BY KEITH BENMAN, Times of Northwest Indiana
Mega-retailers like Cabela's, with the potential to pull hordes of shoppers across state lines, may be able to break a longtime taboo on state incentives going to retailers.
Gov. Mitch Daniels and fellow members of the Indiana Economic Development Corp. board of directors Thursday swallowed hard, then said such stores may be eligible for the kind of incentives traditionally reserved for Hoosier manufacturers.
But only the really big ones.
"The retail examples that are confronting us are different," Daniels said at the 10 a.m. meeting at the Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza. "They are gigantic boxes that maintain enormous inventories of sporting and other goods."
In late August, members of Woodmar Country Club narrowly approved selling their 80-year-old Hammond club to outdoor outfitter Cabela's for $14 million.
The Nebraska-based retailer plans to locate a store as big as a Super Wal-Mart, but specializing strictly in outdoor gear, on the site just south of the Borman Expressway. The store will also feature wildlife displays, a fresh-water fish aquarium, restaurant and other amenities.
And Cabela's may not be the only specialty mega-store making a beeline for the region, with its easy access to Chicagoland's 7 million shoppers.
During the morning at the Radisson, the name Bass Pro Shops, a direct competitor to Cabela's, also was broached as a possible newcomer to the area.
The City of Hammond is still putting together a package of incentives to take through state approval processes, according to Peter Novak, the city's executive director of planning and development.
A sales tax increment financing, or STIF, package will be a major part of any proposal. Under a STIF, bonds are sold to make infrastructure improvements like roads, curbs and flood plain upgrades. The bonds then are repaid using state sales tax money generated by the new development.
A proposal for the STIF will have to be approved by various city and state finance agencies. The support of the Indiana Economic Development Corp. will be a key factor in getting that approval, Novak said.
"If you go and see other places where Cabela's has located, you will find high-ranking local officials that will tell you it's not just a retailer, it's a tourist attraction," Novak said.
Not every board member Thursday was 100 percent sold on the concept of extending state incentives to even mega-retailers.
"I'm not so sure any kid of state aid will make a significant difference where they go," said Bruce White, a board member and chairman and chief executive officer of White Lodging Services Corp., in Merrillville.
Compelling location and demographics are what drive large retailers like Cabela's to any particular place, White said.
In comments later, White said "on a big picture basis" he's as excited as anyone about Cabela's coming to the area. It will increase the potential of the whole area for attracting other retailers, he said.
State incentives for retailers also was discussed at a meeting of the Indiana Economic Development Corp.'s policy committee earlier in the morning.
IEDC President Michael Maurer, a confidant of the governor, expressed the same reservations as White about providing incentives for retailers.
"So we would be throwing money at retail that would locate here anyway," Maurer said.
But Maurer agreed with committee member Robert Koch that it would be different if the retailer attracted a high volume of Chicago or Illinois traffic to Indiana.
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