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Cabela's to build Kalispell store next year

by Tom LotshawHEIDI GAISER
| September 27, 2012 7:04 PM

Cabela’s is coming to the Flathead Valley.

Cabela’s Inc. on Thursday announced plans for a 42,000-square-foot retail store in north Kalispell, with construction slated to begin in spring 2013 and the store opening in fall 2013.

Cabela’s, founded in 1961, is one of the country’s best-known sellers of hunting, fishing and camping gear and related outdoor merchandise.

“We spend a lot of time researching where our customers are,” Cabela’s spokesman Wes Remmer said from his office in Sidney, Neb. “We’re able to track them through catalog and Internet sales, and we want to build retail stores where we have high concentrations of customers.

“It’s usually where there are outdoor opportunities and people are passionate about the outdoors. Kalispell fits the bill.”

Cabela’s anticipates the store will employ about 75 full-time, part-time and seasonal employees. Remmer said the hiring will not start until a few months before opening and will mostly be local.

“We’ll be looking for people who are passionate about the outdoors and have an aptitude for customer service,” he said. “They will need to work hard and contribute to the team dynamic. We’re excited to bring jobs to the community.”

The store will be built in the Spring Prairie Center Phase III development north of Lowe’s on the west side of U.S. 93. Cabela’s will be the first store in that phase of Spring Prairie, which includes Lowe’s and Costco.

Spring Prairie is being developed by Goldberg Properties Inc.

Mark Goldberg, president of Goldberg Properties, said the Cabela’s store will be a great addition to Kalispell and a terrific anchor tenant for the north phase of Spring Prairie.

“It just fits perfectly with a lot of what people in Kalispell do in terms hunting and fishing and outdoor things,” he said.

The development has been a long time in the works.

“The retail industry obviously has gone through a lot of difficult times, so we’re glad to move forward here,” Goldberg said.

Work continues to secure more tenants and fully build out the north phase of Spring Prairie.

“As we get retailers put together, we’ll make announcements, but there’s nothing that I can officially announce at this time,” Goldberg said.

Goldberg said that one big help in closing the Cabela’s deal was the recent demise of Kalispell’s transportation impact fee program.

“That made a critical piece to our financing packaging,” he said. “It’s difficult to put these deals together financially, so everything is extremely important, and that was an expensive element to the project. We think that was well thought through and will help community-wide.”

Joe Unterreiner, president of the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce, said the Cabela’s announcement is a step forward for the local retail environment and the Spring Prairie project.

“I would say this is a strong indicator for our economic recovery here,” he said. “I think it solidifies Kalispell’s role as a regional retail and trade center.”

The store will be Cabela’s second in Montana; it opened a store in Billings in 2009. The Kalispell facility will be the third built on the new Cabela’s Outpost model, designed to serve communities of fewer than 250,000 people. The first Cabela’s Outpost store opens next week in Union Gap, Wash.

“It’s a new concept for us,” Remmer said. “It’s a streamlined floor plan, and the idea is to use the space efficiently and have flexibility with product assortment.

“They’re not as big as some of our older stores — we have stores that exceed 200,000 square feet. It’s not the giant expansive showroom, but we’ll get gear on the shelves so outdoors people can come and enjoy it.”

Remmer said there will be another customer-friendly component to the Kalispell store in its plan to offer free in-store pickup.

“Someone can order out of the catalog or online and go to the store and pick it up,” he said. “It will be a convenient shopping experience; people will be coming into the store and hopefully returning.”

Currently, Cabela’s operates 39 stores across the U.S. and Canada.  

The decision on the contractor for the Kalispell store’s construction has not been finalized.