasure to be around. They get along with others easily and are genuinely good people.

I’ve never personally interacted with the gentlemen running the Rod Locker, but they sound like good guys. That alone doesn’t determine whether retail is the right fit for them. Time will tell how things unfold. For now, let’s avoid rushing to judgment and allow the situation to develop on its own.

I think it’s important to note that before ALF started the loyalty program, they polled social media and customers first. It was very well received and offered many benefits to the people who ordered often.

Brian always asks Facebook what sales they want to see, product lines to stock, brands to try and offer, etc. If you have an opinion join the Facebook page and give it. Their platform is very customer focused and has open communication.

1 hour ago, GReb said:

I think it’s important to note that before ALF started the loyalty program, they polled social media and customers first. It was very well received and offered many benefits to the people who ordered often.

Brian always asks Facebook what sales they want to see, product lines to stock, brands to try and offer, etc. If you have an opinion join the Facebook page and give it. Their platform is very customer focused and has open communication.

My main issue with a loyalty program is if it gates off sales or early access to drops. Omnia for its issues doesn’t as far as I’m aware do this, but ALF and now TRL do. If you force me to buy into a program to have a chance to buy gear at a discount I’ll just not use your storefront.

ALF still had ~$100 dollars in points on my account when it went under. Unless a shop can cash out your points you’ve built through their program it’s nothing but a lose/lose proposition.

I can understand why people like and use loyalty programs. We’re all creatures of habit and if we have a good time shopping at a store, or they’re knowledgeable and inviting we want to go back. I paid for and enjoyed Omnias program for a couple of years until I realized I wasn’t even getting close to the value out of it. I shop at too many different places online and in person for something like that to be worth the cost.

4 hours ago, TNBankFishing said:

My main issue with a loyalty program is if it gates off sales or early access to drops. Omnia for its issues doesn’t as far as I’m aware do this, but ALF and now TRL do. If you force me to buy into a program to have a chance to buy gear at a discount I’ll just not use your storefront.

ALF still had ~$100 dollars in points on my account when it went under. Unless a shop can cash out your points you’ve built through their program it’s nothing but a lose/lose proposition.

I can understand why people like and use loyalty programs. We’re all creatures of habit and if we have a good time shopping at a store, or they’re knowledgeable and inviting we want to go back. I paid for and enjoyed Omnias program for a couple of years until I realized I wasn’t even getting close to the value out of it. I shop at too many different places online and in person for something like that to be worth the cost.

49 bucks isn’t worth it ? It’s a deal with today’s shipping costs . Hell , some will charge you 14 bucks to ship a spool of line or a hat

1 hour ago, rangerjockey said:

49 bucks isn’t worth it ? It’s a deal with today’s shipping costs . Hell , some will charge you 14 bucks to ship a spool of line or a hat

You’re totally right, but it’s a weird sort of position to be in. If I need a spool of line I’ll drop by the local shop 10 minutes away. If I’m stocking up on a certain bait the shop in question with the loyalty program might not carry it or have it on sale when I do a bulk order. The chance the stars all align and any given shop has exactly what I want, on sale, in stock, in the quantities I need, and they have a loyalty program is exceedingly small. Just the nature of tackle.

Does anyone know if they are honoring store credit from ALF? I have about $100 in store credit from previous trade ins. I tried punching the code into the site a month or two ago when they launched the new site but it didn’t work. Not sure if that’s been updated or what the situation is.

@Jerkbait22 I just signed into the new site with my old ALF email and it's showing my full ALF order history and my points balance is still there.

1 hour ago, Peacedivision said:

@Jerkbait22 I just signed into the new site with my old ALF email and it's showing my full ALF order history and my points balance is still there.

I can confirm my information is also present.

This is incredible. The fact they kept the point values and order history is almost unbelievable. They didn’t have to go the extra mile but they did.

@Glenn Do you have the ability to modify my initial post to update this information at the top? Otherwise it’s probably a good idea for someone to create a heads up post for those like myself who assumed (incorrectly it’s been shown) the funds were simply lost.

Just for S&G, I signed in with my e-mail - and yep...my points balance is still there.

@TNBankFishing Done!

Hopefully they do great.

As we are all CONSUMERS, we want as much competition as possible.

Never traded in a rod to ALF because they didn't pay much. Bought a bunch of used rods and really found them to be accurate in terms of condition and worth the savings. Bought some tatula reels on sale and never had a problem. They just need to fix the pricing on the used stuff and then fix whatever else was bleeding their margin and it should be good.

I called and they honored my gift card from ALF. Seem like stand up guys. I used the credit to buy a new rod, hope it all goes smoothly.

I was just there this past weekend and bought a few little things. They asked for my name and confirmed I was still in their system.

I have always had good luck with those guys and always found them to be good to work with. I will give them some time to get things settled in and see how things go.

That being said, I always liked looking through their used stuff and have bought A LOT of used gear from them. But.... I also noticed the prices on the used gear they had were considerably higher than they had been before. And the overall condition of a lot of the current used stuff they had on the wall was pretty rough. I looked at the same examples of Loomis stuff like shown above and thought... Wow... Not at that price.

Like I said, I feel they have earned my support though and I will give them time to settle in and see how things go. I want to see them be successful!

4 hours ago, FrnkNsteen said:

I was just there this past weekend and bought a few little things. They asked for my name and confirmed I was still in their system.

I have always had good luck with those guys and always found them to be good to work with. I will give them some time to get things settled in and see how things go.

That being said, I always liked looking through their used stuff and have bought A LOT of used gear from them. But.... I also noticed the prices on the used gear they had were considerably higher than they had been before. And the overall condition of a lot of the current used stuff they had on the wall was pretty rough. I looked at the same examples of Loomis stuff like shown above and thought... Wow... Not at that price.

Like I said, I feel they have earned my support though and I will give them time to settle in and see how things go. I want to see them be successful!

I think they might be pricing the way they do with future discounts in mind. Easter weekend 15% off used rods and reels makes sense.

Normally with used gear you really only keep the prices up on GLoomis or possibly high end models in Daiwa/St. Croix/Shimano. Maybe they are trying to reset the used market in their area or through a normal retailer.

I hope they do well too, they have time to iron out the wrinkles.