Despite a corporate decision to cut back on new store development, Cabela's said Wednesday that its plans for a new Rapid City outlet are still on track.

"As I understand it, we're going to have a ground-breaking ceremony tomorrow," Cabela's spokesman Joe Arterburn said Wednesday.

He believes the project is on schedule to open the new 80,000-square-foot retail outdoor outfitter store in the second quarter of 2008. Dirt work has been going on for some time at the site just north of Interstate 90 between exits 60 and 61.

When Cabela's made its announcement in June 2007, officials said construction was to begin that summer, and the store would open in the spring of 2008. But a number of delays, including city hall wrangling over the city's incentive package for Cabela's, have come up since then.

Meanwhile, Mayor Alan Hanks said he has been assured by Cabela's that the company is committed to Rapid City and that building the store will not be slowed down. He said critics might jump on the slow-down announcement as evidence the project is in limbo, but that's "absolutely not" true.

"They are going to be open this summer. They are about 30 days behind right now because of weather, but they are still looking at a July opening," Hanks said. "Cabela's is absolutely committed. They are moving forward in Rapid City."

Late Wednesday, Cabela's released details about the ground-breaking ceremony. It will be at 3 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 31 at the site north of Interstate 90. A number of city officials and company representatives will be on hand.

With this week's decision to slow expansion, the Rapid City store will be one of only two new Cabela's to open this year. Plans originally called for seven new stores in 2008.

Arterburn said Wednesday morning that he didn't have any specific information what other stores are planned or which plans have been scrapped.

Cabela's announced in March 2007 that it would build a store in Wheat Ridge, Colo. In October 2007, the company said it would build a store in Billings, Mont. Elsewhere, stores were planned for Greenwood, Ind., East Rutherford, N.J., Scarborough, Maine, and Montreal, Quebec, Canada. But Cabela's said Tuesday it will open only two new stores in 2009.

Citing weak same-store sales, Cabela's officials wrote in a news release Tuesday that it plans to significantly slow retail expansion and focus on improving the profitability of its existing operations.

Same-store sales, a key indicator for retailers, fell 5.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to preliminary estimates. The official fourth-quarter earnings report will be released Feb. 21. Overall, revenues in 2007 are expected to be up 13.9 percent.

"During the fourth quarter, our top line was impacted by an overall challenging consumer environment," Dennis Highby, Cabela's president and chief executive officer, said. "Part of our strategy involves an ongoing review of our previously planned store openings to reconfirm our expectations. Based upon these ongoing reviews and current economic conditions, we will pare our store openings in 2008 to just two of the previously planned retail stores."

Cabela's, based in Sidney, Neb., currently operates 26 retail locations throughout the United States. It also sells hunting, fishing and other outdoor items through a large catalog and online retail business.

Wednesday morning - the day after the news release about the drop in same-store sales - Cabela's stock opened sharply lower on the New York Stock Exchange. Trading opened at $12.50 per share, down nearly 12 percent from Tuesday's closing price of $14.13. By afternoon, however, the stock had recovered much of the lost ground. The stock closed the day at $13.78 per share.

Scott Aust contributed to this story.

Contact Dan Daly at 394-8421 or dan.daly@rapidcityjournal.com