Cabela’s Billings Opening a Grand One

By Bill Schneider, 5-08-09

Beating gloomy economic doomsayers and continuing controversy stemming from its amenity land sales division, Cabela’s is opening its doors in Billings on May 14.

And the “World’s Foremost Outfitter” takes its Grand Openings seriously.

The company hires PR firms to promote the event, and the Grand Opening lasts 18 days, starting May 14 and lasting until Memorial Day. It features a lots of giveaways from Beretta, Carhartt, Coleman, Leupold, Sage, Wrangler and others, even a 224-square-foot, $18,000 log cabin; celebrity appearances, mostly pro staff and company executives; and special events such as a book signing by the co-founders of it all, Dick and Mary Cabela.

Like most Cabela’s superstores, the company will try to “bring the outdoor shopping experience to life” in its 80,000-squire-foot Billings store with a 7,000-gallon aquarium loaded with lunker game fish and a “conservation mountain” featuring running waterfalls, trout pond and wild game displays in native habitats.

And gun guys will welcome the famous gun library with a large collection of the finest firearms ever made.

Cabela’s is definitely trying to give their stores more of a “regional flair,” Billings store manager Corey Watson told NewWest.Net in a phone interview, but right now, the store has mostly the same inventory as other stores in this region. “We’re very similar to the Rapid City store,” he said, which is among the newest, opening in late 2008.

Perhaps the main difference is “our emphasis on the fly shop,” he noted, with an extensive selection of flies and fly fishing equipment geared for fishing nearby trout rivers, something you probably won’t find in Mitchell, South Dakota or Sidney, Nebraska stores.

Watson, who was operations manager at Cabela’s store in Reno, Nevada, before moving to Billings, also said some clothing and footwear “is more geared to mountainous terrain” and hunting for big game like elk and sheep. “Otherwise, the product mix is similar to the other stores,” he said. “You might not notice the difference from our other stores.”

Why such a long grand opening? “Hey, it’s Montana. We want to spend a lot of time celebrating opening a store here.”

Ribbon cutting is at 4 pm. Thursday, May 14. After that, store hours are Monday–Saturday, 8 am to 9 pm, and 9 am to 6 pm on Sunday. The new Billings Cabela’s is at 4550 King Avenue East, Billings (South Billings Blvd. exit off I-90).