The death of Sidney, Ne.

[tarheelhusker]

https://www.foxnews.com/us/paul-singer-sidney-nebraska-cabelas-bass-pro-shops-merger

I use to travel to Sidney as a NAPA rep. Breaks my heart to read this article. An entire town wiped out. Terrible news.

 

[Charlie Marlow]

 

[tarheelhusker]

Yeah, I guess. Don’t want to be bought, don’t go public.

 

[Dean Pope]

Yeah, I guess. Don’t want to be bought, don’t go public.

Read this fact on Breitbart News, 95% of all hedge fund operators go to hell rather than heaven.

 

[Baxter48]

Yeah, I guess. Don’t want to be bought, don’t go public.

No difference that the Peterson family selling vice grip to rubber maid then they sell to a Chinese company. Plant gets closed. it really hurt the little towns like Wilber, Crete, Dewitt, Plymouth, Daykin, Western, etc.

 

[bigboxes]

No difference that the Peterson family selling vice grip to rubber maid then they sell to a Chinese company. Plant gets closed. it really hurt the little towns like Wilber, Crete, Dewitt, Plymouth, Daykin, Western, etc.

My vice grips are made in DeWitt. Those things last forever if you take care of them. Needed a drywall tool one time and pulled a tool to check it out. Said "Made in China". I put it back. Found out that all of the other ones were Chinese as well. I'd gladly pay a few more dollars to buy American tools. Thank God my Craftsman are made in the U.S.A. HA! Even my Camry is made in America.

 

[SOCALHSKR]

My vice grips are made in DeWitt. Those things last forever if you take care of them. Needed a drywall tool one time and pulled a tool to check it out. Said "Made in China". I put it back. Found out that all of the other ones were Chinese as well. I'd gladly pay a few more dollars to buy American tools. Thank God my Craftsman are made in the U.S.A. HA! Even my Camry is made in America.

but like the man said, it's complicated. The salary benefit stays in U S but the profits go to China and the taxes ? What's a person to do?

 

[BleedRed78]

Father in law lives in Sidney and knows the Cabela's. Says it's really unfortunate and was unintended result from going public. But the city's far from wiped out. Housing market went to crap, but has rebounded a bit I believe. There's jobs around there, they just lost a huge chunk and one of which provided a large sense of pride. Too bad really. Hate vulture capitalism.

 

[BigRedBugeaters]

My vice grips are made in DeWitt. Those things last forever if you take care of them. Needed a drywall tool one time and pulled a tool to check it out. Said "Made in China". I put it back. Found out that all of the other ones were Chinese as well. I'd gladly pay a few more dollars to buy American tools. Thank God my Craftsman are made in the U.S.A. HA! Even my Camry is made in America.

Remember when Craftsman and Stanley were good tools?

 

[tpmcg]

we have 3.6% unemployment.
so, weve adapted to an extent.
where could we be if we could start making more stuff?

 

[leodisflowers]

Father in law lives in Sidney and knows the Cabela's. Says it's really unfortunate and was unintended result from going public. But the city's far from wiped out. Housing market went to crap, but has rebounded a bit I believe. There's jobs around there, they just lost a huge chunk and one of which provided a large sense of pride. Too bad really. Hate vulture capitalism.

I agree with this to a certain extent, but there was a lot of damage done. We lived in Grand Island and became friends with some people that were part of the Cabela's debacle. It hurt Sidney and the surrounding area a lot. It may have rebounded a little but, but 2K jobs in a 6K town is still going to hurt pretty bad. Sidney is not the only place to experience this though unfortunately. Gothenburg and Cozad both went through this when major manufacturing left as well as probably others in the state. Both Cozad and Gothenburg rebounded, but it still hurts the community.

 

[BleedRed78]

I agree with this to a certain extent, but there was a lot of damage done. We lived in Grand Island and became friends with some people that were part of the Cabela's debacle. It hurt Sidney and the surrounding area a lot. It may have rebounded a little but, but 2K jobs in a 6K town is still going to hurt pretty bad. Sidney is not the only place to experience this though unfortunately. Gothenburg and Cozad both went through this when major manufacturing left as well as probably others in the state. Both Cozad and Gothenburg rebounded, but it still hurts the community.

Oh absolutely. It's just that the town didn't get wiped out like some tend to exaggerate. It's no ghost town! It sounds like the population dropped a bit, but still lots of strong people living there adapting and trying to move on.

