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Supersized sporting goods store Scheels to join Nebraska Furniture Mart in The Colony


Construction on another supersized store is starting next week in The Colony.

Fargo, N.D.-based Scheels is building a 325,000-square-foot store that it describes as both a sporting goods store and an entertainment destination. At that size, it's about 13 times the size of a traditional sporting goods big box store. Show Full Story

The store will be in The Colony's $1.5 billion Grandscape development along State Highway 121. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is the developer of the project.

Scheels, which has 27 stores in 12 states, first announced in 2016 that it planned to come here. The retailer said The Colony location, which will feature a 65-foot Ferris wheel and 16,000-gallon saltwater aquarium, will open in 2020. It's breaking ground on Feb. 8. When finished, it will employ more than 400 people.

Scheels is in the process of replacing smaller stores, one in Lincoln, Neb., this year and Eden Prairie, Minn., in 2019. But both of those stores will be about one-third smaller than The Colony store, which will be its biggest, said spokeswoman Kiersten Cooley.

Scheels will be a big addition to Grandscape which is anchored by the 560,000-square-foot Nebraska Furniture Mart. When it opened in 2015 it was the first business on the 400-acre project.

Grandscape is shaping up to be a family entertainment destination with tenants that are unique to Texas. It's different from nearby developments — all within about 5 miles of each other — which also have big concentrations of retail and restaurants and are along 121 and the Dallas North Tollway.

Plano's Legacy West mixed-use project that was completed last year is more corporate-focused with upscale shopping and eateries. Frisco's ground-zero for shopping, located just east of Grandscape, is anchored by Stonebriar Centre, a more traditional shopping destination. Also nearby in Frisco, along the Dallas North Tollway is the Ford Center at The Star, headquarters to the Dallas Cowboys with an adjacent entertainment district.

The Scheels store in The Colony's Grandscape development will house a 16,000-gallon, saltwater aquarium and a 65-foot Ferris wheel. (Scheels /Scheels)

Another unique Grandscape tenant scheduled to open in 2019 is the Andretti Indoor Karting and Games, a 110,000-square-foot, two-story indoor amusement center. Windmills Craftworks, a combination craft beer, food, music sand book store is expected to open this year.

Galaxy Theatres is planning to open an 85,000-square-foot luxury theater with 16 screens in 2019.

When Grandscape was in its early planning with The Colony in 2013, the developer was given tax incentives, and the city agreed to pay for road and utility upgrades and a parking garage. A spokesman for The Colony said Wednesday that the city hasn't offered additional incentives to Grandscape.

Scheels was founded in 1902 by German immigrant Frederick A. Scheel. He saved $300 from his first potato harvest as a down payment to open a general store in Sabin, Minn. The retailer grew from there and added sporting goods in 1954. It's still privately held and also employee-owned. The company is now led by the founder's great-grandson and great-great grandson.

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