Cabela's Plans Nationwide Expansion in 2007

This store at County Line and Graham roads would be the company's 20th. The Sidney, NE-based company, which has typically concentrated its stores in the Midwest, now plans to open seven additional new stores this year. The stores are proposed for Gonzales, LA; Hoffman Estates, IL; East Hartford, CT; Hammond, IN; Reno, NV; Post Falls, ID; and Lacey, WA. "We've been traditionally associated with the Midwest, but we're definitely branching out," a company spokesman tells GlobeSt.com. "We will be on both coasts within a year, and were also going into the South."

He says he doesn't know the specific cost of the Greenwood store, but that the construction usually averages about $30 million to $50 million. The company's retail sites can range from 50,000 sf to 250,000 sf, he says.

While it doesn't seem as if there are many stores, the company has enjoyed great brand recognition, the spokesman says. "We've been a catalog retailer for more than 40 years, and our website business has done well. We've only been expanding our retail stores for the past 10 years, and we're just starting our aggressive, nationwide expansion," he says.

He says the company picked Greenwood for three reasons: Close proximity to a major metropolitan area where catalog and internet sales have shown a strong customer base, a partnership with another new retailer or entertainment draw, and access to a major highway. "About half of our customers come from farther than 100 miles away," the spokesman says.

Construction may begin this fall and the store could open by fall 2008. The stores are known to go all out to attract customers, and this store will feature a trout pond, a freshwater aquarium with native fish and an indoor archery range. Focus Group, based in Valparaiso, is building a 164-room resort complex and a 30,000-sf, indoor water park on five acres adjacent to the site. Focus has two Splash Universe parks open, is starting three more this year, and plans to start another four to five more resorts next year, says vice president of development Robert Churchfield.