Dive Brief:

• Family-owned, publicly held outdoor gear and apparel retailer Cabela’s is under pressure from one of its investors to be sold, and privately held Bass Pro Shops is looking into the idea, Reuters reports.

• Cabela's investor Elliott Management last month disclosed an 11% stake in the company and is said to be urging a sale or other ways to unlock value in the struggling retailer, including a real estate sale or spin-off of its credit-card business. 

• Neither company has commented on the reports.

Dive Insight:

There’s a lot of overlap in these two companies — both are known for their big, destination-like stores focusing on all things outdoors. Cabela’s stores are known for having taxidermy, shooting galleries, and other tourist attractions, and the company also runs a lucrative credit-card business. Bass Pro Shops in some stores runs wild game and fish restaurants. Both operate stores in the U.S. and Canada.

But Cabela’s has been struggling of late. It is scaling back its expansion plans after discovering that its new superstores are taking sales from existing ones, with same-store sales falling 4.2% and profit dropping 19% in the most recent quarter. The company's founding Cabela family still retains a 24% stake in the company though, which could cause a kink in Elliott's reported plans for a sale if their opinions do not match with the firm's.