As some of y’all know, Washington is getting a Cabelas. It will be near the halfway point along Interstate 5 between Canada and Oregon and it is going to be huge. Oh, and The Mom lives within 3 miles it (neener).Of course, the sailing hasn’t been all smooth during the planning stages with the local government. But the notoriety and the influx of jobs and tax dollars was just too much for them to resist. You can just see it through the trees as you drive down the interstate, and when I said it was huge, I meant it. Think of a Super Wal-Mart on steroids with guns instead of groceries and you’ll just about get it.
And, because of the media’s gun-bigotry, it is the firearms that are making the news lately.
Cabela’s continues to generate community interest as about 200 people attended a Wednesday luncheon to learn more about the company and its new outdoors store. Cabela’s operations manager W. MacKenzie Phillips talked about the company’s history and the store at a Lacey Chamber of Commerce meeting at the Worthington Center.
Under construction in Hawks Prairie along Interstate 5, the 185,000-square-foot store is expected to open in late November, he said. After a video presentation on the history of the Sidney, Neb.-based company, Phillips answered audience members’ questions, including one about whether the store is hiring.
Phillips said the store still is hiring and also will be hiring during the holidays.Cabela’s expects to hire about 350 people for its Lacey store, though about 1,000 people were interviewed in August for open positions, store general manager Jason Hammeren said.
Questions about traffic levels and gun sales at the store also were raised by audience members.
Because the Cabela’s store is between Portland, and Seattle, the store is expected to be visited by up to 3.5 million people in its first year, Phillips said.
The resulting effect to Interstate 5 was not immediately known, though the Cabela’s site will be mostly served by Marvin Road, he said.
Cheryl Lynn, 63, of Lacey, said she is concerned about gun sales, noise pollution and traffic generated by the store. Lynn is not a member of the Lacey Chamber of Commerce, but she said she attended Wednesday’s luncheon to ask questions about Cabela’s.
Lynn, who has lived in Lacey for six years, said the quality of life in the area is rapidly diminishing.
“Now, they’re putting in a hunting store,” she said. “I don’t care how big and wonderful it is, people with guns worry me.”
Phillips couldn’t offer specifics on the number of guns that will be carried at the store, though the stores tend to stock bird-hunting rifles and shotguns. The store will adhere to all state and federal gun laws, he said.
“We don’t want to end up on the five o’clock news,” Phillips said. “We will follow all local policies whatever they may be.”
Phillips said his focus right now is on the store’s inventory. More than 120 truckloads of inventory will be delivered to the Lacey store in the next 14 days, he said.
That is the entirety of the article. Notice how a number of issues were mentioned, but the quotes focused on “The Gun Question”.
And what kind of bird do you hunt with a rifle anyway? I’ve shot grouse with a 22lr, but what winged creature do you hunt with a .340 Weatherby Mag?
One you don’t want to eat?
That would be the evil Harpy, Phil. It’s a large bird with an evil mind, and generally a mind associated with evil FEMALE concepts. If you follow the Prince Valiant comic strip and take it as fact, and most PV fans like myself do, you will know that this weekend’s strip featured an attack by harpies.
It sounds like the questioner may, in fact be a harpy, so it is completely justified that she is worried.
I might add, that according to someone who attended this gathering, this woman is the ONLY one of over 200 in attendance who **had an issue with this issue**. The majority are almost literally salivating at the prospect of Cabella’s opening. Phil and my husband included!
I believe Rivrdog is correct.
