Since moving to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to attend Coe College in August of 2015, I have only ever used one description to describe where I'm from: "Do you know Cabela's? Yeah, the world headquarters." Nobody ever knows Sidney, Nebraska, but a large majority know Cabela's. At least they did.
For those who haven't seen the news, the headlines are everywhere. USAToday used the headline, "Bass Pro Shops reels in Cabela's for $4.5 B." Other clever, clickworthy titles exist. But one thing doesn't--the description of where I'm from. Or, now, where I was from.
Business people may see the acquisition as just that: business. However, what a young adult who grew up in that town sees does not look the same. It doesn't even look similar.
As I said, Cabela's was the landmark used to describe the town I came from. I could say, "about 15 minutes from Colorado and an hour to Wyoming." I could say, "less than 3 hours from Denver." I could say, "You know Lincoln, right? The other end of the state." However, I didn't say that. If I did, it was only to describe the location to the small handful of people who didn't know of Cabela's. Now, however, that is what I will have to do.
From this point forward, I will use those location descriptors. I will tell people that I come from a small town of about 7,000 people. When people ask, I will laugh and say, "Well it has a Walmart now; that's relatively new." I might even mention some small-town traditions such as hanging up scarecrows along Main Street to represent different organizations and businesses in the fall. Or perhaps I'll mention the new housing development out by the new hospital.
One thing is for sure. I can no longer interchangeably use "Cabela's World Headquarters" with "Sidney, Nebraska." Because of that, I'm not sure how much longer I will be able to use the descriptors in the paragraph above.
For those who aren't from there, Cabela's held the town together. Most families had at least one person working in corporate, retail, or distribution--sometimes more than one, and sometimes all three. The families that didn't knew the families who did, and they usually shopped there for birthdays or Christmas or just because.
Now is the time to be honest: I am not a Cabela's girl. I do not hunt or fish or kayak or camp. Nobody in my family worked for the company. However, many of my friends did all of the above. The majority of my town's economy (employment and housing markets included) was supported by Cabela's. And now it's not.
Now that relatively new Walmart has a chance to disappear. Now the new housing development might sit empty and remind the people who choose to stay that there was a time when business was booming and life was happening. Now the new waits. Change waits. Nobody knows what will happen to the little town I came from, but I know one thing.
The news articles full of business talk don't show the whole story. Only the people who come from the world of Cabela's can tell it, and I only know that from association.
