Cabela's store brings the outdoors in

LACEY, Thurston County — A two-story mountain replica with waterfalls and stuffed deer puts shoppers on notice that Washington state's first Cabela's store is no ordinary retail experience.

Cabela's wants shoppers to think of it as more than a place to buy hunting and fishing gear, but also as a natural-history museum.

Taxidermied wildlife stare down from the walls and framed maps show their countries of origin, so that shoppers are likely to feel a little as if they're on a field trip with their high-school science class. Interactive touch-screens will allow them to identify hundreds of freshwater fish contained in a 16,700-gallon aquarium, when they're not in the clothes racks all around.

At 185,000 square feet, the Lacey Cabela's is nearly twice the size of REI's flagship store in downtown Seattle, or about a fourth bigger than a typical Costco warehouse.

"You know what lifestyle is out here," spokesman John Castillo said during a media tour Tuesday intended to generate publicity for the store's Nov. 16 opening. Catalog and Internet sales have shown that the Puget Sound area "is full of existing Cabela's customers," Castillo said.

Cabela's started in 1961 selling fishing flies through advertisements in national magazines. It introduced a catalog two years later, opened its first store in 1987 and began doing business on the Internet in 1998.

Today, Sidney, Neb.-based Cabela's operates 23 stores nationwide, mostly in the Midwest, West and South. Cabela's estimates that each store annually attracts an average 3 million visitors who typically come from at least 50 miles away and stay three-and-a-half hours.

The company entered the Northwest last year with a store in Boise, Idaho, and will open another store this month in Post Falls, near Spokane.

Nationally, Cabela's goes head to head with Bass Pro Shops of Springfield, Mo., which does not have a store in the Northwest. Cabela's might find its stiffest competition locally comes from Sportsman's Warehouse in Lacey; Joe's Sports & Outdoor of Wilsonville, Ore.; and Kent-based REI.

But Steve Gruhot, who manages the REI store in Tacoma, does not expect to lose business to the new Cabela's, since REI's core customer is likely to spend time outdoors hiking and biking, rather than hunting and fishing.

Gruhot said he looks forward to "having another strong partner in the South Sound market" promoting outdoor activities. "We have a common goal to get people outdoors."

Matt Johnson, 38, of Olympia, has been installing fire sprinklers at the new Cabela's store. He said he expects to return with his wife and two teenage children once it opens. "We do a lot of camping and fishing," Johnson said. "We'll definitely check it out, but price comparisons will determine whether we shop here exclusively."

Cabela's last week reported that sales for its third fiscal quarter ending Sept. 29 rose nearly 12 percent from a year ago to $546.8 million. But it said profit declined 12 percent to $13.2 million, due to increased promotional costs, unusually warm weather throughout much of the country and disappointing sales at two of its newest stores in the Midwest.

Despite the rough quarter, Cabela's overall is doing well, said Dan Geiman, a retail analyst at McAdams Wright Ragen in Seattle. "Their results have been pretty solid going back several quarters," he said. "They know where their catalog and online customers live, and they're leveraging that."

When selecting sites for a new store, Cabela's looks for at least 22 acres near a major highway, preferably within 20 miles of a metropolitan area. It also expects local or state government to put up an incentive package, as Washington did in Lacey.

The state gave the city $9.9 million from its Job Development Fund to help build roads for a mixed-use development where Cabela's is the anchor tenant.

Some critics argued that the state's money would be better spent attracting jobs that pay more than the $9 an hour that many Cabela's employees make.

Cabela's predicts the Lacey store will attract 4 million customers a year from as far as Bellingham and Portland.

"Those out-of-area customers will gas up at local gas stations, eat at local restaurants and stay at local hotels," Castillo said. "We're an economic catalyst."

Amy Martinez: 206-464-2923 or amartinez@seattletimes.com