Dive Brief:

• Investment firm Gordon Brothers and holding company Hilco Merchant Resources have submitted a joint bid to buy all of Gander Mountain’s assets, the bankrupt outdoor gear retailer announced Thursday.

• The offer will serve as a “stalking horse” that any other bidders would have to top at an auction scheduled for late next month: The St. Paul-MN-based outdoor retailer remains in discussions with “a number of interested parties,” according to a press release.

• Gander Mountain, which filed for bankruptcy March 10, is in the process of liquidating 32 under-performing stores nationwide. In its bankruptcy petition, the company reported assets and debts each in the range of $500 million to $1 billion. In addition to 162 locations in 27 states, Gander Mountain also runs a direct-to-consumer catalog internet business​ as well as its Overton’s e-commerce retail unit.

Dive Insight:

Fierce competition in sporting goods retail — and, in some cases, debt loads — are catching up to merchants that may have overextended themselves or failed to keep up with evolving trends and changing customer demands. Gander Mountain succumbed to those challenges when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but is hardly the only one in trouble: Sports Authority, once the largest sporting goods chain in the U.S., was hobbled by mounting debt, weak e-commerce returns and failures to meet increasing challenges in the space, ultimately filing for bankruptcy and liquidating. (Dick’s Sporting Goods was able to snap up its intellectual property and many of its stores.)

Eastern Outfitters, which includes discount retailer Bob's Stores and outdoor retailer Eastern Mountain Sports, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month; that retailer is owned by private equity firm Versa Capital Management. Versa last year took over those units from Vestis Retail Group, which previously shuttered regional sports retailer Sport Chalet. (Versa also recently closed all remaining Wet Seal stores amid that teen apparel chain's second bankruptcy in about two years.) Meanwhile, Cabela’s — which like Gander is a major gun and ammunition seller — continues to struggle as it awaits the final word from the Federal Trade Commission regarding its proposed acquisition by privately held rival Bass Pro Shops.

Many of these retailers are offering the same brands and merchandise mix as each other, forcing them to compete on price. And gun sales in particular, which have mostly fallen in recent years, have been a drag on retailers that are dependent on them.

There are exceptions. Outdoor retailer REI is successfully swimming against the tide, thanks to a loyal, largely membership-based following, a highly curated merchandise mix that includes many products not found everywhere else and an emphasis on customer experience in stores and out. Its award-winning Black Friday #OptOut campaign for the past two holiday seasons has fostered its emphasis on experience and helped REI garner loads of attention, mitigating the impact of shuttering retail operations on the shopping holiday.