|
Cabela's
track record around the country
Some
people might disagree that Cabela's is good for local business. A survey
in Minnesota showed that one of the stores there not only didn’t
seem to have the traffic Cabela’s claimed, but also the majority
of the traffic was not from out of state.
Granted,
the survey was done by a representative of Gander Mountain, another outdoor
retailer which builds without tax incentives and is actively lobbying
against the types of tax giveaways which Cabela’s gets, including
not having to pay sales taxes on Internet and catalog sales.
Most
of the governments cannot clearly state whether there has been the types
of increases which Cabela’s and their proponents claim even
though most of them accept Cabela’s figures at face value.
They further claim the large influx of tourists who come to their stores
will travel on into town and provide even more tourist dollars to other
local merchants.
While this sounds good it does not carry over in most instances, as is
clearly recognized by the businesses of Hamberg, Penn., where while they
do not question the number of people going to Cabela’s, they
haven’t seen much income into the local economy.
Dundee, Mich., saw
only a one percent increase in business notwithstanding a large influx
of tourist traffic into Cabela’s.
Many of their new enterprises are built in developments where they are
supported by hotels, gas stations restaurants etc, so visitors don’t
have to travel into town to get these necessities, much like the
store built in La Vista, Neb.
They
will also tell you that they will bring numerous high paying jobs into
the area:
About 40 percent of the jobs they offer are full time – including
the management positions. In
Dundee, Mich, that was based on 600 jobs.
The jobs are not historically "high paying" jobs, and more often
than not, do not include benefits, especially medical which according
to www.payscale.com is not one of
the benefits provided by Cabela’s. It is also curious how they tend
to pay people over 45 and females considerably less for doing the same
job.
See
PayScale.com
Gender Ratings and Age
Ratings.
Cabela's
promised 300 new jobs paying $10 to $12 per hour to city fathers in Richfield,
Mich., in 2005.
They
make claims about the number of jobs they will create but often fail to
follow through.
In Texas, when they failed to create the promised number of jobs, the
state sought a refund of incentives the state had paid.
It
is also not a new thing they have issues with contractors on the jobs,
as in Lacey, Wash., where they
hired a construction company which had a record of paying substandard
wages and benefits.
A check of the contractors on all the stores they have built "generally"
shows they have used contractors who are not from the areas providing
the incentives.
Other states have revolted against Cabela’s insistence they be exempted
from state sales tax.
In Idaho, the legislature has taken up the fight, as the state tax commission
there has refused to release the information surrounding the exemption
much like the Nevada Tax Commission is doing now.
TV-8
BOISE: Idaho senate backs bid to make companies collect internet tax.
IDAHO
LAWMAKER: End tax break for Cabela's
In
Maine, Cabela’s
threatened to not build their proposed store if the state did not give
them the exemption.
Maine
refused.
WCSH
TV-6 PORTLAND, MAINE: Cabela's doesn't want to collect sales taxes on
catalog orders from Maine
Ultimately
Cabela’s gave in:
WCSH
TV-6 — Cabela's To Build Store In Maine, Without Tax Exemption
SunJournal.com
— Cabela's new store is a "go"; tiff ends
The
Cabela's catalogue remains the core business even amidst a rapid bricks-and-mortar
expansion. SEC filings show that only 34% of the company's merchandising
revenues came from store sales in 2004.
As
they build more stores, Cabela's revenue increases. Their 2006 total income
from all 19 retail locations was $304.9 million, an average of $16.05
million per store.
In
their assertions to the City of Reno, Cabela's executives have projected
that 75 percent of the sales tax revenue for the first year will be $2,041,034.
Divided by .75 produces total first year projected sales taxes of $2,721,379.
Dividing by the current Washoe county sales tax rate forecasts revenue
in year one of $27,675,047.
They
are apparently projecting this as a bellweather store, perhaps the flagship
of the fleet. But what will happen when Cabela's expands into California.
(On June 27, 2007, a Cabela's executive told the Reno city council that
the company has "no plans" to build in California at the present
time. That assertion is contradicted
by a company statement to the Reno Gazette-Journal last year.)
According to Louisiana-based BusinessReport.com,
in 2003, of the 40 million visitors Cabela's says came through its stores,
only 6 million bought anything. (Per Cabela's 2005 SEC report.) Those
numbers would be unthinkable for Wal-Mart
or Target, where every browser is a buyer.
A
site which generally addresses the business activities of Cabela’s
and Bass Pro is
http://www.sayno2outdoorsretailsubsidies.com/index.html
At
the latter website, this
page is of particular interest and just loaded with stories from around
the country.
POETIC
JUSTICE DEPT.: Scheels, which recently stirred controversy
in Sparks by wanting to rename Sparks Blvd. as Scheels Blvd., complained
about Cabela's
favorable tax treatment in South Dakota.
It
all makes for some interesting reading —
and serious warning.
|
