From todays Billings Gazette
Cabela's in Billings? No answer yet
By JAN FALSTAD
Of The Gazette Staff
Feb. 14, 2007
Like tracks from a herd of elk, the rumors are hot and fresh and all over town.
Outdoors fans are jumping for joy at talk that the king of outdoor retail stores - Cabela's - may build on 84 acres at Zoo Drive and Shiloh Road.
However, reports that hammers will start flying along Zoo Drive by this summer are premature, Cabela's media specialist James Powell said from Sidney, Neb.
"We would like to build in Montana," Powell said. "But I wouldn't say that we've settled on a location." A buy-sell agreement apparently exists - but hasn't been executed yet - on land north of Zoo Drive by Peggy Sue's Coffee kiosk.
Foursquare Properties Inc., of Carlsbad, Calif., reportedly is buying the property. The company, with 30 years in real estate development, has been eyeing Billings. The site is described as a 751,000-square-foot development called Shiloh Square.
Foursquare President Jeffrey Vitek said he had no comment on the Cabela's rumors.
A sign on the site also lists Coldwell Banker of Salt Lake City. Calls to that company were not immediately returned.
Steve Corning, who developed the Marketplace retail center at King Avenue West and South 24th Street West, among many other projects across Montana, said Cabela's is a prize tenant. However, he doesn't think any deal is firmed up.
"They do tourist meccas, which Bozeman is," Corning said. "I hope they pick Billings, but we may lose them to Bozeman because of the tourists."
Cabela's is stalking a Montana site, but the decision on where to build is a ways off, Powell said.
"Obviously, Montana would be a good market for us," he said. "If we can get a store in there, the sooner, the better."
City and county planners held a meeting with developers on Nov. 9 to discuss building requirements for the site, but no specific companies were named.
Cabela's Web site claims it is the "World's Foremost Outfitter," a phrase that is a registered trademark.
Many fans are quick to agree; shopping is just one pleasure this retailer offers.
The stores feature natural attractions, including running waterfalls and streams, trout ponds, giant freshwater aquariums stocked with native fish, trophy wild game posed in natural settings, gun libraries, indoor archery ranges and deli-restaurants featuring wild game, among other fare.
Cabela's runs 18 retail stores and is opening 12 more. Eight stores will open this year, with the other four to follow in 2008 or beyond, Powell said.
Last November, Cabela's announced plans to open a 125,000-square-foot retail store in Post Falls in northern Idaho by fall. Several months earlier, in August, Cabela's opened its first Idaho store in Boise. Montana and Wyoming have no current or planned stores.
In 1961, ##### Cabela started the family business by advertising fishing flies for sale in the Casper, Wyo., newspaper. ##### offered "a dozen hand-tied flies for $1," according to the company's Web site.
Cabela's now mails more than 120 million catalogs each year to customers in 50 states and 120 countries. In 2004, Cabela's went public and started trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CAB. The stock closed at $24.01 on Tuesday.
Contact Jan Falstad at
[email protected] or 406-657-1306.