The prospect of Cabelas Inc. and G.I. Joes Inc. entering the Spokane-Coeur dAlene sporting goods market and Sportsmans Warehouse expanding here doesnt exactly have home-grown and longtime retailers shaking in their hiking boots.


Ed Conley, who owns White Elephant Surplus Stores with his two brothers, says that iconic Spokane institution always has been able to stare down its rivals.


We spend a lot of time taking care of customers and making sure the price on the shelf is right, says Conley, who manages White Elephants Spokane Valley store, one of two it operates here.


Half of the Valley stores 10,000 square feet of retail space is crammed with fishing, hunting, camping, and boating gear, and the other half is stocked with toys. Sporting goods, though, account for 75 percent of the stores sales, Conley says.


A few years ago, a big box opened up about two miles from here, he says, referring to the 57,000-square-foot Sportsmans Warehouse store that opened near Spokane Valley Mall in 2001. Then, I had the biggest September ever.


Now, site work is under way for an about 130,000-square-foot Cabelas store, which is slated to open next fall on the western edge of Post Falls and employ 250 people. Meanwhile, a second Sportsmans Warehouse store will open here, this one in Coeur dAlene, in May, with about 75 employees. Also, work is under way on a 52,000-square-foot G.I. Joes store near the Spokane Valley Mall thats expected to open in September and employ 55 people.


White Elephants Conley says hes not afraid of Cabelas or the chains, because hes confident they wont beat his stores prices.


He boasts about how White Elephant has routinely made Lowe Boats list of top 10 retailers in the country, even though White Elephant sells the fishing boats at only one of its stores. Cabelas, he asserts, has made the list only once.


While Cabelas stores, with their huge selection and museum-quality displays, often are described as destination stores, Conley contends that White Elephant is a destination store in its own right.


People go to museums to look, he says. People come here to buy.


Jerry Kienbaum, who was shopping at White Elephants Valley store for supplies to load his own shells for some target shooting, says hes been a White Elephant customer for 40 years.


If I cant get it here, I go without, Kienbaum says.


Adds Conley, Were keeping busy enough that were not getting much sleep. Sometimes we have to pinch ourselves.


Paul Fish, owner of Mountain Gear Inc., of Spokane, says having more sporting goods retailers in the market could be good for his business.


I believe having more sporting goods retailers will bring more top-of-mind awareness for consumers, Fish says.


Mountain Gear, which opened here in 1983, operates just one store, at 2002 N. Division, but does an extensive mail-order and Internet business. It sells high-end gear and clothing for climbing, camping, hiking, and snow and paddle sports, and employs 85 people. Last year, it moved its Internet and catalog operations to a bigger, 80,000-square-foot facility in Spokane Valley.


Fish says recreation opportunities in the Inland Northwest are attracting people and keeping them here.


I didnt even know until after I opened the store here, about the loyalty of customers and their commitment to outdoor lifestyles, he says. People are moving here for the lifestyle. Businesses like ours benefit from that as well as add to the outdoor lifestyle.


Fish says that while hes not worried about the new competitors, the incentives that the state of Idaho is considering giving to Cabelas rubs him the wrong way.


Idaho legislators have introduced a bill that would allow Cabelas to keep a portion of sales tax collected at its Post Falls store to help pay for an Interstate 90 interchange, for which Cabelas would front the funding, estimated to be more than $15 million.


Having a business getting incentives to compete with me is rough, Fish says. The playing field should be even.


Still, Fish says Cabelas hasnt harmed the catalog side of his business, which plans to issue 3.2 million catalogs this year.


He says 85 percent of Mountain Gears sales come via its catalogs and the Internet.


I dont see Cabelas as having a negative effect, he says.


Cabelas sends out 120 million catalogs annually, according to Hoovers Inc., a market research group based in Austin, Texas.


Dennis Highby, Cabelas president and CEO, cited the big retailers Internet and catalog sales in the Inland Northwest as factors in its decision to build a store in Post Falls.


Fish says Mountain Gear competes more directly with chains such as Seattle-based Recreational Equipment Inc., which has operated a Spokane store since 1986.


Sally Lodato, manager of that store, at 1125 N. Monroe, says REIs sales here have been growing steadily.


Consumer interest in outdoor activities is growing along with the number of businesses that sell outdoors-related goods, Lodato says.


She adds that outdoor-goods retailers here will benefit even more if proposals for a downtown whitewater park and regional trails come to fruition.


She says Cabelas, which opened a store in Boise last August, hasnt had much of an impact on sales at REIs Boise store.


REI has about 70 employees here, most of whom are experienced in outdoor activities and use the items the store sells, Lodato says.


The new G.I. Joes store here, near Indiana Avenue and Evergreen Road, will be just west of the Sportsmans Warehouse store and across the Spokane Valley Mall complex from a 45,000-square-foot Sports Authority Inc. store, which opened as Gart Sports Co. in 1998.


G.I. Joes spokesman Reese Thedford says the Wilsonville, Ore.-based retailer also is looking to open a store on Spokanes North Side, but hasnt determined a location for that store yet. G.I. Joes sells athletic apparel and equipment in addition to boating, camping, and fishing-related goods.


We are a regional company. We specialize in the Northwest, Thedford says. We have a better line of high-, middle-, and low-end gear for all sports played in the Northwest.


He says the planned Cabelas store, which will be less than 10 minutes east of the Valley G.I. Joes store via I-90, shouldnt infringe on G.I. Joes niche.


Cabelas is so big it takes half a day if you go there, Thedford contends. Were quick in and quick out.


He says G.I. Joes most direct competitors here will be Big 5 Corp., an El Segundo, Calif.-based chain, and Sports Authority, which is based in Englewood, Colo. Both have stores in the Valley and on Spokanes North Side.


Stu Utgaard, chairman and CEO of Salt Lake City based-Sportsmans Warehouse, believes that chain will be Cabelas biggest competitor here, and is confident in the prospects for the companys new Coeur dAlene store.


Its a good outdoors area, and were looking forward to going there, Utgaard says of North Idaho.


He, like Mountain Gears Fish, also doesnt like what he sees as a tax break being considered to build the road to Cabelas door, but doesnt blame the sporting goods giant for seeking it.


If we were smarter, we would get money from the government, too, he says of Sportsmans Warehouse. I dont know why taxpayers of any state should be subsidizing the business.


The Cabelas store in Post Falls will be located roughly halfway between the Sportsmans Warehouse store in the Valley and the one under construction in Coeur dAlene.


Utgaard says both retailers are surviving in other markets where they do battle, including Boise and Salt Lake City.


Collin McLauchlin, a sales rep at Sports Outlet, located at 1602 N. Division, says that locally owned store, which has about eight employees, already has adapted to compete with bigger sporting goods stores.


McLauchlin says Sports Outlet competes by focusing tightly on snowboard and wakeboard sports, and by buying its inventory during the off-season to reduce its costs.


Our prices are incomparable, unless someone else has a huge sale, McLaughlin says.


That keeps people coming back, he says, adding, We see the same customers over and over.


While other stores may have more variety, Sports Outlet has the experts when it comes to board sports, McLaughin claims. We know a lot about the little bit that we have, he says.


Contact Mike McLean at (509) 344-1266 or via e-mail at [email protected].