Fishing and hunting outfitter Cabela's looking at Lacey, Wash., site

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Fishing and hunting outfitter Cabela's is looking into opening a store in nearby Lacey, but the company wants incentives totaling about $15 million before it brings about 400 jobs and thousands of shoppers to the Interstate 5 site, a newspaper reports.

The Nebraska-based company has started negotiations to build a 225,000-square-foot store, which would feature Cabela's signature indoor two-story waterfalls and ponds, giant aquariums, outdoor walking trails and taxidermy displays.

The company said its stores attract millions of shoppers and tourists each year and create thousands of direct and indirect jobs.

"You probably couldn't ask for a better anchor or better draw,'' Lacey City Manager Greg Cuoio said. But those benefits come with a cost.

The city has applied for nearly $10 million in state grants to help pay for the estimated $29.7 million in road and utility improvements needed for the store. Besides the grants, the city would pay $5 million toward the rest of the cost of the infrastructure, according to documents obtained by The Olympian through a public records request.

The company also must negotiate an agreement for the property. Two local property owners have offered about 38 acres, according to a letter Tim Holland, the company's director of new store development, wrote to Lacey Community Development Director Jerry Litt. The acreage is part of a larger parcel the property owners bought last year.

Company spokesman James Powell advised against reading too much into the inquiry.

"It's not uncommon for us to be in entry-level discussions without that meaning we're going to be coming to that location,'' he said.

Powell said the company is in an aggressive expansion mode. Cabela's is one of the largest catalog retailers — mailing 150 million catalogs a year — and it wants its retail division to match that success, he said. The company operates 14 retail stores — ranging in size from 35,000 to 247,000 square feet — but none on the West Coast. Cabela's plans to open six more this year.

Powell said it is likely the company is looking at other properties around the state, but declined to name specific locations.

Asked about the importance of an incentive package to secure a store, Powell responded: ``For a large store, it's very important to crucial, I would say. The incentives are sizable, but both the developer and city realize that Cabela's has the ability to draw hotels and other retailers around its stores.''

Cabela's is looking to open the proposed store in early 2008, according to Cuoio.

Information from: The Olympian, http://www.theolympian.com