Goddamned NIMBY’s. If you do not like what someone is doing on their property, then it is your problem to buy that property from them and do whatever you like on it. If you are not willing to put up the cash, then shut up, and deal with your own shortcomings yourself. Or, better yet, move somewhere to the boonies and leave the rest of us alone. I do not give a flying squirrel’s left foot if “people with guns worry you” – that is a personal problem, and absolutely no reason whatsoever to limit other people’s access to Constitutionally, federally, and locally legal equipment. Self-righteous morons who think they know what is better for me worry me – does that mean I can kick you out of where you live, just for my peace of mind? Well, come to think of it, I wish it did…
Leave it to the media to capitalize on the situation, though. Good to see that yellow journlism is still alive and well.
salivating is the proper term! you folks are gonna LOVE Cabelas. we’ve got one here in Boise and i’m sure it is responsible for all kinds of horrible social problems, like overly long lunches, leaving work early, increased expenditures on ammo, archery stuff, fishing gear, camo…
it’s also a honeymoon destination, as seen in this pic I took awhile back. btw, that’s a WA plate on that honeymoon mobile
http://freeinidaho.com/2007/08/27/honeymoon-destination/
I don’t see what all the fuss is about, either from the woman who is concerned about people with guns (she is an ass in my opinion), or from those who are rejoicing about having a Cabela’s nearby. I have been to Cabela’s a few times now, to include on in PA, and the one in Sydney, NE. I was none too impressed. As for the gun thing, whoopee, and that woman should be hapy her neighbors will be armed.
All the ebst,
Glenn B
Last August I bought a house in Highland, Indiana. I did not know, at that time, that a Cabela’s would be opening within rock-throwing distance this fall (scheduled open date is October 19)…and apparently neither did the guy who sold it to me, or else I’d have paid a lot more (and been happy to do so).
When all the local roads washed out in the megafloods a couple of weeks ago, we were worried about the Cabela’s store still under construction. But (other than having to re-grade part of the not-yet-completely-paved parking lot) there was no damage. It’s official…God wants us to have a Cabela’s. 🙂
Yet another reason to rejoice about living in the land of low taxes, no state or local restrictions on firearm ownership (up to and including NFA items like silencers and full-autos), a strong Castle Doctrine statute, and a shall-issue CCW permit that’s good for life.
This is OT, but is the Hawk’s Prairie Inn still in operation? Just a truck stop that kept expanding, but the food was fantastic!
Tim
Tim – Yes, Hawk’s Prairie Inn is still serving big platesfull of great food – and is still being used by folks up and down the I-5 corridor as the landmark to gauge distances and act as a central meeting place.
Go – enjoy!
It is inevitable, there will always be people who will disagree with any sort of expansion of large companies. They fear for what it will do to their communities. I for one live in a very tiny community, and like the woman, feared what bringing a store like Cabela’s would completely flip our little community upside-down. The only thing the store did for the community was make it grow and expand. To tell you the truth, I forgot it existed for awhile. It was never really a forethought, it was more like an afterthought. I even had family and friends that worked there and it wasn’t a big deal. I actually never understood what the big deal was about the store until I started working there over the summer. It was amazing to see how many people came into the store. Not just locals, and residents of the county, state, and bordering states, but the people from all around the world. I was a cashier so I was just amazed at the quantity and diversity of the people that traveled, to what I thought was this little ity-bity town. It amazed me that throughout all of the time that the store had been there I had not really noticed a change in community. The town has actually seemed to flourish.
Little community owned shops have grown, and yes some of them have closed, but all of the shops that have closed were on the rocks even before the new store opened. I think it actually prolonged the life of the little stores, bringing some much needed business…it’s just too bad that the town hasn’t really gotten any kind of stores or places that appeal to everyone. But that is a complaint for another time. (I try to recommend little shops and restaurants that are locally owned any time I can…I love my town!)
So not to prolong this any longer, I just want to let people know not to strike down the thought of having a store like Cabela’s in their town. After the initial rush, You will barely even realize it is there. You’ll forget about it, like I did. But then you’ll realize how much it has actually brought to you.
Best Wishes from
Dundee, MI
*DISCLAIMER*
Know that I am not a spokesman for the company, but just a college student that has a seasonal job. I only wish to share how I feel about bringing in a large store to a tiny community has affected not only me, but my community. I have lived there my entire life in the town. My father and his mother have lived there their entire lives. And like my father and grandmother, I started in elementary and graduated from the public school right down the road from the store. (I am not the only family in Dundee to have this kind of history either) So I have seen and have heard the stories of growth in the community and that is my take on it. The store that opened in my community was a Cabela’s.