Cabela's may move to Cranberry

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Pittsburgh Business Times are both reporting that Cabela's, the outdoor sports giant, could target Cranberry as a possible expansion site. The location could be the future Cranberry Town Center.

"This would be a good market for Cabela's," agreed David Glickman, vice president of the retail group of Grubb & Ellis Co., a commercial real estate firm in Pittsburgh.

Although a Western Pennsylvania site would be a departure from Cabela's initial blueprint for expansion that once envisioned stores up to 300 miles apart, competitive forces could be driving the company to consider expanding in this area, closer to its Wheeling store, said Glickman. He noted that Bass Pro Shops is planning to open a major store as part of the Victory Centre complex in South Strabane in Washington County.

"Bass Pro Shops could be a factor," Glickman said. "A lot of people from this area have been going south to Wheeling, but now we have this new store proposed for Washington."

In 2004 Cabela's opened a 175,000 square foot store in Wheeling, WV.