I am getting tired of going to my local sporting goods store to find something and when its not there because they dont carry it, the staff starts bad mouthing the product and the people who use it.

Today I went in looking for some Sufix braid and it wasnt carried. The guy told me that spiderwire is the best stuff out there and actually that braid had no particular application and that hes been fishing for 30years...blah...blah...blah.

And then they stand there scratching their heads wondering why a guy buys stuff off of forums and ebay  :-/

We only have small mom and pop style stores here...BPS is putting in a store in Calgary (8hrs away)....and I dont think leaving Nuclear Medicine for a manager would be too popular with the ol' gal.

Like I said, I buy 80% of my gear (both hunting and fishing) off the internet, but sometimes whether its due to guilt or in need of something quickly, I venture to the stores, and come home cuss'n!

It just kinda got to me today, with the guy almost treating me like I had no idea or business fishing. >

I grew up on lake st.clair and the I always found it funny  that at the local shops the fish were always and only biting on what they just got a huge box of. It was usually some thing you would not ever be intrested in.

I agree, shoddy employees with no knowledge of the product they are hocking can ruin any hobby or experience.  I usually mention something simple like using a certain style of soft plastics.  There answer quickly lets you know how fast to walk away.  

I do my store buying out of impulse.  We have a BPS 2 hrs away, that my work sadly requires me to drive right past a few times a month.  Although my experience in BPS has always been good, I still do my best not to talk about our lifestyle so as not to spoil my day!

I think the fact that you ask for a favorite product promotes awareness to the retailer that it is in demand. I'm sure the key to this is to speak to the right person.  

Big O

I've met some VERY strange customers in fishing departments I can tell ya.  ;D I hate when they make weird recommendations for items I would either never use or see no purpose in.  :-?

It's also very easy for them to go into weird rants or fishing stories that usually ends with me slowly but steadily walking away  

A sporting goods store around here, won't mention name, has one of those guys I try to avoid every time I'm there. Literally every single time I have talked to him, and we start talkin' tackle, he gets this really snobby tone to his voice and says, "well I own over thirty St. Croix rods." Like he is something special, us customers don't know anything, and I should bow down to him. This guy has singlehandedly drove my business to the store's main competitors.

I'm glad none of the stores around here do that to me.However if you figure buying online with shipping charges you'd be either paying the same as you drive somewhere(with these gas prices nowadays) or you'd be saving money buying an item online than going to the store getting it.

So if you are having problems,just stick to buying online(you can pretty much find everything you need)....I have 5 major  stores here plus 2 mom's and pop's store that i know of within 20 min-1 hour drive and i still buy 65% of my stuff online.

Yeah, I hear you. I too am frustrated with tackle shops nowadays. There's certainly no excuse for rudeness, and poor advice doesn't help either the business or the customer. But we're all in this together actually, the customer and the shop employees. It's the reality of retail markets today.

Good tackle shops are getting rarer. Good shops run by dedicated anglers are disappearing in the wake of corporate mega-stores like Walmart, Dicks, Gander, even BPS, which isn't always peopled with the brightest bulbs.

We now get our expertise from the magazines, videos, and internet. AND there are a ton of products out there to follow, which means there are a million things we can wish for, and expect, thanks to the internet.

I worked in a very large tackle shop in upstate NY back in the 80's -when the internet was still in it's infancy. Back then we stocked Trilene, Stren, Sigma, Maxima, and Ande (and we were a big shop). But look now! Holy cow! The chance of having the exact line formula you read about stocked in your local Dick's is not likely. Instead, you'll find the products of the companies with the most marketing power.

We were the biggest shop in the state then and had almost the volume to compete with BPS and Cabela's in some areas. But not all. People OFTEN came in with their Cabela's catalog in hand to point out lower prices, and we'd always counter that here you don't have to wait, you don't have to pay shipping, and there is a lot of local expertise here in this shop (we really did have a staff of dedicated anglers). Twenty years later the shop still exists, but is less than half the size, with a quarter the staff.

I now have a BPS relatively nearby and they don't carry what's in the national catalog. As I get more knowledgeable, and particular in my tackle needs, I go to tackle shops less and less. It's frustrating to have to settle for second or third choices on my "needs".

I guess it's the nature of the retail world today. The internet has changed everything, and our expectations with it.

I think it's equally frustrating for the tackle shop owners and employees as it is for the customers. We all just have to realize that.

My Academy has just about all the stuff I need. If they don't have something I need (which is rare.) I just swing by Fishing Tackle Unlimited or Bass Pro. At my Academy most of the guys there know what they're doing. But there's this one guy who is an ABSOLUTE JERK!! He sounds kinda like the guy that MuskyXL is describing.

Ike 8-)