Cabela's will open long-awaited West Michigan store in 2013
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02/16/11 By Shandra Martinez | ** you do not have permission to see this link **
GRANDVILLE — Retailer Cabela’s will open next spring near Rivertown Crossings, developers announced today.
The 88,000-square-foot store will be located on the east end of the Rivertown Mall retail corridor in a new 380,000-square-foot retail center being developed by CWD Real Estate Investment of Grand Rapids.
The 43-acre site was the location of the former X-Rite plant, purchased in 2010 by the real estate investment firm owned by Dan DeVos, Sam Cummings and Scott Wierda.
It will be the outdoors, gear and apparel giant's second retail store in Michigan, joining the Dundee location on the east side of the state. Construction is expected to start this summer, with completion in spring 2013.
Efforts to build a store in Walker several years ago never got off the ground, despite a groundswell of support. The project was put on indefinite hold in 2010 after the company had been eyeing a property bordered by I-96, Four Mile Road, Walker and Bristol avenues NW. That proposed 242-acre development had been pitched with Cabela's as a possible anchor.
That development was expected to add more than 3,600 jobs over 10 years.
The deal came together in less than 6 months, said Wierda, CWD managing partner.
"They've looked at the market for years," Wierda said. "They were trying to find the right spot."
West Michigan fits the retailer's target market because of the abundance of hunting, fishing and boating licenses in the hands of local residents.
Part of the appeal of the Grandville site was its location on a major retail corridor, he added.
“Because of the many great customers we have in the Grandville/Grand Rapids area, we have been interested in building a store there for years,” said Cabela’s CEO Tommy Millner. “Michiganders are dedicated outdoorspeople who live the Cabela’s lifestyle and so many of them are loyal customers through our catalogs, website and Dundee store, we wanted to reward them with a Cabela’s store of their own.”
The store is expected to draw shoppers from as far as 90 miles away.
Although the Grandville store will be less than half the size of the 225,000-square-foot store in Dundee, it will feature the retailer's trademark style with an exterior of log construction, stonework, wood siding, metal roofing and the iconic bears standing sentry out front. A large glass storefront will allow customers to view much of the store’s interior as they approach the building, company said.
The new Grandville Cabela's will be a next-generation store design, said spokesman Wes Rumer, echoing a trend in store construction.
"Part of the next generation concept is to maximize store space," said Rumer, adding the interior will give shoppers the outdoor-like experience with conservation-themed wildlife displays and trophy animal mounts displayed on a mountain with a built-in aquarium.
The store will offer a wide range of outdoor products, as well as Cabela’s popular in-store pickup, which allows customers to order any Cabela’s merchandise delivered to a Cabela’s store free of delivery charges.
The store, which is expected to employ about 200 full- and part-time employees, will also feature a Boat Shop, Gun Library, Bargain Cave and Fudge Shop.
The new Michigan store is part of a major expansion that will grow the retailer's nationwide footprint.
This year, the retailer plans to open stores in Wichita, Kan.; Tulalip, Wash.; Rogers, Ark.; Charleston, W.Va.; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada; and Union Gap, Wash.
Cabela’s also plans to open stores in Columbus, Ohio, and Louisville, Ky., in 2013. [smilie=2thumbsup.gif]
Too bad they didn't feel the location would handle one of the destination stores. Being just twice the size of the Gander stores it will be interesting to see if the tackle selection is similar to Gander, my guess is it will be very limited in muskie lures. Hard to justify a muskie section when you need to have a Fudge Shop. 🙄
The size of the store can be misleading. The Dundee store selection was far better few years ago when we could buy spinner components by the hundred and the fishing department was much larger than today. The Dundee store is disappointing now after moving departments around and downsizing their fishing tackle selection. I'm sitting on about $90 credits now, but will not make any more trips to Dundee after not finding what I needed last time.
"Jim tenHaaf" said:
Right by Rivertown mall, eh? Be interesting to see how Dicks & Gander does after they open their doors…
Yes… Gander specifically let their option on some Alpine property go because Cabelas had a similar deal in that area which is why Gander went to Grandville. Cabelas will surely hit the Grandville Gander hard. Dicks not so much because they make their money on general athletic clothes and shoes.
"swanezy" said:
it's gonna be that small? damn that sucks
Yes, 88,000 sq ft according to the article. Most Gander stores are 35,000-ish. When you add up the wasted space for boats, taxidermy displays, fudge shop, etc it is really about 2X larger.
I really thought they would build a destination store here. It would be nice to have the second largest tourist attraction in MI in the GR area. Must not have been able to get enough of a tax break to build the big store!
I really thought they would build a destination store here. It would be nice to have the second largest tourist attraction in MI in the GR area. Must not have been able to get enough of a tax break to build the big store!
I think a major drawback was that the Walker location was to be a stand alone store, and be too big for west michigan, this is an anchor to another mall from what it sounds like. Cabelas did not feel with the the space would have been profitable then, so I am sure its the same now, and this gave them a good option. (comparably when you take out the mountain, river space, and conference area, its more like half the size as dundee as apposed to 1/3) Its about 10k sq ft smaller than the average lowes if that helps anyone… Anyhow, the Dundee location has an atrocious selection of Musky stuff as it is… I am not planning on getting any better here! I couldn't even get leader material in anything over 50 lb down there, it was quite pitiful…
However for steelhead and walleye fishing, Im excited, a little competition to everyone else never hurt, and they might actually carry descent hooks!
"Hamilton Reef" said:
The size of the store can be misleading. The Dundee store selection was far better few years ago when we could buy spinner components by the hundred and the fishing department was much larger than today. The Dundee store is disappointing now after moving departments around and downsizing their fishing tackle selection. I'm sitting on about $90 credits now, but will not make any more trips to Dundee after not finding what I needed last time.
Yer silly!!! Obviously, you haven't made too mant visits to this side of the state! While the Muskie selection in Dundee is not the best, it has doubled, if not tripled since they switched things around. It was pretty much just the back wall. Now there are many more options, you just have to know where to look. Some of the Muskie sized baits are mixed in with the Bass stuff as well. I will be there tomorrow and I'll post otherwise if this is not correct……
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