COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (BRAIN) — The City Council here has approved a $16.2 million tax incentive for Scheels, which hopes to open its second Colorado location on the north side of the city in early 2021. Scheels, based in Fargo, North Dakota, has 27 locations and is one of the country's largest retailers of dealer-quality bikes and accessories. It was Trek Bicycle's No. 1 dealer last year.
Scheels locations are typically enormous destination stores, with indoor Ferris wheels and other attractions covering close to a quarter-million square feet. The proposed Colorado Springs location would be 220,000 square feet.
The council agreed to reduce the city’s sales tax rate from 2 percent to 1 percent for the store. Scheels would then add its own 1 percent sales tax and keep the estimated $16.2 million it would generate over 25 years.
The company said it will spend $84 million building the store. It will employ 145 people during construction and 400 people once opened.
The store’s economic impact could total $1.5 billion over 25 years, and the city could bring in $30.9 million to $53.4 million in sales tax revenue in that span.
Scheel's other Colorado location is in Johnstown, a community of just 13,000 residents a bit over 100 miles north of Colorado Springs along the I-25 corridor. Johnstown made similar tax incentives as Colorado Springs and town officials expected the store to double community tax receipts in its first year while employing up to 400 people.
In 2016, the town of Dillon, Colorado, in Summit County, offered a $600,000 tax incentive to encourage REI to open a location there.
Related: The Scheels Factor.
