Gander Mountain is a privately owned company and normally they do not make public statements of any kind. Amidst a multitude of speculation that they were going bankrupt they finally broke their silence.

As a privately held company, it is our longstanding policy not to comment on our business affairs. Unfortunately, recent speculative news articles have caused concern among some of our customers, employees, and trade partners, and require us to make a rare exception.

Gander Mountain is the nation’s largest outdoor retail network with 162 specialty stores across 26 states. We are a fully integrated Omni-Channel retailer dedicated to servicing the hunting, camping, fishing, shooting sports, and outdoor products markets. As ‘America’s Firearms Supercenter™,’ we are a market leader in the shooting sports category with an extensive offering of firearms, ammunition, and accessories.

Like most retailers, we are subject to normal economic cycles, changes in our industry and shifts in consumer demand that require us to adapt our business accordingly. It’s been that way since 1960, when we started out as a catalog company in small-town Wisconsin, and it remains the case today. It is this constant adaptation and desire to offer our customers the best selection, best value and best service that has been our hallmark for generations.

Gander Mountain and its ownership group have undertaken a best-practices approach to review our strategic options specific to positioning the company for long-term success. When we engage in such a review we often seek information and advice from external advisors to inform our decisions. To assist in this process, we have retained Houlihan Lokey as independent advisors and we are confident that the outcome of the review will identify the right go-forward strategy. In the meantime, our Gander Mountain stores and gandermountain.com remain the place to go for all of our customers’ outdoor adventure needs.

What is interesting about this public statement from Gander Mountain is they never openly address the allegations of going bankrupt. They seem to dance around the topic at hand.

What is also interesting is their mentioning of “normal economic cycles, changes in our industry and shifts in consumer demand.” Many people in the industry know that after 8 years of a certain former president this following year may be very soft for sales. When it comes to firearm businesses large and small only the strong will survive.

You can read into their public statement as you may, but obviously Gander Mountain is not happy about the public speculation of their company.