competition for BPS - Cabela's in St.Louis

[beadhead]

Hazelwood will give $5 million to Cabela's

By Norm Parish

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

02/01/2006

HAZELWOOD

A hunting and outdoor retailer will get $5 million from Hazelwood to help open its first store in Missouri.

The City Council agreed Wednesday night to provide the funding to Nebraska-based Cabela's for a nature museum that is spread throughout the store and includes displays of African wildlife, deer and a fish aquarium. Such displays are typical attractions in the retailer's stores.

Ground is expected to be broken on Cabela's by the end of March. The store, which will be on the southwestern portion of the mall at St. Louis Mills, is scheduled for completion this fall, city officials said. The 130,000-square-foot store would be the largest retailer at St. Louis Mills.

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"This will be really good for the St. Louis region," said Hazelwood Mayor T.R. Carr. "People will drive cross country just to shop here."

City officials said they believe the store will be helpful to the local economy during a time the area could lose jobs. Last month, local officials learned that the Ford Motor Co. assembly plant in Hazelwood could close its doors by 2008. The plant currently has 1,445 employees.

Cabela's officials said they would consider hiring former Ford workers as employees at the store. The store is expected to need 300 workers.

"We will look at any applicants who come in, but we are looking for outdoor experience, a passion for outdoor sports and a willingness to provide top-notch customer service," said Joe Arterburn, a spokesman for Cabela's.

The city will pay for the store's museum by issuing capital improvement bonds, which will be paid off through taxes generated from sales at Cabela's.

The store is expected to cost between $20 million to $30 million, said Kevin Rhodes, a Cabela's real estate official.

The store itself specializes in merchandise for fishing, camping, hunting and other outdoor activities.

This is the first time that Cabela's plans to build a store near a mall.

Cabela's officials said the reason why they are building the store at St. Louis Mills is because the area near it is growing and has plenty of retail traffic.

Cabela's started in 1961 as a small mail-order firm for fishing materials but has grown to a $1.7 billion company. It now has 14 stores nationally and a thriving catalog and Internet business. The closest store is in Kansas City, Kan. Aside from the Hazelwood store, Cabela's plans to open stores this year in Glendale, Ariz., Richfield, Wis., Boise, Idaho and La Vista, Neb.

At a glance

Cabela's sells hunting, fishing, camping and related outdoor merchandise. Dick Cabela founded the company as a mail-order business in 1961 out of Chappell, Neb. The company has its headquarters in Sidney, Neb.

The company's first retail store opened in 1987. By the end of 2005, the firm operated 14 retail stores ranging in size from 35,000 square feet to 247,000 square feet. Cabela's stores often feature museum-quality wildlife displays and large aquariums. Cabela's continues to offer its goods via mail-order and the Internet.

In June 2004, Cabela's (CAB) made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange.

Source: Cabela's Web site

Freelance writer Kathie Sutin contributed to this report.

[Randall]

WOOO HOOO

its great to see cabelas coming to missouri... that said, 5 million from the city seems kind of ridiculous. why should local taxpayers foot the bill for a large corporation to come to the city, regardless of the increased revenue from the business? besides that, does the city give similar grants to small businesses? i think its wonderful that cabelas is coming, but i think they should have to provide all of the capital, seeing as how the only reason they are coming is to turn a profit for themselves. in a capitalist economy, the primary goal is to turn a profit and beat the competition, not provide jobs and increase tax revenue for a certain area.

[Fox Statler]

This is a new high income welfare system. Other examples are stadiums for NFL, NHL, NBA and other sports groups. My question is where is the welfare system for fishing? I guess that will come also as soon as we fence in the water and charge admission to enter.

[Phil Lilley]

Cities, states, even the fed gov't offer tax breaks for businesses to open their doors and provide jobs/services. Hazelwood is trying to bring in a business that will provide jobs to the ones who will loose theirs in the Ford Plant closing. I can see the benefit. The question is - does gov't need to be in the business of providing jobs? Or does it let the economic system take care of itself?

[Danoinark]

The story says: "The city will pay for the store's museum by issuing capital improvement bonds, which will be paid off through taxes generated from sales at Cabela's."

When you divert taxes to pay off the bonds, this probably means some other essential services of that city may suffer. I hope not. I don't know anything about Hazelwoods tax base nor how financially secure it is, but it could be an issue. I am for commercial progress, but not at the expense of the taxpayer.

Dano

[Rusty]

The day has come where big business is holding communities hostages. They go to the highest bidder. Whoever will give them the most. I for one am a small business owner, and I can say for certain I did not gain anything from Tracker Boats moving to Miami, Ok. Granted, I am not a realtor or own Walmart, however, my tax dollars were used to entice them to locate here. I will stop here and get off my box.

[Randall]

i have nothing against big business... large corporations are testament to the quality of their products or service. if one business can provide superb service and a quality product, then it deserves to grow, expand, and turn a greater profit. they should not, however be given any kind of tax break or grant that is not needed or provided to all businesses, regardless of size.

as for fox's example about sports teams recieving tax dollars, that makes me see red. athletes are paid a ridiculous amount of money to play a game. to support their salaries, people that actually WORK for a living are asked to pay more and more each year for seats, food, and drinks. now, on top of that, some organizations are recieving tax payer dollars to build new stadiums. the new busch stadium is a prime example... the cardinals, who are my team, had a perfectly good stadium, but they wanted a new one, so what happens, st. louis subsidizes the building of an un-needed new facility... R I D I C U L O U S

[Danoinark]

the cardinals, who are my team, had a perfectly good stadium, but they wanted a new one, so what happens, st. louis subsidizes the building of an un-needed new facility... R I D I C U L O U S

Man, there is no argument with me on that statement.

Dano

[Rusty]

Am I the only one who thought about the FORD Stadium hosting the Super Bowl. Kind of ironic seeing as they are doing the huge layoff and plant closings. I wonder if they, Ford, will be doing any of the high dollar adds during the game.

[Randall]

good point bud... it'll be interesting to see what they do. i'll be sure to watch for it