{"id":8625,"date":"2019-05-12T23:58:37","date_gmt":"2019-05-12T23:58:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/?p=8625"},"modified":"2019-05-12T23:59:19","modified_gmt":"2019-05-12T23:59:19","slug":"the-sporting-goods-industry-comparing-the-cultures-of-rei-bass-pro-shops-ll-bean-cabelas-and-dicks-sporting-goods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/the-sporting-goods-industry-comparing-the-cultures-of-rei-bass-pro-shops-ll-bean-cabelas-and-dicks-sporting-goods\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sporting Goods Industry: Comparing the cultures of REI, Bass Pro Shops, LL Bean, Cabela’s and Dick’s Sporting Goods"},"content":{"rendered":"

Five companies from the Sporting Goods industry: Bass Pro Shops<\/a>, Cabela’s<\/a>, Dick’s Sporting Goods<\/a>, LL Bean<\/a>, and REI<\/a>. Comparably<\/a>\u00a0collects anonymous self-submitted employee sentiment about the workings of the company culture and the satisfaction of said employees, and generates Overall Scores based on those sentiment reviews. So which of these five companies treats their employees the most like they care about retention and understand the modern workplace? And which are still operating like its the 20th century?<\/p>\n

OVERALL CULTURE<\/b><\/p>\n

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No A’s for overall culture from this group, but this may be due to the more centrally brick-and-mortar nature of some of these stores and the attendant financial woes. LL Bean (who have been shipping orders since before it was cool) beats runner-up Cabela’s by just one percentage point. C range scores for Cabela’s, Bass Pro, and REI.<\/p>\n

Bass Pro Shops: <\/b>\u201cConservation really is a focus of the company and that is apparent from training on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cabela\u2019s: <\/b>\u201cI really like working for Cabela’s. The people I work with are what makes it the most fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods: <\/b>\u201cWe sell fun as a business. People don\u2019t come here to buy insurance. They are buying basketball hoops, ping pong tables, kayaks and all types of fun stuff, which is cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

L.L. Bean: <\/b>\u201cYou can tell the company cares about both its employees and customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

REI: <\/b>\u201cThe people I work with love the outdoors and that makes them fun to be around.\u201d<\/p>\n

CEO & LEADERSHIP<\/b><\/p>\n

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LL Bean’s Stephen Smith wins for CEO, beating REI’s Jerry Schwoebel and Cabela’s Thomas Millner, who missed first place by a handful of points.<\/p>\n

Bass Pro Shops: <\/b>\u201cLeadership is personable, but goals are not always clear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cabela\u2019s: <\/b>\u201cLeadership team communicates pretty well and sets expectations that can be reached.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods: <\/b>\u201cThe CEO’s decision to go anti-gun has killed the firearms department at our store which was once the best department.\u201d<\/p>\n

L.L. Bean: <\/b>\u201cFriendly, energetic, extremely helpful, calm environment, no drama.\u201d<\/p>\n

REI: \u201c<\/b>All of the leadership that I’ve worked with has been very supportive and down to earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

COMPENSATION<\/b><\/p>\n

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No A’s for compensation. LL Bean takes the win with almost three-quarters approval. Cabela’s and REI place well, with Dick’s and Bass Pre Shops rating creakier scores.<\/p>\n

Bass Pro Shops: <\/b>\u201cThe compensation for working at this establishment does not equal the amount of money the company is making. There are a lot of undervalued employees who do not make enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cabela\u2019s: <\/b>\u201cGreat team, we work hard and work together. We deserve more pay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods: <\/b>\u201cPaid very little compared to similar jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n

L.L. Bean: <\/b>\u201cI get a bonus for my hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n

REI: <\/b>\u201cPay should be higher with the limited benefits that are offered.\u201d<\/p>\n

PERKS & BENEFITS<\/b><\/p>\n

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REI wins a trophy for Perks & Benefits, barely beating LL Bean’s score. Bass Pro Shops and \u2013 especially D-rated Cabela’s and Dick’s need to work on their benefits packages if they want more serious employee commitment.<\/p>\n

Bass Pro Shops: <\/b>\u201cHealth insurance is the best. Great coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cabela\u2019s: <\/b>\u201cGreat discounts, especially for outfitters that have been onboard a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods: <\/b>\u201c25% discount on regularly priced items.\u201d<\/p>\n

L.L. Bean: <\/b>\u201cPaid holidays, time off, 401k\u201d<\/p>\n

REI: <\/b>\u201cREI is really focused on work-life balance. You get paid vacations if you work more than 20 hours a week and you get 2 free days off a year paid.\u201d<\/p>\n

DIVERSITY<\/b><\/p>\n

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Lots of B’s for Diversity, which measures how employees of color rate their experience. LL Bean shares the win with Bass (who stepped up here), barely beating REI. Dick’s is in last place.<\/p>\n

Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods: <\/b>\u201cDick\u2019s needs to hirea much more diverse work force.\u201d<\/p>\n

L.L. Bean: <\/b>\u201cJust because I\u2019m a female, I\u2019m treated differently.\u201d<\/p>\n

REI: <\/b>\u201cA decent amount of diversity. I would not say people are hired based on ethnicity, but on qualifications.\u201d<\/p>\n

OUTLOOK<\/b><\/p>\n

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Bass Pro Shops: <\/b>\u201cI love interacting with people and seeing them excited about their outdoor adventures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cabela\u2019s: <\/b>\u201cI love the outdoors and I truly enjoy working here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods: <\/b>\u201cI think there are rough days ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

L.L. Bean: <\/b>\u201cThat I can work in a stress free environment, there is only positive vibes, everyone is very friendly.\u201d<\/p>\n

REI: <\/b>\u201cI look forward to it more than any job I’ve had before. It’s still work, but it’s much easier to go somewhere where you like the vibe and your co workers and your job.\u201d<\/p>\n

REI wins in Outlook, just beating LL Bean and Cabela’s. LL Bean wins the whole thing<\/b> with four wins. Dick’s and, to an extent, Bass Pro Shops are gaining poor reputations among their employees in certain key culture areas and will want to shape up there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Five companies from the Sporting Goods industry: Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, LL Bean, and REI. Comparably\u00a0collects anonymous self-submitted employee sentiment about the workings of the company culture and the satisfaction of said employees, and generates Overall Scores based on those sentiment reviews. So which of these five companies treats their employees the … Read full-story <\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":8634,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[575,576,11,574,573,572,571],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8625"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8625"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8625\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8640,"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8625\/revisions\/8640"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}