Auchtoon!Pledging the Cabela’s Fraternity…
Originally published in the Grand Rapids Business Journal, December 11, 2006
As a 16 year-old I went to see “Animal House” with my friends at a drive-in theater. I was underage for an R-rated movie but my parents had given their reluctant consent. (A belated thanks, Mom & Dad! Yeah, there were some things there that I probably should not have seen; but then again, nothing any worse than what I saw on Saginaw Street on the morning school bus ride through Flint.)
But seeing “Animal House” was educational in that it sold me on the idea of never joining a fraternity. Mostly it was the pledging concept. Why would I take abuse from guys I don’t even know so that I could earn the right to hang out with them? Then what happens if it turns out they are all jerks? It just seemed like a counter-intuitive way to make friends.
Much in the same way, Cabela’s (a retailer of hunting, fishing, camping, outdoorsy stuff) has proposed building a local store in a counter-intuitive way: Give us $15 million or we’ll look elsewhere. Now, to be fair, a Cabela’s is more than just a store. It’s something of a theme park for outdoor sports enthusiasts. They currently have a store in southeast Michigan that attracts millions of visitors a year. But as more of these Cabela’s get built, they are sure to become less and less special. Hunting and fishing are extremely popular in Michigan, but with increased urbanization they are definitely not growth industries. And what about the current outdoor sports stores that would likely be driven out of business?
So as a Michigan taxpayer, I’m thinkin’, “Why do I need to take this abuse to make a retailing friend?” And for $15 million, at the very least I’d expect a decent toga party….
Dominic said,
January 14, 2007 @ 8:28 pm
John:
I remember attending the Animal House movie with you (Genesee Mall Theater on Miller Road, same place we saw Young Frankenstein). I hate to admit it, but I was younger than you were when we went and I did not have my parents permission. The movie was funny and it did influence my opinion of frats (which was confirmed by my first frat party – TKE’s freshman year). However, Cabela’s is a opportunity for jobs in an area struggling to make something positive happen. While M$15 is pricey, this could help create job momentum which is what we need right now.
Regards,
Dominic
John said,
January 15, 2007 @ 9:09 am
Yeah, guilt is one thing, but I remember God clearly smoting underage me when Lewis and I got in a car wreck on our way to see “Monty Python’s Life of Brian.” (Might have had something to do with a rain-slicked Pierson Road and the bald tires on Lewis’s Impala, I dunno.) In truth, I don’t think the Cabela’s is a terribly bad idea. And you’re right, $15 million isn’t a whole lot of state money to invest in potential jobs. It should be considered. But if the big motivation is just to make something positive happen, well, I have a little story called “Six Flags Autoworld” I’d like to tell folks….