ORIGINAL: davidmil

The big boys are no longer the bargain they were when they first started out with mail order only from a warehouse. Even with all their bulk buying they can't or won't make any major concessions in price anymore. Quite often shopping at your local pro is LESS. A couple years ago my pro shop bought a bunch of Omegas. He was selling them, and then Bass Pro just a ways away got in a ton of them and put on a big sale. They ran out and ordered more. My pro shop had them $30 less and it took a while to sell the 20 he had. People just didn't check on that large ticket item. They saw "SALE" from the big guy and thought, that's the place. GO figure. He always keeps a copy of the Bass Pro shop latest sale catalog from the paper on the desk. He's the same or less on a lot of things. And of course, the service and expertise is no contest. They can't touch my pro shop.