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GONZALES, LA., (June 27 2007) -- Cabela's®, the World's Foremost Outfitter® of hunting, fishing and outdoor gear, has named Christopher Hargus as general manager of its newest destination retail store in Gonzales, La., between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Currently under construction, the Cabela's store is set to open in the fall of 2007. Three million visitors are expected annually, making it one of the top tourist attractions in the state.
The 175,000-square-foot, large-format superstore, Cabela's first destination retail store in Louisiana, is located at the intersection of I-10 and state highway 30.
Hargus is currently building his management team and next week will begin hiring as many as 350 associates from the surrounding area to staff the store. Cabela's employees are known for their outdoor knowledge and expertise - and exceptional retail and customer service skills.
Many customers come to Cabela's for advice and assistance on what products best meet their outdoor needs. Cabela's skilled specialists can outfit anglers, hunters and outdoors enthusiasts, making sure a customer's recreational experience is the best it can be.
To learn about Cabela's or to apply for employment, visit www.Cabela's.com. Click on About Cabela's, Our Story/Careers, Gonzales. All applications are submitted online.
General Manager Christopher Hargus
Christopher Hargus comes to Cabela's with 19 years of retail management experience. He was the store manager for Home Depot in Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Tallahassee, Fla., and Albany, Ga.
Like many Cabela's employees, Hargus grew up enjoying the outdoors.
"Working for Cabela's is a dream come true," said Hargus. "It's a privilege to be able to tie to my career a huge part of my life that I am genuinely passionate about. I am truly living the dream."
Hargus and his wife, Alison, have two sons. They live in Prairieville, La.
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SIDNEY, NE - Cabela's Incorporated (NYSE: CAB), the World's Foremost Outfitter of hunting, fishing and outdoor gear, announced today that it is in negotiations to build one of its trademark destination retail stores in Gonzales, Louisiana, with plans for the new store to be open by late summer of 2007.
Experience a Cabela's Retail Store. Check out our store Photo Gallery and our Video Tour.
 Construction on the 175,000-square-foot store is slated to begin in 2007.
Local support for the Cabela's store continues to be strong, with many city leaders and local residents in favor of the project.
"I am truly looking forward to the positive impact this type of retail destination facility will bring to our community. The creation of jobs and new development from the construction of Cabela's in Gonzales would be phenomenal," said Gonzales Mayor John A. Berthelot. "I, along with the city council and the residents of Gonzales, look forward to the opportunity to work with Cabela's to make this a reality."
Business owners and advocates in the surrounding area also see the benefits of the store and the additional economic development that has come with the opening of Cabela's stores in other communities.
"The Ascension Chamber of Commerce is excited to support the location of a Cabela's sporting goods store in the City of Gonzales," said Alice' Bourque, President and CEO of the Ascension Chamber of Commerce. "The City of Gonzales has actively been working with Cabela's to locate the store within the city in the anticipation of the creation of an estimated 350 jobs and the attraction of thousands of consumers from surrounding parishes and states. The Chamber strongly feels that Cabela's will play a pivotal role in the overall economic development of the area, and will be prosperous for both residents and local businesses for many years to come."
The store, which would be built on a 32-acre site at the intersection of Interstate 10 and Louisiana Highway 30, would be the largest outdoor sports store in Louisiana, and has the potential to boost sales for existing area businesses, as well as draw new complementary businesses to the area.
"Our comprehensive market research showed that Gonzales, between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, is an ideal location and is in the midst of a concentration of Cabela's customers," said Cabela's President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Highby. "Gonzales also is adjacent to the well-traveled Interstate 10 and Louisiana Highway 30 intersection, which serves as the hub of a huge expanse of sporting opportunities in the southern region of the state - including nearby freshwater and coastal saltwater fishing and legendary bayou country hunting for waterfowl and other game species."
To operate the new store, Cabela's expects to employ as many as 400 people, who will join the Cabela's family of more than 9,300 employees. Employees are expected to come from Gonzales and the surrounding area to join Cabela's family of staff members famous for their outdoor lifestyle and intimate knowledge of outdoor products. Product offerings will include hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, boating and wildlife watching gear, as well as outdoor clothing and outdoors-styled gifts and furnishings.
