Scheels — Local services in Billings

If you voted anything less than 5/5 for this store, you're probably from out of state or everyone hates you and you suck. Lol. I have shopped at Scheel's ever since they were a much smaller store in the mall, and even back then, service was fantastic and the prices are always fair. Obviously, high-end brands are pricy, but they're high-end because they're made correctly for the use which you need them for. When Scheels moved to their big store, a friend of mine said he was helping to construct a "giant aquarium you can walk under" in the front of the store, and I thought, "Uhh... we're in Montana. How do tropical fish even fit in here? It's not tropical." But then I saw the damn thing and thought, "Okay, somehow they made it work and that is frickin awesome" lol. My kids have loved watching the fish grow throughout the years, and it's always fun to walk in and see new generation toddlers exploring the fish. It brings back a lot of good memories. The ammo selection is fantastic and amazingly priced! I love that I can find whatever I'm looking for here; whether it's for self-defense or range shooting. The gun selection is PRIMO!! Love it!! I always shop here for NFL gear, gifts for family and friends, camping, hunting, shooting, fishing, skiing, golfing, or even our work outdoors...everything a Montanan could possibly hope for. And good Lord it's satisfying to see the out of staters' mortified little snowflake faces when they see me and others walk around with our pistols on our hips. I carry my pistol everywhere, including to Mass on Sundays, and I love that guns are welcomed here. As crazy takes over the country, it's nice to know that we can still defend ourselves and others in Scheels, because I have learned from experience, you never know when someone will pull a gun on you for no reason. They allow dogs in the store, which is nice. I don't bring my dog in, but it's still really awesome. And I'm sure that also makes some snowflake out of staters mad since everyone is allergic to everything these days lol. Anyway, the employees here are so fricken awesome. I wish to God I could remember her name, but I was in the men's section and wanted to buy my husband a Ridge wallet, and this adorable young lady who appeared to be of Asian descent (her name started with an M, I believe??) helped us and explained so much about the wallets. I was shocked that a sales associate knew so much about these wallets, features, etc. I ended up buying one which was fairly priced around $130 with a Vikings logo on it. As much as I was embarrassed to purchase something with the Vikings logo on it (go Colts!) lol, my husband LOVES it and we wouldn't have found it without her help. I'm sure management reading this knows who she is. We adored her!! The employees are ALWAYS nice here, and so is the management staff. I mean, this store is just fricken awesome. Awesome, awesome, awesome. You can't dream up a better store. Never change, you guys!...

Sweet Mother of Commerce! And I say that with such a tone of hope and wonder under in my breath. What an incredible place. Moved to Montana from Indiana; never in my life have I been inside of a place like this. I've been in a Dick's Sporting goods, a Cabela's, I've been in a Bass Pro Shop, I've been in an Academy, heck I even went to a Gander Mountain (before they went bankrupt back in the day), and I can even recall back in my youth when Wal-Mart had places to dine inside of the store... Scheels is like a place that took all of the entities that I just listed and cross geneticized/bred all of them together and put them under one roof. One BIG, beautiful roof. Immortalized bronze figures greeting you as you walk up to the front doors, their eyes almost giving a reassuring, approving look of "Oh yeah, you go blow your whole paycheck in there, big boy!" And you know what? A person really could go blow every cent they got in that place and be totally content whenever you leave. What a beautiful, incredible place. I bet these people that are native to this area don't even appreciate it as much as us foreigners do... Ya'll probably take it for granted... The thought of that makes me sick! How about I appreciate it enough for all of us? Please bow your heads for a moment; "Our kind and most gracious heavenly father, thank you so much for the blessing of Scheels that you have bestowed upon us. Thank you for the variety, for the effects. Thank you for the Ferris wheel and the dining area, the hot food. Thank you for the kind, polo and kaki clad workers who pop up and ask me how I am doing at every corner. Thank you, dear lord. Please bless all of the workers that keep that place running every day. Please bless the other shoppers and their wallets. And lastly, thank you for letting me life in the same timeline that Scheels exists. You could have put me in the middle of the Rennaissance or in the heart of WW2, but you put me here with Scheels....

I am all for supporting local businesses, but Scheels management is clearly not interested in protecting the small community that is Billings. Despite local requirements for people to wear mask during the COVID pandemic, I would say 1 in 3 walking around weren't wearing them. I asked a manager why the store spent so much money on signs and masks when it refused to enforce the measure. He brushed the question aside and said it was a Law Enforcement issue. I asked why Scheels would allow people to check out without wearing masks, and he once again said that was for the police. Police don't work the registers, and a company as large as Scheels should be able to refuse service to anybody not following a government mandate. Their decision isn't a law enforcement decision, it's a business decision, which I mentioned. The manager grumbled something unintelligible at that comment. I am just very disappointed in the company. I wonder how many of their employees have kids who will require child care if our schools have to shut down again because the company lacks the courage to do the right thing and put their money where their mouth is. How much will reduced hours cost them when workers can't come to work? I took my daughters there to get them geared up for ski season (which hopefully we can have this year), but left empty handed after seeing such poor managerial decisions and hearing such half hearted excuses. We have an REI just down the street, and I know the kids sizes can be ordered online. I know this has somehow become a political thing, and I'm disappointed to see the short sighted selfishness on display at a corporate level. I don't see myself going back...