Cabela's Incorporated is working to bring a retail store to Montreal, Quebec, and the surrounding region.
Although planning and discussions are in early stages, Cabela's expects to open the Montreal retail showroom as early as late fall 2007 or spring 2008. The large-format retail store, located in the Lac Mirabel mixed-use project, will be developed by Connecticut-based Gordon Holdings Group and Rubin Stahl, and would be Cabela's first store built outside the United States.
The Lac Mirabel development, which will encompass more than 14 million square-feet and include 2.2 million square-feet of retail space, will be located on Autoroute 15, just north of Montreal. The project also will include man-made lakes, a sports complex, a 100,000 square-foot Caldea Therapeutic Spa from Andora in Europe, a 70,000 square-foot Kid Tropolis educational indoor city for children, a 140,000 square-foot Montreal Aquarium, hotel facilities, a conference center, and additional entertainment and shopping.
“Our customers in Canada have been asking for a store of their own for many years, and we're very excited to announce this new Cabela's location, which will be built and stocked with merchandise specifically for our Montreal and Canadian customers,” said Cabela's President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Highby. “The Lac Mirabel project is a world-class shopping and entertainment development that will draw visitors from hundreds of miles, and we look forward to serving our Cabela's customers in Montreal and all of Quebec with this new location.”
To operate their first store in Canada, Cabela's expects to employ several hundred locals from the surrounding area. Cabela's first Canadian employees will join the Cabela's family of employees in the United States who are famous for delivering excellent customer service, living the outdoor lifestyle and possessing an in-depth knowledge of outdoor gear. Product offerings would include a special assortment of hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, boating and wildlife watching gear tailored to the Canadian market, as well as outdoor clothing and outdoors-styled gifts and furnishings.
Cabela's currently has 14 retail locations in the United States. The newest, a 185,000-square-foot store in Rogers, Minn., opened Oct. 14, 2005. Cabela's also has announced plans to open stores in Boise, Idaho; La Vista, Neb.; Gonzales, La.; Glendale, Ariz.; Richfield, Wis.; and Hazelwood, Mo., in 2006; and Reno, Nev.; Wheat Ridge, Colo.; East Rutherford, N.J.; East Hartford, Conn.; and Hoffman Estates, Ill., in 2007.
The Cabela's Montreal store would be outfitted in Cabela's trademark style that evokes the feeling of the outdoors. Cabela's stores are known as top-notch educational and entertainment attractions, mixing a decor of museum-quality animal displays with colorful dioramas, huge aquariums stocked with native fish and a centerpiece indoor mountain displaying trophy animals in realistic re-creations of their natural habitats.