 

[RedCap]

People get the villain wrong here. It's not the Hedge Fund, it's Bass Pro Shops. Bass Pro Shops could have kept the company in Sidney if they had wanted but they choose to move out of Sidney without regard for the people or the history.

And had they wanted, the Cabela family and the original stockholders could have insisted with the buyer that the company stay in Sidney before they sold out. Hedge Fund made money but they really weren't the ones that moved the company out of Sidney.

 

[Nebraska_Reality]

People get the villain wrong here. It's not the Hedge Fund, it's Bass Pro Shops. Bass Pro Shops could have kept the company in Sidney if they had wanted but they choose to move out of Sidney without regard for the people or the history.

In defense of Bass Pro, they already has a company HQ in Springfield, Missouri. I'm guessing they felt that they didn't need 2 corporate offices to run what is basically one company. I was worried that they'd shutter the store as well...glad they didn't do that.

It sucks that jobs were lost in Sidney....but I'm glad that Cabelas isn't gone entirely from the town. That would have been really bad.

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

Cabela's help put that place on the map and provided so many jobs and revenue that trickled down into a lot of other small business's and schools and on and on...yes it's sad they are leaving but I don't think Cabela's owed the town anything at this point, and I can make the argument the town and people owe a great big thanks to Cabela's. But it sucks, and I feel for the people most affected.

 

[TheNewNU]

Sidney is the equivalent of someone putting all their 401(k) into 1 stock. You have to diversify to limit your exposure to something like this.

 

[RedCap]

In defense of Bass Pro, they already has a company HQ in Springfield, Missouri. I'm guessing they felt that they didn't need 2 corporate offices to run what is basically one company. I was worried that they'd shutter the store as well...glad they didn't do that.

It sucks that jobs were lost in Sidney....but I'm glad that Cabelas isn't gone entirely from the town. That would have been really bad.

Well of course that's why Bass Pro Shops did it, BUT they still are the ones who moved the jobs out of Sidney so they could make more profit, it wasn't somebody else.

 

[Nebraska_Reality]

Well of course that's why Bass Pro Shops did it, BUT they still are the ones who moved the jobs out of Sidney so they could make more profit, it wasn't somebody else.

Not saying they're not....

 

[Dusty Human 1]

Yeah, I guess. Don’t want to be bought, don’t go public.

The hedge fund company did what hedge funds do, to me the Cabela family put money ahead of employee loyalty and went public they are to blame more than anyone else.

I don’t blame Bass Pro one iota they had no need to keep 2 headquarters or 2 distribution facilities.

 

[huskerfan66]

I agree with this to a certain extent, but there was a lot of damage done. We lived in Grand Island and became friends with some people that were part of the Cabela's debacle. It hurt Sidney and the surrounding area a lot. It may have rebounded a little but, but 2K jobs in a 6K town is still going to hurt pretty bad. Sidney is not the only place to experience this though unfortunately. Gothenburg and Cozad both went through this when major manufacturing left as well as probably others in the state. Both Cozad and Gothenburg rebounded, but it still hurts the community.

And they were good jobs

 

[WestCoastCornhusker2]

https://www.foxnews.com/us/paul-singer-sidney-nebraska-cabelas-bass-pro-shops-merger

I use to travel to Sidney as a NAPA rep. Breaks my heart to read this article. An entire town wiped out. Terrible news.

That's an obvious risk, working a 1 major publicly traded company in a small town. Retail is extremely competitive borderline profitable these days. Amazon has killed a lot of retail stores after WalMart killed them.

Communism is not the answer.

 

[BleedRed78]

People get the villain wrong here. It's not the Hedge Fund, it's Bass Pro Shops. Bass Pro Shops could have kept the company in Sidney if they had wanted but they choose to move out of Sidney without regard for the people or the history.

And had they wanted, the Cabela family and the original stockholders could have insisted with the buyer that the company stay in Sidney before they sold out. Hedge Fund made money but they really weren't the ones that moved the company out of Sidney.

The hedge fund did what they all do and screw people over for the sake of share holders. Are a lot of Nebraskans probably shareholders of some sort simply through their 401ks or iras? Sure, its more likely than not. But you know its much more about individual stock holders who actually invest as opposed to those trying to do the responsible thing by saving for retirement.

Not saying the Cabelas are the bad guys either, but ultimately for whatever reason thye decided money was more important than control over everything, which allowed for the vultures to come in and do what they do best. Bass Pro is very much an after thought and should never be considered the bad guys. From what Ive heard theyve been more accommodating than they should be or how most go about this type of thing. Cant expect them to be a charity though.

