The Cabela's Bubble

Michigan has a very sensible policy of not using pubic incentives to lure retailers. They contribute to urban sprawl, don't generate very good jobs and inevitably take business away from existing stores.

But here comes Cabela's and suddenly everything is different. Cabela's runs stores that ostensibly sell sporting goods but are better known for their stuffed animals and indoor waterfalls. As a business, Cabela's is nothing but a subsidy mill. The company only makes money because of the giveaways that local governments are willing to lavish on it.

So to work around Michigan's policy, Walker developers are arguing that the proposed site is a Brownfield eligible for redevelopment subsidies. The site is an orchard, and first has to be annexed to the city of Walker to qualify. If they are allowed to get away with this fake transaction, there is no end to the abuse that developers are going to be able to foist on this state.

But the final stupidity is that it appears that the Cabela's bubble is fully inflated and the desirability of their stores may be about to fall hard. The Cabela's game is based on scarcity and the more stores they plop down the less they are worth.

If a developer wants to make a stupid decision, so be it. It's not up to the state and local governments to use our money to help them.