tags on every page of your site. --> Cabela’s Super Stores | Cigar Aficionado

The Big Smoke Returns To Las Vegas—Tickets On Sale Now

The Good Life

Cabela’s Super Stores

| By Brad Paisley, March/April 2012
Cabela’s Super Stores

Men are hardwired to detest shopping, and it’s hardly a stretch to say that some would do just about anything to avoid a trip to the local mall. But when the shopping trip is to a Cabela’s superstore, they’ll be the first in the car and ready to go.

Cabela’s, that 50-year-old outfitter headquartered in Sidney, Nebraska, has 34 stores throughout the United States and Canada, with another five coming this year. To call them extreme would be an extreme understatement. Each store brings elements of the great outdoors inside. Grand tanks showcase the type of sporting fish found in local waters, mounted game animals are on display, most have restaurants (with menus featuring game meats), and many have literally acres of fishing, hunting, camping and outdoor gear.

The largest, in Hamburg, Pennsylvania, boasts a quarter of a million square feet of floor space. Millions visit each year. A person visiting could buy anything from a $5 Rapala fishing lure or a $7 bag of beef jerky to a $100 pair of Merrill shoes or even a $30,000 A&S Famars Italian over-under shotgun. Cabela’s is a $2-billion-a-year business, and the retail arm is now its fastest growing segment. The average time of a customer visit? Three hours.

Cabela’s began in 1961 when Dick Cabela placed an ad in a newspaper advertising trout flies at $1 a dozen. That ad begat a catalog company with such a strong following that customers were making pilgrimages to its headquarters in Sidney, Nebraska, to get closer to the company. The original store, a century-old building, just wouldn’t do anymore, so corporate brass opened its first mega-store in 1991.

The concept has flourished. “A single store can bring in millions of visitors,” says Joe Arteburn, spokesman for the company. “A lot of them turn out to be the top tourist attraction in the state.” The customer base is broad, and ranges from those with merely a ing interest in open-air recreation to hardcore outdoorsmen.

Cabela’s plans to keep expanding with five new stores for 2012. Visit cabelas.com

Good Life Guide

More in The Good Life

See all
The Cigar Lounge On Wheels

The Cigar Lounge On Wheels

The Mobile Cigar Lounge is a veteran-owned operation that fully-restored and redesigned a 1973 …

May 29, 2025
Trio Of New Monacos From TAG Heuer

Trio Of New Monacos From TAG Heuer

The F1 Monaco Grand Prix may be over, but you can still celebrate the famed race with this trio of …

May 28, 2025
Cigar Aficionado’s 2025 Father’s Day Gift Guide

Cigar Aficionado’s 2025 Father’s Day Gift Guide

Rather than thinking of a Father’s Day gift as an obligation to be met every third Sunday in June, …

May 23, 2025
Creating A Racing Haven In Charlotte

Creating A Racing Haven In Charlotte

The new Ten Tenths Motor Club is a car enthusiast's dream, and it's only just getting started.

Apr 17, 2025
A Rare, First-Edition Of The Savoy Cocktail Book Goes On Sale

A Rare, First-Edition Of The Savoy Cocktail Book Goes On Sale

One of the first editions of The Savoy Cocktail Book ever published goes on sale today at the ABAA …

Apr 3, 2025
2025 Els For Autism Pro-Am Raises $830,000

2025 Els For Autism Pro-Am Raises $830,000

Golfers were ready to tee it up at Old Palm Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, for the 17th …

Mar 19, 2025
CIGAR AFICIONADO NEWSLETTERS
Check out Cigar Aficionado's newsletters, bringing you our latest ratings & reviews, cigar news and our guide to the good life.