Jim Fair
Outfitters and customers were high-fiving each other when the doors at Cabela's opened Thursday morning. The store employs 235 full- and part-time workers.
Jim Fair
Rods and reels were a big lure when Cabela's opened Thursday as its first venture into South Carolina.
Kim Elliott of Greer said she was glad, after eight weeks of training, to see the first customers in the store.
Jim Fair
David Starnes won a compeition with two other employees to earn the honor of shooting an arrow into the center of a target representing the ribbon cutting. He didn't miss.
Every Cabela’s that opens in the future will have a tradition born at Thursday’s opening in Greenville at Magnolia Park on Woodruff Road.
During the pomp and circumstance Tommy Millner, CEO of the Sidney, Neb.-based Cabela’s, looked past the crowd and saw the American flag waving while anchored between two City of Greenville Fire Department ladder trucks.
“While I was standing on the stage, looking at the flag, I thought ‘If not for the hundreds and thousands of men and women in the military who gave their lives, we wouldn’t be here today. We will have the American flag at every Cabela’s opening in the future,” Millner said.
It is Cabela’s first entry into South Carolina with Fort Mill scheduled for the second store in 2015. Greenville’s store has 100,000 square feet of retail space and employs 235 full- and part-time “outfitters”.
Traditionally, it was a typical opening day for Cabela’s with estimates between 3,500-4,000 suggested with hours remaining open. Lines wrapped twice around the parking. Digital signs warned of traffic delays and blocking intersections while police also had a presence. Archer marksman David Starnes beat out two other Outfitters (store employees) for the honor of shooting an arrow at a target as the store’s ribbon cutting. I-85 did not have any reported delays and Woodruff Road traffic moved steadily.
Within 70 minutes of opening there were over 500 purchases made and nealy 100 Cabela's charge cards issues.
Robert Bonner and his sons, Tyler, 17, and Hunter, 15, were the first customers arriving at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. They camped out overnight and only dozed for brief naps throughout the night, said Robert Bonner.
“I know I won’t have enough time to see everything in the store,” said Charles Reid, from Anderson. “I came to buy bulk gunpowder because I teach shooting a .22 rifle and shotgun class.” He works at Arrowhead Pointe Golf Course in Elberton, Ga. “I buy all our work uniforms from Cabela’s.”
Danny Gray, retired from Michelin, traveled with Reid. He was in Louisiana recently hunting with the Duck Dynasty reality show family. “I try to keep active fishing and camping,” Gray said.
Kim Elliott, from Greer, had been preparing for opening day for nearly eight weeks. She works in apparel and was trying to keep up with souvenir shirts commemorating Greenville's opening. She was quickly running out and replacing it with more long-term merchandise.
“I wanted to work for Cabela’s because I heard they were a family-oriented company,” Elliott said. “Management has been everything I could ask for. We all work together as a team.”
Neal and Kristie McKenzie, from Travelers Rest, weren’t planning on coming to the store Thursday with their toddler, Medlin. “Our seven-year-old, Kaiser, wanted to come so bad we thought we would wait until the weekend.” As they patiently waited in a line that snaked its way through the store, Kristie said, “We’re debating whether to tell him or not.”