A look back as Cabela's celebrates its 10-year anniversary in Mitchell, SD

Thursday will be the 10th anniversary of the day Cabela’s — “America’s Foremost Outfitter”— opened a retail store in Mitchell.

The 10 years since the opening have included a run of business development that has changed the face and economy of the city.

Cabela’s was the first major retail development south of Interstate 90, and it led the way for commercial growth that followed and transformed the agricultural land south of I-90 into a thriving commercial area.

Bryan Hisel, executive director of the Mitchell Area Development Corporation, said the city has received many benefits from Cabela’s. That includes 2 million square feet of commercial space that was not here before Cabela’s opened its store.

“Very few projects work out as well as you hope,” said Hisel, “but this project did everything we hoped it would do and more.

“It changed the identity of Mitchell, boosted commercial construction, added jobs to the economy, and it increased taxable sales and property valuations in the city and county — all within three years of Cabela’s opening.”

Mitchell City Finance Officer Marilyn Wilson said Cabela’s has also had a big impact on city government.

In 1999, the year before Cabela’s arrived, the city received $5.026 million from its 2 percent sales tax. In 2000, that figure jumped to $5.928 million.

“That’s an 18 percent jump in just one year,” Wilson said.

The ensuing development around Cabela’s and in other areas of the city swelled sales tax collections to $8.9 million by 2009.

Cabela’s Incorporated, a publicly traded company, also has benefited from its $19 million gamble in Mitchell.

“Mitchell has been a wonderful part of the Cabela’s story,” said company spokesman John Castillo.

Since the Mitchell store opened in 2000, the expansion of Cabela’s has been rapid. Mitchell was the sixth retail store, and there are now 30 stores, including 29 in the U.S. and one in Canada.

One of the U.S. stores is the Rapid City location, which opened in 2008.

The fact that Cabela’s has two stores in a state as sparsely populated as South Dakota is no fluke, Castillo said.

“I think it’s a testament to the culture of outdoor participation that exists in South Dakota,” he said, “and it demonstrates our respect for that culture.”

For the Mitchell store, the pheasant has always been king. A trip to Cabela’s during the pheasant-hunting season has become an annual pilgrimage for many visitors. The hunters, and sometimes their families, hit the store to purchase their hunting licenses and some last-minute gear, and then head off for the hunt.

There are 60 full-time employees at the Mitchell Cabela’s, said store human resources representative Kaydee VanOverschelde. They form the core of a workforce that swells to 216 with part-time and seasonal employees.

Forty-four employees who were present at the grand opening still work at the store.

“When you consider the high employee turnover normally associated with retail business, that’s something we’re very proud of,” Castillo said.

The store tracks its customer base by asking for telephone numbers at the checkout stands. A more informal tracking method consists of customers sticking pins in a map of the United States each year. Sticky notes are tacked to the borders of the bulletin board to mark the presence of overseas visitors.

“People come here from all over the world,” said outdoor specialist Dave Carlson, 61, who works in the hunting and firearms section in colder months and in the store’s fishing department during summer months.

Having a global draw such as Cabela’s has helped nudge Mitchell into a new business era and has changed the look of the city.

“It changed the image to everyone who drove by on I-90 from that of an old community to one of aggressive growth,” Hisel said.

Following Cabela’s, buildings went up south of I-90 in rapid succession. Walmart, numerous hotels and restaurants, an indoor mall, a strip-mall and a conference center have all been built near Cabela’s since the store opened.

The Mitchell office environment on the north end of town has also bloomed during the I-90 renaissance. Accounting and telecommunications firms, especially, have grown at the north end of the community, bringing some of Mitchell’s best-paying positions.

Many would say the growth that was encouraged by Cabela’s is attributable to two main sources: pheasants, and the late Harold Hagen.

Hagen and former Cabela’s CEO Dennis Highby worked together at Herter’s, a popular outdoors retail and mail-order business that operated in Mitchell decades ago.

Highby moved on to Cabela’s — which today is the exclusive distributor of Herter’s products — but stayed in touch. He eventually introduced Hagen to the Cabela family, and friendships were born. Hagen’s Mitchell Manufacturing made fishing gear for Cabela’s.

Hagen, who died in September 2000, never doubted that Cabela’s would open a store in Mitchell, according to Hisel. An annual economic development award now commemorates Hagen’s contributions to Mitchell.

“He could pick up the phone and talk to them,” Hisel said of Hagen’s relationship with the Cabela family. “That’s a relationship you just can’t overvalue. Harold held the door open with the owners and key management at Cabela’s, so the community could continue to work with them.”

Mitchell’s initial ambitions were modest. The city hoped to land a warehouse facility that Cabela’s had in the planning stages.

“Harold flat out asked them if they would consider putting a store in Mitchell,” Hisel said.

Mitchell ended up getting a Cabela’s retail store, and the warehouse ended up in Prairie du Chien, Wis.

Dick and Mary Cabela still visit Mitchell regularly for the Pheasant Opener and take time out to hunt on the Hagen family farm south of Mitchell, said Keith Hagen, 49, who owns Precision Reloading. His brother, Kevin, operates Mitchell Manufacturing, the company founded by their father.

Keith recalled speaking with Cabela at Chef Louie’s Restaurant shortly after the Mitchell Cabela’s store opened.

“Dick (Cabela) told me to my face that the town should put up a statue to Harold Hagen because without him, Cabela’s would not be in Mitchell,” he said.

“I’ll never forget that.”

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