Wish Cabelas couldve stayed family owned just like Bass Pro still is. Always the best option, unless its of course no longer an option.

 

[BigO4WYO]

Also, Cabela's sucks since Bass Pro took over. It's a disgrace.

 

[Cloud@Heart]

Who ended up setting up shop in the corporate building? If I remember correctly, they were asking $1 for the place if it was a company that would bring jobs back to the community. I just never heard what ended up happening.

 

[RedCap]

The hedge fund company did what hedge funds do, to me the Cabela family put money ahead of employee loyalty and went public they are to blame more than anyone else.

I don’t blame Bass Pro one iota they had no need to keep 2 headquarters or 2 distribution facilities.

Bass Pro Shops certainly have all the legal right to do what they did BUT morally they are to blame. Most companies actually try to be good community citizens. They did not choose to care about Sidney or its people. AND if both companies were making money before the acquisition, they could have continued doing so just as they had done before. Bass Pro Shops just didn't care about Nebraskans - they were expendable to them.

P.S. If you continue to shop at Bass Pro Shops or Cabellas, you are, in effect, endorsing their actions.

 

[Dusty Human 1]

Bass Pro Shops certainly have all the legal right to do what they did BUT morally they are to blame. Most companies actually try to be good community citizens. They did not choose to care about Sidney or its people. AND if both companies were making money before the acquisition, they could have continued doing so just as they had done before. Bass Pro Shops just didn't care about Nebraskans - they were expendable to them.

P.S. If you continue to shop at Bass Pro Shops or Cabellas, you are, in effect, endorsing their actions.

Bass Pro went up and above to help as best as the could. Bass Pro is not the American Red Cross there is only so much they could do they bought a business the Cabela family put up for sale. The Cabela family own this disaster 100%.

 

[tbirdman62]

took about 5 minutes to find that the cabelas is doing fine in Sidney, the sale was 3 years ago, unemployment is 2% and median income of 57,300, reported in April, 2018 are better than state and national averages. sounds like a hit piece on a R donor. I have been in Sidney since the sale, not devastated.

 

[schuele]

took about 5 minutes to find that the cabelas is doing fine in Sidney, the sale was 3 years ago, unemployment is 2% and median income of 57,300, reported in April, 2018 are better than state and national averages. sounds like a hit piece on a R donor. I have been in Sidney since the sale, not devastated.

Or on Ben Sasse. Not sure what the people at Tucker Carlson Tonight were expecting him to do or say about the Cabela's takeover, but they sure made a big deal about him not returning their phone call.

<sarcasm font>Apparently Sasse is the only office holder in Nebraska who had influence over this situation.</sarcasm font>

 

[tbirdman62]

BTW, sales, mergers, relocations, hiring , firing, etc, are the good and bad of business in a free market Speaking of good, my 401, riding the record breaking market, has earned 16% since Jan. Keep this pace for another 4 years and my 401 will more than double. those nasty corps aren't all bad! CAPITALISM!

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

Bass Pro Shops certainly have all the legal right to do what they did BUT morally they are to blame. Most companies actually try to be good community citizens. They did not choose to care about Sidney or its people. AND if both companies were making money before the acquisition, they could have continued doing so just as they had done before. Bass Pro Shops just didn't care about Nebraskans - they were expendable to them.

P.S. If you continue to shop at Bass Pro Shops or Cabellas, you are, in effect, endorsing their actions.

I do endorse their actions, 100% That doesn't mean I like it though, but this is America, built on free enterprise and capitalism, what your asking for is a utopia that isn't realistic.

 

[huskerfan66]

Who ended up setting up shop in the corporate building? If I remember correctly, they were asking $1 for the place if it was a company that would bring jobs back to the community. I just never heard what ended up happening.

Can't say for sure but I thought I had heard earlier this year on the radio that a company from Canada was looking into atleast part of it for a distribution center. I gathered it was a welcome and likely option

 

[HuskerTilDeath]

The hedge fund did what they all do and screw people over for the sake of share holders. Are a lot of Nebraskans probably shareholders of some sort simply through their 401ks or iras? Sure, its more likely than not. But you know its much more about individual stock holders who actually invest as opposed to those trying to do the responsible thing by saving for retirement.

Not saying the Cabelas are the bad guys either, but ultimately for whatever reason thye decided money was more important than control over everything, which allowed for the vultures to come in and do what they do best. Bass Pro is very much an after thought and should never be considered the bad guys. From what Ive heard theyve been more accommodating than they should be or how most go about this type of thing. Cant expect them to be a charity though.

