Cabela’s gets OK to build in Maine

SCARBOROUGH – The Town Council unanimously approved a $75 million development that represents Cabela’s first foray into L.L. Bean country.

Cabela’s paved the way for the project after dropping its insistence on a sales tax waiver on catalog and online orders from customers in Maine. Critics had contended that a waiver would have given Cabela’s an unfair advantage over L.L. Bean.

The seven councilors voted Wednesday night to create a special contract zone for developer New England Expedition LLC, which is planning restaurants, a bank and a 200-room hotel. The project will be anchored by a 125,000-square-foot Cabela’s store.

“We’re still looking at breaking ground early next year, hopefully in February,” said Gene Beaudoin of New England Expedition.

The Cabela’s store will be roughly 25 miles from the flagship store and headquarters of rival L.L. Bean in Freeport. Both Bean and Cabela’s are outdoors outfitters, specializing in hunting, fishing and camping gear.

Cabela’s has 16 megastores in operation. L.L. Bean has stores in Maine, New Hampshire, Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey, along with more than a dozen outlets.

Cabela’s had sales of nearly $1.8 billion last year, while mailing 122 million catalogs. By comparison, privately held L.L. Bean had sales of $1.47 billion and mails about 250 million catalogs annually.