UPDATE 8/9/12 @ 10:45 a.m.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- It's not black Friday, but you could call it camo Thursday as shoppers camped out all night waiting for the opening of the new Cabela's store.

Dozens lined up Thursday morning in Charleston hoping to be one of first in the new store.

"Grand Opening at Cabela's is always a big event," Wes Remmer, Cabela's spokesperson said. "We anticipate large crowds. There's always a lot of really excited, enthusiastic people who share our passion for the outdoors and here in Charleston is no different."

Robert Charcandy of Boone County arrived about 6 a.m. and secured a spot at the head of the line.

"I go up to Wheeling to their store up there and since they got one here it's a lot easier for me," Charcandy said.

"I like watching the kids faces at the stuff they pick out," Angie Westfall, shopper said. "And recently my husband's gotten me into a little bit of fishing and a little bit of target shooting so that's something we're looking at as well."

The official ribbon cutting was done "Cabela's style" with an archer shooting the ribbon with an arrow at 10:45 a.m. The doors opened at 11 a.m.

The store will specialize in hunting, fishing and outdoor gear -- but also have wildlife displays and even an aquarium.

"Our rule is when a 12 year old walks in the front door, we want his jaw to drop like he does at Disneyland," Tommy Millner, Cabela's CEO said.

During the recent storm, the Charleston store got a couple of special shipments of generators to help people who lost power for several days.

Keep clicking on WSAZ.com for more information.

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UPDATE 4/12/12
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- A retail destination for outdoors enthusiasts will open in Charleston later this summer.

Cabela's announced Monday afternoon they will open their new location in Southridge on August 9.

The store will specialize in hunting, fishing and outdoor gear -- but also have wildlife displays and even an aquarium.

The Charleston store will be 80,000 square feet.

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UPDATE 4/12/12
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Outdoor gear retailer Cabela's Inc. plans to hire up to 250 employees for its Charleston store opening this summer.

Sidney, Neb.-based Cabela's said Thursday it will hold job interviews from April 23 through 28. Applications must be submitted online and are being accepted at www.cabelas.jobs.

The 80,000-square-foot store in the Southridge Center off U.S. 119 will be Cabela's second in West Virginia. Another store in Wheeling opened in 2004.

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UPDATE 1/26/12 @ 10:12 a.m.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- The Board of Zoning in Charleston approved a sign variance for Cabela's Thursday, but the sign will sit a little lower than the first company wanted.

During a meeting, board members voted to grant Cabela's a sign variance to install a 70-foot sign on its property. The company originally asked for a 90-foot sign. Board members say the variance is contingent on if the sign doesn't interfere with the doppler radar at the National Weather Service that's also located at Southridge.

Board members say they granted the variance because the store is more of a destination for consumers and they want to make sure the public sees the sign from Corridor G.

Right now, the code in Charleston only allows signs to be 35-feet-tall. However, some restaurants in the area have 45-foot signs.

Construction is currently underway on the new 80,000-square-foot store. Several walls of the store are up. The store is expected to open this summer.

The store will specialize in hunting, fishing and outdoor gear. It will also have wildlife displays and an aquarium.

The store is expected to employ 200 workers.

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UPDATE 8/23/11
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Work has begun on the land where a new Cabela's will be built in Charleston.

Site prep work has started at the location along Corridor G at the Southridge Shopping Center.

The store will specialize in hunting, fishing and outdoor gear. It will also have wildlife displays and an aquarium.

The store is expected to employ 200 workers and open next summer.

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UPDATE 7/28/11 @ 11:30 p.m.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Mom and pop shop owners say Cabela's opening in Charleston means taking sales and service up a notch.

Tyler Borders tell tells WSAZ.com that his customers come in from Huntington, Charleston, Ohio and all over. Since the mid 1980s the Borders family has operated an ever-expanding outdoor department store known as Borders Summit Market.

Borders says a Cabela's store opening even within 75 miles of Charleston will have a definite impact on his Eastern Kentucky sales.

"I think our safe business will be okay, but I worry about some of the other outdoor items that come from the big box store," Borders said.

Borders says he can't fight sheer size, but he can ramp up his outdoor store's established record of hometown personal service.

Most of the Borders Summit Market customers WSAZ.com spoke with said the would stay loyal and local. Most but not all.

Borders says all he can do to compete with Cabela's is what they've always done best: serve the customers.

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UPDATE 7/28/11 @ 6:40 p.m.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- A major announcement on the job and shopping front as outdoor outfitter Cabela's gears up to break ground and build a store here at home.

Cabela's announced Thursday it will create 200 full and part time jobs in Charleston at a new 80,000 square foot store.

It will be located along Corridor G at the Southridge Shopping Center.

For workers at Home Depot, the empty lot next door has long been a source of questions, speculation and curiosity.

"We saw a lot of architects," employee Marshall Dotson said. "it looked like something big was coming into our area here."

This is only the second store for West Virginia with the first located in Wheeling.

The Charleston store is expected to be somewhat smaller in size but is expected to draw thousands of hunters, fishers and lovers of the outdoors.

"When you take a look at Corridor G, you think it would be a great place for Charleston people to go," Charleston Mayor Danny Jones said. "Well it's not just Charleston people -- go south, all the way to Kentucky, they'll be coming up here to go to that place."

Cabela's is celebrating its 50th birthday opening more than 30 stores across the nation.

The company says it saw this as the perfect place to set up shop based on online and catalog customers.

"It's really a simple process, you map that information and then you look for concentrations of good Cabela customers," communications manager Joe Arterburn said. "You put a pin right in the middle of that and it happens to be Charleston."

Construction is expected to begin at the Southridge Shopping Center in early 2012.

"I'm just glad to see Home Depot is getting a partner up here on the hill," employee Bill Buckalew said. "It should do big guns right here for this area."

Highlighting not just hunting, fishing and outdoor gear but also wildlife displays and even an aquarium.

Cabela's says the average time inside one of their stores is three hours.

"If you stay focused you can get in and out of there but if you start to wander a little bit and looking around you'll find out that time goes pretty fast," Arterburn said.

Cabela's says it's not ready to make any hires yet but will be looking for people with a passion for the outdoors.

A job fair will be held after the store is built and Cabela's will start taking applications online early next year.

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ORIGINAL STORY
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Outdoors outfitter, Cabela’s announced Thursday morning plans to build a store in Charleston.

The store will be in the Southridge Center shopping area off U.S.119. Construction is expected to begin early next year, with the store opening later in the year.

This will be Cabela’s second store in West Virginia, joining the Wheeling location.

Cabela’s is the world’s foremost outfitter of hunting, fishing and outdoor gear.

“West Virginians are dedicated outdoors people and loyal Cabela’s customers,” said Cabela’s Chief Executive Officer Tommy Millner. “People throughout the state have been Cabela’s customers for decades and it’s because of their passion for outdoor recreation that we’re able to make our goods and services even more accessible to the area’s hunters, anglers and campers.”