"We are highly interested in building this store in Gonzales. Louisiana is truly a sportsman's paradise and its residents are the embodiment of the Cabela's lifestyle," said Highby. "The Cabela's Retail experience is the perfect complement to the many hunting, fishing and outdoor opportunities Louisiana offers, and will bring residents of Louisiana and the many sportsmen and women that visit the state an opportunity to touch and try on our products before they head outdoors."
Highby also stated that though the site has been identified and a real estate contract inked, there are still several details to work out before the store can become a reality. If the agreement is reached, construction is expected to begin as soon as possible. Plans also call for the building of complementary businesses, such as motels, restaurants and other travel-related services, in conjunction with the new store.
Cabela's stores are known as shopping and tourism destinations, drawing customers not only from the local area, but also from hundreds of miles away. Many traveling sportsmen and women are also attracted by the familiar Cabela's script logo and the Company's world-famous reputation for quality merchandise, value and extraordinary customer service.
The Louisiana store would be built in the now famous Cabela's style, evoking the feeling of the outdoors. Cabela's stores are known as top-notch educational and entertainment attractions, mixing a décor of museum-quality animal displays with colorful dioramas, huge aquariums stocked with native fish and a centerpiece indoor mountain displaying trophy animals interacting in realistic re-creations of their natural habitats.
- A towering mountain replica, the centerpiece of the store's open showroom, with running waterfalls and streams, a trout pond and trophy animals in re-creations of their distinct habitats. Similar mountains, each called Conservation Mountain, have been built in other Cabela's stores as monuments to wildlife and salutes to the sportsmen and women who support wildlife conservation.
- A gigantic, walk-through, freshwater aquarium stocked with fish native to the area.
- Museum-quality representations of many wild-game species, including an expansive diorama devoted to African game animals.
- A deli-style restaurant will feature delicious wild-game sandwiches, as well as tamer fare. Also on the second floor will be an art gallery furnished with a cozy fieldstone fireplace.
- World-class Gun Library, providing gun collectors and aficionados the opportunity to browse through a collection of examples of the gun-making art.
- Full-service boat shop, featuring the latest in boats, motors and marine accessories.
- Shooting gallery providing fun along with the opportunity to learn basic shooting skills in a safe environment.
- Indoor archery range where archers can test and fine-tune their equipment.
- Bargain Cave, featuring discount prices on returned and discontinued merchandise.
- A sun-drenched atrium interior featuring authentic fieldstone accents and wood furnishings.
- Beautifully landscaped grounds featuring native trees and plants and a man-made pond, with walking paths for relaxing strolls.
About Cabela's Incorporated
Cabela's Incorporated, headquartered in Sidney, Nebraska, is the nation's largest direct marketer, and a leading specialty retailer, of hunting, fishing, camping and related outdoor merchandise. Since the Company's founding in 1961, Cabela's has grown to become one of the most well-known outdoor recreation brands in the United States, and has long been recognized as the World's Foremost Outfitter®. Through Cabela's established direct business and its growing number of destination retail stores, it offers a wide and distinctive selection of high-quality outdoor products at competitive prices while providing superior customer service. Cabela's also issues the Cabela's Club® VISA credit card through which it offers a related customer loyalty rewards program as a vehicle for strengthening its customer relationships.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE SAFE HARBOR PROVISIONS UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995
This press release (other than historical information) contains "forward-looking statements" that are based on the Company's beliefs, assumptions and expectations of future events, taking into account the information currently available to the Company. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause the Company's actual results, performance or financial condition to differ materially from the expectations of future results, performance or financial condition that the Company expresses or implies in any forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the ability to negotiate favorable lease and economic development arrangements; expansion into new markets; market saturation due to new destination retail store openings; the rate of growth of general and administrative expenses associated with building a strengthened corporate infrastructure to support the Company's growth initiatives; increasing competition in the outdoor segment of the sporting goods industry; the cost of the Company's products; supply and delivery interruptions; adverse weather conditions; fluctuations in operating results; adverse economic conditions; increased fuel prices; labor shortages or increased labor costs; changes in consumer preferences and demographic trends; increased government regulation; inadequate protection of the Company's intellectual property; other factors that the Company may not have currently identified or quantified; and other risks, relevant factors and uncertainties identified in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's most recently filed prospectus, which is available at the Company's website at www.cabelas.com and the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. The words "believe," "may," "should," "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "objective," "seek," "plan," "will" and similar statements are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Given the risks and uncertainties surrounding forward-looking statements, you should not place undue reliance on these statements. The Company's forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Other than as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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