Okay, remember back in March when it was announced that a finalized contract with Bass Pro was "imminent"??? Well, it's now three months later, and we're still waiting ...

Here's a bit on Bass Pro, Cabela's, and other retailers requiring public monies to bring their stores to any area ...

This quote is specifically about Buffalo's wooing of Bass Pro, but it's part of a much longer article on this general topic.

I've high-lighted a few numbers that have changed (as pointed out by Jim O) since this project was first proposed. The $57 million, of course, is in addition to another $66 million in infrastructure that would be necessary to accommodate the Bait Scam, so this would be $101 million in public monies invested for a max $8 million payroll. (Of course, costs have probably increased since then, so it will undoubtedly be significantly more in public money!)

Clearly, some communities expect major returns. Buffalo, N.Y., envisions Bass Pro as the anchor of a waterfront remake that could eventually cost some $1 billion. The proposed project would contain loft housing, a museum, parking decks and extensive retail, such as the Harborfront Market, a boardwalk of shops and restaurants akin to Boston’s Faneuil Hall Marketplace. The plan is for Bass Pro to take over the vacant Buffalo Memorial Auditorium by 2008, says Charles F. Rosenow, president of the state entity coordinating the project. When the idea was announced nearly three years ago (it is still under study) the cost of Bass Pro’s portion was estimated at $57 million. "Of that amount, the city, county and state have put up $35 million to retrofit the building," Rosenow said. "Bass Pro would spend $22 million on the store."

Free Buffalo and other local critic groups have lambasted the deal as corporate welfare, but defenders point to the fact that downtown Buffalo is desperate for jobs. "The city has given over all of its downtown retail to the suburbs," Rosenow said. "This would re-establish a retail base." Further, supporters cite the success of existing projects anchored by destination retail. Kansas City courted Cabela’s in 2003 to add full-time retail to the area around Kansas Speedway. Other developments followed, including restaurants and hotels, a 750,000-square-foot Nebraska Furniture Mart, a Great Wolf Lodge indoor water park and resort, a baseball park and The Legends at Village West, an 805,000-square-foot open-air lifestyle center by RED Development. "Cabela’s had a tremendous impact in Kansas City," said Edward T. Krusa, a consultant in Hammond, Ind., who took a fact-finding trip to Kansas City on behalf of Hammond officials currently in negotiations with Cabela’s.

Bass Pro now operates 33 stores in 21 states and Canada, with about 10 more slated to open by the end of the year. Cabela’s operates 14 stores, with 13 in the pipeline and others in negotiation. "We believe there is potential for 50 more of our 150,000-square-foot-type stores or larger," Callahan said. "We also believe there are literally hundreds of opportunities for a smaller format."

Critics complain that such aggressive rollouts will shrink the trade areas and eventually make the stores more humdrum than special. Retail is notoriously fast-paced, they say, so could Bass Pro suddenly acquire Cabela’s, for instance, and start closing stores? "There is no guarantee of longevity," said Sen. Redfield.
Bass Pro, Cabelas, et al This article is long, but interesting, and puts the issue in national, not just local, terms.