HAMILTON COUNTY

Cabela's lifts hopes in Noblesville after Greenwood letdown

Chris Sikich
chris.sikich@indystar.com

Cabela's stores have become a destination for outdoor enthusiasts, many of who drive hundreds of miles to explore the cavernous, rustic stores filled with hunting, fishing and outdoors equipment.

Noblesville Mayor John Ditslear announced Thursday that the Hamilton County city will join that club, landing a deal for one of 23 new Cabela's planned nationwide over the next two years. Ditslear expects the store will draw new hotels and other development to an already-bustling area along I-69 on its border with Fishers.

"Cabela's is one of those destination places," Ditslear said. "It will help not only Noblesville, but all of the county."

But in Greenwood, the announcement was a painful reminder of a lost economic opportunity, when Cabela's, in 2009, abandoned a much-larger project planned along I-65.

A Candlewood Suites hotel that opened a year earlier after being lured by the prospect of the nearby outdoor retailer, still casts a shadow over the barren 96-acre field that could have been so much more.

"We opened on a premise of this huge leisure business being here," hotel manager Phil Klaus said in a recent interview. Klaus said he thinks business would have been better, especially for tourists, if the deal hadn't fallen through, he said.

"We're talking a water park, Cabela's, a conference center and other hotels."

Enthusiasts excited

Sidney, Neb.-based Cabela's plans to build an 80,000-square-foot store in the Saxony Corporate Campus, just west of the IMAX theater in the Hamilton Town Center mall, located by Exit 210 off I-69.

The Cabela's will feature taxidermy displays of wildlife, large aquariums, an indoor archery range — even a deli and a fudge shop. Cabela's officials did not return multiple messages for comment Thursday, but a similar store model in Columbus, Ohio, also features a large stone fireplace, a faux mountain, gun library and bargain cave.

Construction will start this year on the Noblesville store, which will create about 170 jobs when it opens in the fall of 2015, the chain announced in a news release.

The news was greeted with excitement by outdoors enthusiasts.

Derek Hammer, 40, Noblesville can't wait to check out Cabela's. He has been disappointed in the variety of items for sale in the local outdoors retail market, since Dick's Sporting Goods bought the Galyan's franchise in 2004.

"I'm sort of excited about Cabela's camping, paddle sports- and water sports-type stuff that most of the places around here don't carry much of," he said. "There was a notion quite a few years ago that there was going to be one in Greenwood, and I was really disappointed when that fell apart."

The Noblesville location will be Cabela's second in Indiana, and its first smaller-model store in the state.

Other cities

Cabela's opened a much-larger store in Hammond, in October 2007 with a $20 million incentive package. Hammond Mayor Thomas M. McDermott Jr. said the 185,000-square-foot store — similar in size to the one once planned in Greenwood — has become a destination for city, state and out-of-state visitors.

The parking lot, he said, always seems full. Customers, he said, stay inside the store for hours and fill area hotels.

"The Cabela's is always packed," he said. "You'll see license plates from all over the Midwest."

He anticipates a $50 million annual economic impact when all of the planned development of the area is complete. Wal-Mart has begun work to build a supercenter, and several developers are moving forward with hotel projects.

The size of the Noblesville location would be similar to a store that opened a year ago in Columbus, Ohio, near a mall off I-71. The grand opening drew thousands of customers, including Gov. John Kasich, and packed up traffic on the interstate for miles.

Even busier than expected, the store added 400 parking spaces in October, a nearly 25-percent expansion. According to Experience Columbus, a city tourism group, the store also is planning to add a boating section.

It's the only Cabela's in Ohio, the tourism group said, and it attracts people in and out of state. Tourism officials say it's much more than just another store.

"We promote it as an attraction," said Debbie Shatzer, executive director of the Delaware County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Impact uncertain

While the anecdotal evidence is compelling, research shows mixed data as to whether adding a Cabela's pays off. A Douglas County, Colo., study in 2013 showed the local economy could be improved by $24 million annually with the addition of one of the retailer's stores.

But Richard Feinberg, a professor in the Department of Consumer Sciences and Retailing at Purdue University, said other recent research suggests the impact could be overblown. Now that Cabela's has expanded the number of its stores to 51, he said, many are within a day's trip for customers, making an overnight stay — and larger economic impact — unlikely.

"There's a big hoopla when they open," Feinberg said. "The stores are beautiful, people come for one time, but it's not clear it helps the community in any way."

Studies do show, he said, a decrease in spending at similar stores.

Wilmot, Wis.-based Gander Mountain has the largest share of the Indianapolis outdoor retailer market. The company operates seven stores — which are about half the size of the planned Noblesville Cabela's — in Indiana, including stores in Greenwood and Indianapolis. It's building one in Avon and has announced plans for a Greenfield store.

Hammer shops at Gander Mountain now. While the stores often have the types of equipment he needs, they don't have the variety he'd like to explore.

"The selection just isn't as good as at Cabela's," he said.

No tax incentives

Ditslear said the city began discussions with Cabela's in July 2012, but the company asked officials to keep negotiations quiet. Negotiations heated up in the past few months.

Ditslear said the city will spend $3 million to extend a sewer and Corporate Parkway south into the property. No tax incentives are involved in the deal, he said.

Disappointment, though, is unlikely to soon fade for Greenwood officials, who also had hoped to draw a companion water resort and hotel to the property along I-65. Residents, at least, will be able to drive 45 minutes to the new store. The closest Cabela's stores currently are in Hammond, Columbus, Ohio, Louisville, Ky., and the St. Louis area.

"We're certainly disappointed they didn't give us an opportunity," said Christian Maslowski, president of the Greater Greenwood Chamber of Commerce. "We clearly demonstrated an ability to be successfully competitive and cooperative when Cabela's first considered Central Indiana six years ago."

Star reporter Vic Ryckaert contributed to this story. Call Star reporter Chris Sikich at (317) 444-6036. Follow him on Twitter: @ChrisSikich.