MERIDIAN, Idaho — Customers camped out for hours and braved the cold for the long-awaited opening of SCHEELS in Meridian.
The supersized sporting goods store opened its doors to customers Saturday, with hundreds queueing up to check out the largest retail store in Idaho.
"It really is just a testament to the excitement the community has shown us," assistant store leader Josh Reinhart said.
Reinhart says that while the store may look like any other retailer from the outside, walking into the 250,000 square-foot store shows that SCHEELS is much more than just store shelves.
"If you ask anybody, we're most known for the ferris wheel," Reinhart said. "So I think most people would be excited to see and ride that."
A spin on the SCHEELS wheel is $1.
The store also has a 16,000-gallon saltwater aquarium home to 600 fish, a wildlife mountain, arcade, a cotton candy shop and a café.
The massive store is also making a massive economic impact on the area, by adding more than 500 new jobs to the employee-owned company.
"It really means that we have a lot more buy-in. The analogy I use is it's like our new house," Reinhart said. "You wouldn't leave your house a mess, you take care of your house the right way - you're an employee-owner, you're gonna take care of your house the right way."
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