Woods Equipment Company Co. recently announced a partnership with Cabela’s to supply attachments for the North American outdoor retailer’s wildlife and land management category. This is Woods’ first entry into the retail distribution channel.

The attachments will be the same as those now sold at dealerships, except they will have camouflage decaling and will be branded Cabela’s by Woods. Cabela’s will not carry the complete line that many dealerships carry, such as Batwing mowers, shredders and larger loaders. The attachments are designed for tractors, including the tractor line that Cabela’s is now selling online. Consumers can go to dealers or to Cabela’s for warranty and service work.

“If you think about Cabela’s and the brand equity and the marketing and advertising they put behind any product they get into, we are going to get a lot of visibility,” says Jerry Johnson, president of Woods. “We really expect dealers to get additional and new traffic in their stores.

“We communicated to our dealer council first, which we always do. There was a lot of excitement from them. They recognized the opportunity for more traffic and new traffic in their store. They also recognized when something helps Woods, it helps them. Strategically, by serving more customers in more channels it allows us to better control our cost structure. That improves the ability to respond to changes in the market and better support our customers with innovative products and service and be easier to do business with.”

The line is being introduced at a test store in Sidney, Neb. Later in 2013, the products will roll out in additional markets, including Arkansas, Connecticut, Louisiana, Minnesota and Texas.

Growing Potential with Wildlife Market

Johnson says Cabela’s approached Woods about 9 months ago. Both companies recognized the potential in the land and wildlife management category.

“In the last 2 or 3 years, we’ve seen this wildlife management market as a very nice niche that had a lot of opportunity, basically untapped,” Johnson says. “We were working on our precision super seeder as a quick entry. The seeder is a flagship tool that you need to manage land and wildlife. It was a very good fit for what they were looking for.”

The precision super seeder, which can simultaneously plant up to 3 different seeds at 2 different depths, was introduced earlier this year.

The Cabela’s by Woods line will include other seeder options, loaders, backhoes, rotary tillers, disc harrows, stump grinders, single spindle cutters, finishing mowers and landscaping tools.

For more information about opportunities in the hunting market, read: “Your Next Customer Segment: Hunters” from the spring 2012 Rural Lifestyle Dealer.