In
order to score a gimme of millions in corporate welfare taxpayer dollars
which would otherwise go to schools, parks, roads, police, fire and other
local services, Cabela's has promised the City of Reno —with no apparent
penalty for failure —that its new Verdi store west of town will draw
3,000,000 visitors a year. Everybody's got a good fish story but this
one looks like a world class whopper.
The
entire 2006 visitor count for Reno-Sparks-Incline/Tahoe was only 5,180,692,
so Cabela's has promised a marketing miracle — an increase of almost
60 percent for an area which has seen annual tourism shrink by half a
million visitors since 2002. Almost half (46%) of existing visitors come
from California, which Cabela's asserts will be the primary source of
its new customer/tourists. [Source:
Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority 2006 Reno-Sparks Visitor
Profile Study]
Do
you believe that pigs can fly seeking pie in the sky?
Let's look at just how hard it is to find sporting goods in these parts.
The
above map shows all the outdoor retailers in the Reno marketing area,
including Bass Pro stores in California. This clearly shows that there
is no shortage of places to buy fishing poles, camouflage and camping
gear, particularly in light of Nevada's status as one of the lowest-ranking
states for the number participating in hunting and fishing, days spent
hunting and fishing and for total expenditures on hunting and fishing
equipment, according
to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
This
map does not include stores Cabela’s is likely to put into California
after they finish squeezing the suckers at Reno City Hall.
