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Sam Penrod ReportingIt's being billed as the next big tourist attraction in Utah, but it's not what you might think. Cabela's is a hunting and fishing store that is under construction at Point of the mountain.
Many people in Utah are familiar with Cabela's catalog, but many have never seen one of their stores. So we traveled to a Cabela's in Kansas City and found what people there call an outdoor shopping paradise.
On any given day at the Cabela's store in Kansas City, you'll find license plates from all over the country. It's not just that Cabela's always builds along an interstate freeway, but it's what their customers say is a store that brings Cabela's popular catalogs to life.
John Creelman, Kansas Resident: "There is no comparison, you've just got a page to look at, but here you've got the real thing and the selection is second to none."
Ray Spellman, South Dakota Resident: "I've got the catalog for years, I've been to stores in Sidney, Nebraska and been to the one in Mitchell, South Dakota, and this one is bigger and better than ever."
John Castillo, Cabela's Marketing: "We're about the love of the outdoors, the hunting and camping and spending time outdoors."
John Castillo of Cabela's took us inside to show us what a Cabela's is all about. Inside of their store is a massive display of taxidermied animals from all over the world, about 500 and counting. The atmosphere gives shoppers the sense that they are in a log cabin and in the middle of the outdoors.
John Castillo, Cabela's Marketing: "It's really a one stop place for the entire family that loves the outdoors."
Like the Kansas store, the new Utah location will feature a 50,000 gallon aquarium with fish native to the area. Then there is a stream running in the store, with trout and even live ducks.
There is a diarama of African big game with authentic display animals. And then there's what's known as conservation mountain--a huge display of animals from North America right in the middle of the store.
But of course Cabela's is in the business of selling merchandise. Many products are exclusive to Cabela's and it's fair to say you can find just about anything that has to do with the outdoors.
And Cabela's is beginning an aggressive expansion, after going public last summer. With that new capital, Cabela's plans to open four stores this year across the country. Utah's store will become Cabela's most western location.
John Castillo, Cabela's Marketing: "This is really going to be an exciting one for us because it's right in the middle of an area, a concentration of people who love the outdoors, who have been Cabela's customers for many years and have used the Cabela's catalog and grown up with it."
Construction crews are making progress on the new store, which will be more than 150,000 square feet in its location in the Traverse Mountain development south of Point of the Mountain. Cabela's says it is building in Utah after years of requests.
John Castillo, Cabela's Marketing: "We've received many letters that said 'Hey, when are you going to build a store out in Utah?' And we listened to them and finally we're going to be out there and not a moment too soon."
So when will the store open here? We're told this fall; an exact opening date will be finalized in the summer. And we will have more on Cabela's moving to Utah, on Sportsbeat Sunday.
