Outdoor Superstore Coming to Reno

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RENO, NV-Outdoors superstore chain Cabela’s plans to build a 150,000-sf store here to open late next year or early in 2007. The retailer is in agreements to acquire 38.5 acres of land for the unit from Pinnacle Entertainment near the Boomtown Reno casino and hotel off Interstate 80 near the California border.Sidney, NE-based Cabela’s currently operates 10 stores and company executives have announced plans to build seven units. It now has under construction a 230,000-sf store in Fort Worth; a 185,000-sf unit in Buda, TX; and a 150,000-sf store in Lehi, UT, all to open next year. This year the company plans to open an 185,000-sf store in Rogers, MN. Cabela’s officials have also announced plans to open stores in Wheat Ridge, CO and Gonzales, LA next year, and East Rutherford, NJ in 2007. The company’s newest store, a 176,000-sf location, opened in Wheeling, WV in August.For the Reno store, Cabela’s executives say in a statement, that the company will hire 400 people. The unit will sell, camping, fishing, hiking and hunting gear. Features in the store will include a replica with a mountain with running waterfalls and streams, a deli-style restaurant, and shooting and archery ranges. Cabela’s officials could not be reached for comment for this article.A report issued last month by Wachovia Securities analyst Ralph Jean says that Cabela’s has the potential to open up to 60, 150,000-sf-and-over large format stores and the same number of smaller-format stores, which are 75,000 sf to 100,000 sf. The company is on track to increase its square footage by 20% annually, he says. Same-store sales for Cabela’s Q4, which ended Jan. 1, declined 1.2%, from the same year-ago period. Revenues for its Q4 were up $579.1 million, from $548.1 million during the same period in 2003, while net income increased 9.9% to $38.5 million. According to Jean, some recent store openings have had first-year sales of $110 million.