Cabela’s is opening a 125,000 square-foot store today that is one part practical gear for outdoors enthusiasts and one part African safari.
Cabela’s store managers expect the first weekend to bring in up to 45,000 people, and the store has paid overtime to several Nevada Highway Patrol officers to keep traffic moving this weekend and next weekend.
The cavernous entrance opens to a camouflage clothing-flanked pathway leading to an African safari display filled with taxidermied elephant, lion, rhinoceros, leopard, tiger, and many others. All told, the store displays about 415 taxidermied animals.
Visitors to Cabela’s Reno store will also see a 26,000 gallon split aquarium featuring cold- and warm-water native fish, a fly-fishing shop, gun library, indoor archery range, mountain with waterfalls, men’s and women’s outdoor clothing and gear, deli restaurant featuring wild game, fudge shop, furniture store and boat showroom.
Hunters and fishermen can find just about anything they need — from canoes and camouflage gear to guns and game mounts. The store also sells land — “trophy properties” — and hunting expedition packages around the world.
On Thursday, the store celebrated its ribbon cutting with Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons and a sea of khaki-clad “outfitter” employees.
“This store is providing 250 new jobs, and is expected to draw 3 million tourists annually,” Gov. Gibbons said. “It’s important for the community we live in and important for me, because now I can get rid of seven years of Cabela’s catalogues.”
Also attending the ceremony were Richard Flores, general manager of the Reno Cabela’s store, Sparks Mayor Geno Martini, Washoe County Commission Chairman Bob Larkin, State Sen. Maurice Washington, numerous Reno city officials and the award-winning Reno High School colorguard.
The Reno area was chosen based on the large number of outdoor enthusiasts who live in this region, and because Reno has hosted the Safari Club International convention for several years, said senior vice-president Mike Callahan.
“In 2006, 200,000 Nevadans spent 3 million days afield and on the water in their chosen sport,” Callahan said.
Cabela’s new store is ready to meet the needs of those outdoorsmen by offering more than 230,000 different items for purchase, Callahan said. From start to finish, the Cabela’s store was developed over the last three years.
There are high expectations that Cabela’s must meet. It is the first-ever project to be funded in Nevada by Sales Tax Anticipated Revenue (STAR) bonds, created to give tax breaks to projects that draw in a significant amount of tourism dollars to the surrounding area.
The report by Meridian Business Advisors to the Reno City Council in summer of 2006 forecast top sales at the Reno store to generate up to $50 million in annual sales, with about 68 percent of that amount expected to be brought in by shoppers from California.
In addition, Cabela’s will be facing some indirect competition with the planned Scheel’s All Sports store at the Sparks Marina set to open October 2008, and eventually a Bass Pro Shop in the Galena area as early as 2009.
However, Cabela’s differentiates itself from competitors by their quality service and some differences in products sold, said Cabela’s spokesman Peter Marshall.
“Our outfitters are the most knowledgeable people in the field, and are hunters and fishermen in the local area,” Marshall said. “We have the ability to outfit everyone, from the beginner to the professional angler. Cabela’s brand name has a following unlike any other; people love our legendary customer service, outstanding return policy and our breadth of products. We’ll offer anything that anyone could want for just about any outdoor adventure.”
The store partners with Safari Club International and some outdoorsmen groups, and often donates to local schools. The store also plans to host or sponsor fly-tying classes, hunters safety courses and a kids fishing event.
In the next few months, local sculptor Douglas Van Howd will complete a 30-foot-tall rock and bronze monument in front of the store of a Nelson big horn sheep, which used to roam the Verdi valley in the late 1800s.
Van Howd, who grew up in the area, has created several local sculptures including the skier at Reno-Tahoe International Airport, the Basque sheepherder at John Ascuaga’s Nugget and the Wolf Pack at Mackay Stadium on the University of Nevada, Reno campus.
The new Cabela’s store is located off of Boomtown-Garson Road off of U.S. Highway 395 in Verdi. For more information, go to www.cabelas.com.
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