The realities of overlapping territories are starting to come home to roost as Dicks Sporting Goods ponders the fate of a number of Galyans stores. Galyans Trading Company opened its first store in the state of Wisconsin in March of this year, bowing a 65,000 square foot store as an anchor at Greenway Station in Middleton, but that store will now close as Dick's opens two new locations in Madison.
The Dicks stores are expected to open in mid-October at the West Towne and East Towne malls, giving the retailer five stores in the state.
Jeff Hennion, VP of Finance at Dicks, told a local paper that the employees of the Galyans store have been offered jobs at the new stores. “We think the people in the Galyan's stores are extremely knowledgeable and we're pleased to supplement our hiring with them,” Hennion said in another report.
Hennion said the Middleton store would close about the same time as the opening of the Dick's stores.
Meanwhile in neighboring Minnesota, Gander Mountain has pulled the trigger on its headquarters move, announcing last week that they will move its 233 HQ employees from Bloomington to the historic Lowertown area of St. Paul, Minnesota. The company reportedly received a $700,000 financing package from the city of St. Paul to help with the move.
The Gander Mountain deal will be financed through St.Pauls Strategic Investment Fund, a program designed to entice businesses to the city.
According to a story in a local paper, the city also offered discounted parking rates for GMTN employees and offered to make additional payments of up to $500,000 for up to 167 more jobs if the company expands its HQ staff as expected.
Cabelas is starting see some resistance to at least one of the huge incentive deals that the retailer routinely negotiates when it decides to enter a market with one of its super store concepts. A local paper in Fort Worth, Texas is reporting that a private citizens group is suing the city of Fort Worth over a $40 million tax incentive package for Cabela's, which is currently developing a 230,000 square foot store south of Texas Motor Speedway.
Fort Worth Citizens for Responsible Government filed the lawsuit Thursday, asking the court to declare as illegal the redevelopment plan approved by the city council. The group also wants the court to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent any money from being distributed to Cabela's through a tax increment financing district, or TIF, that the council created to help fund public improvements.
The group said they believe the area is already developing through the citys investments in the race track.
