A growing firearms industry in the Flathead Valley is the “frosting on the cake” for Cabela’s as it makes plan to build a Kalispell store that’s expected to have annual sales in excess of $20 million, the company’s top executive told firearms enthusiasts on Thursday.

Cabela’s Chief Executive Officer Tommy Millner — who spent a decade as CEO of leading firearms manufacturer Remington Arms Co. — was the keynote dinner speaker at the Montana Firearms Institute’s second annual conference in Whitefish. Earlier on Thursday, National Rifle Association President David Keen addressed the group.

The institute was formed by Flathead business and civic leaders Chris Hyatt, Ryan Zinke and Duncan Scott to promote the state’s firearms manufacturing industry and champion the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Prior to Millner’s speech, Cabela’s announced plans for a 42,000-square-foot retail store near the corner of U.S. 93 and West Reserve Drive. The store will open next fall and is one of five smaller Cabela’s Outpost stores designed to serve population centers of less than 250,000 people.

Millner shared details of the company’s strategy in selecting Kalispell as one of its “hot zones.”

Cabella’s executives gathered for a strategic planning retreat two years to address market growth.

“Markets like Kalispell, we suspected were grossly underserved,” Millner said.

Cabela’s also has tracked a noticeable increase in the number of women and young people getting into shooting sports.

“We asked the question, ‘How do we reinforce the vibrancy our industry is feeling right now?’” Millner said.

“So we built a prototype, went to the board and said ‘We’d like $60 million to build five Cabela’s outposts. The board said ‘great,’ so the next step was, ‘Where do we go?’”

Cabela’s has been a direct marketer of sporting and outdoors gear for 51 years, with roots in the catalog business. The company noticed the Kalispell area was a “hot zone” for catalog sales.

“If you’re one of our customers and you use a credit card, we know a lot about you,” he said. “Talk about a sweet spot for our company. It doesn’t get any sweeter.”

Millner said he immediately noticed the local vibrancy of the Flathead was spot-on for a Cabela’s. Sealing a deal on the real estate took some time.

To emphasize the importance of the decision to build a Cabela’s in Kalispell, Millner said it’s the first time the CEO has been in a new store location the same day the announcement was made to the public.

The Kalispell store will be the third of the five Cabela’s Outpost stores to open. The first one opens next week in Union Gap, Wash., with a second Outpost planned in Saginaw, Mich.

Customers of the Outpost stores will be treated to a “core-flex” store center that will rotate products four times a year to target “micro-seasons.” In the larger Cabela’s stores, the merchandise is rotated only twice a year.

“The store will be visually really attractive,” he said. “There’s got to be a reason to come back.”

The Kalispell store will have a full-time event coordinator to arrange in-store activities for scouting and 4-H groups. Cabella’s philosophy is to “look big and act really small,” he said.

Millner said the local work force, which already is well-versed in outdoor activities and lifestyles, will be tapped for the store’s 75 or so employees. They will be knowledgeable about store merchandise, “not phonies,” he added.

He’s excited about the potential for sales to Canadians.

“The wild card I heard today is the amount of Canadian business that’s here,” he said.

Millner expressed his appreciation for the Montana Firearms Institute’s aim to not only promote the firearms industry but also advocate for the Second Amendment that assures Americans the right to bear arms.

Cabela’s promotes its own preservation of the Second Amendment by asking customers to round up their purchases to the nearest dollar. That has raised $1.2 million, and 10 percent   goes back to Cabela’s stores for grass-roots efforts for the cause.