Thanks Dennis and Jim for trying to find a potential buyer that would have kept Cabela's in Sidney. At the end of the day BP saw a prime opportunity to buy when Elliot stepped in and forced Cabela's hand. Like Johnny said, he will make no promises to keep any/all jobs in Sidney.
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Agree Elliot was the scapegoat. It even states Cabela's was looking for a buyer months prior to Elliot.
I will share one viewpoint that puts light on past actions - once the Tommy crew was in place and running full steam the Cabela's realized what a mistake they had made in not only going public but with the leadship of Tommy, how he decimated the company both internally and customer wise - there are those within the community that are aware of these comments. Despite warts that every company has, the Cabelas brothers built an incredible company and Tommy and crew threw it away. I and many others are not surprised that there were early efforts to move beyond Tommy and despite having many opportunities over the years, the Cabelas brothers always remained loyal to the area. I do not doubt Jim's sincerity in the slightest. For Dennis, well he would do anything Jim wanted and he has family embedded within. Of course he would prefer to keep it in Sidney. Why turn - it is a public company with money minded people filling the rest of the positions.
Elliot was a scapegoat. He didn't even own his 11% for long. Elliot comes in to companies who need a person to pin it on to save face and Cabela's is his latest project.
Something sounds fishy. They tried to discuss merging the two companies two times before; once before they even went public and once after Millner took over. Both times Jim and/or Dennis were involved. And where was D--k when all this was happening? I just don't know what to think other than we have all been stabbed in the back. Guess I'll have to buck up and start looking forward to working for Bass Pro Shops, if they even hire me (watching my almost 10 years of seniority go down the tubes).
I agree.
They went from, "We WILL NOT vote our shares for any prospective buyer if that buyer doesn't plan to keep the headquarters in Sidney" to, "We WILL vote our shares for any prospective buyer if that buyer admits that there is a strong connection between Cabela's and Sidney."
That is an enormous change of opinion.
I'm thinking that there was some strong-arm manipulation going on from the other directors. Jim and Dennis knew that there shares, while numerous, were not enough to effect anything. Maybe the rest of the board threatened even worse consequences if Jim and Dennis didn't conceded.
This all stinks, and I don't even work in Sidney.
I think the reply is better than the original post. I think once BP was the only player, Dennis and Jim knew long term it would't be good for Sidney. They put on a good show for as long as they could, but knew it was only a show. Yes poor management/decisions made by the good ole boy club, brought down the ship.
Thanks Dennis and Jim!? They were just positioning to give the appearance their hands are clean once everything came down.
And let's be honest, if the owners were not from Sidney why would any company locate a major portion of the operations in Sidney Nebraska. This is not a slam to Sidney but just look at it from a pure business perspective.
You also have to wonder if Cabela's had been able to recruit more capable senior management if the company would have maintained it's success. The Cabela's "good ole boy" network also doomed the company. They would not allow the needed changes to take place, even though they would voice the support at meetings. Feet would drag and the constant back-stabbing of the change agents ensured failed initiatives. Lack of effective leadership at corporate departmental levels allowed these actions to take place, always took the easy path.