Wish Cabelas couldve stayed family owned just like Bass Pro still is. Always the best option, unless its of course no longer an option.

Elliot makes a nice headline, but in reality they only asked the Cabela's board to explore options for making the company more profitable. They didnt demand anything. There were other shareholders that pressed for a sale.

Tommy Milner shit his pants and went full into sale negotiations so he could cash out and retire.

Unfortunately for Cabela's, the private equity deal they thought they had locked up wasn't a high enough bid to appease the board and Bass Pro came in and hit the target price.

 

[Nebraska_Reality]

Bass Pro Shops certainly have all the legal right to do what they did BUT morally they are to blame. Most companies actually try to be good community citizens. They did not choose to care about Sidney or its people. AND if both companies were making money before the acquisition, they could have continued doing so just as they had done before. Bass Pro Shops just didn't care about Nebraskans - they were expendable to them.

P.S. If you continue to shop at Bass Pro Shops or Cabellas, you are, in effect, endorsing their actions.

I think Bass Pro makes the same decision if Cabelas was across the border in Peetz, Colorado.....or in Douglas, Wyoming....or Ithaca, New York.

In other words, I don't really think it had to do with Bass Pro not caring about Nebraskans.

 

[Wasker77]

No difference that the Peterson family selling vice grip to rubber maid then they sell to a Chinese company. Plant gets closed. it really hurt the little towns like Wilber, Crete, Dewitt, Plymouth, Daykin, Western, etc.

I totally agree. There have been lots of towns in Nebraska that have died out. I notice whenever I am back in Nebraska that the Lincoln-Omaha corridor continues to grow and the rest of the state shrinks. I am sure there are exceptions, but I bet not many. About 15 years ago I was back hunting. Two of my brother's co-workers from San Diego were with us. I was in a separate vehicle. When we arrived in the McCook area after driving across South Central Nebraska these two Californians expressed amazement at the condition of the towns we drove through. Dilapidated buildings, Soaped over windows on old businesses, broken down machinery and towns generally in disrepair. They had never seen anything like it. I drive over from Denver Airport at least once a year and it hasn't gotten any better.

 

[rcnut223]

People get the villain wrong here. It's not the Hedge Fund, it's Bass Pro Shops. Bass Pro Shops could have kept the company in Sidney if they had wanted but they choose to move out of Sidney without regard for the people or the history.

And had they wanted, the Cabela family and the original stockholders could have insisted with the buyer that the company stay in Sidney before they sold out. Hedge Fund made money but they really weren't the ones that moved the company out of Sidney.

I respectfully disagree: Bass Pro had no obligations to stay in Sidney, Financially that would make no sense , the synergies created by merging the 2 companies is what drove the purchase in the first place. Jim Cabela is solely to blame for entering into the mess to begin with, you don't go public in the manner he did and not expect what happened

 

[Sinomatic]

I love capitalism but. Are there any entrepreneurs out there in Nebraska that wants to set up shop not only for profit but to better the Nebraska communities?

Doesn't seem like it hardly. That is a shame.

 

[JohnRossEwing]

This is why you don't live in places like Sydney.

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

It's easy to forget more and more people are working from home now. I do. I could live anywhere I want, and others can to...so while some jobs go away, others pop up that didn't exist a few years ago. So towns don't necessarily need as many brick and mortars as they used to either.

 

[chipotlehusker]

https://www.foxnews.com/us/paul-singer-sidney-nebraska-cabelas-bass-pro-shops-merger

I use to travel to Sidney as a NAPA rep. Breaks my heart to read this article. An entire town wiped out. Terrible news.

MY hometown. Graduated in 1955, Boys State, Boys Nation, on to NU, then to University of Texas law school, in Austin nearly 40 yrs., went to high
school with the Cabela brothers (altho they were in Catholic school, I was public). Cabelas was an amazing success story but their fairly recent
"merger" (bought out) by Bass doomed Sidney in this case. However, Sidney was a vibrant small town BEFORE Cabelas and they will pick themselves
up. Sidney residents are resilient,...

 

[TheNewNU]

I love capitalism but. Are there any entrepreneurs out there in Nebraska that wants to set up shop not only for profit but to better the Nebraska communities?

Doesn't seem like it hardly. That is a shame.

Maybe the decisionmakers in Lincoln need to figure out why our state is losing businesses left and right?