Everything about the new Scheels superstore in Meridian, Idaho, is over the top. The store is the first Scheels to open in Idaho. Thousands of shoppers lined up on the store's opening day to brave the cold spring morning and be among the first inside the sporting goods superstore.
Scheels' design team, led by RLE Group, partnered with local firms to meet the retailer's design standards The two-level Meridian store tips the scale at a massive 220,000 square feet. The steel frame building is clad in beige brick and topped with a sloped, glass skylight.
Since its beginning in Minnesota as a general store in 1902, Scheels has grown from selling mainly produce and farm equipment to the sporting goods, lifestyle and home goods retailer that it is today. Initially a family-owned business, Scheels became an employee stock ownership plan, or ESPO, company in the 1990s.
For its role as a transformative retail development helping to redefine the retail-entertainment concept in Idaho, the new Scheels superstore in Meridian earned a 2025 CoStar Impact Award, as judged by real estate professionals familiar with the market.
About the project: This was one of the largest released retail developments in the country and features such specialized interior features as an aquarium, café and a 65-foot Ferris wheel in the store.
What the judges said: "The ability to create a location and bring a high valued retailer like Scheels to the Boise market is no small feat. If you have not been to the location and store, you should visit, and it will be easy to see why it is the Commercial Development of the Year," said Tim Reid, First Vice President with CBRE.
"This deal brought a significant tenant to our market, which will have influential waves for years to come. There is a lot of spec industrial around, not many Scheels," said Drey Campbell, Principal with Lee & Associates.
They made it happen: Tyler Halm, store leader at Scheels; Rich Wiemken, chief executive officer for RLE Group and Tobin Basta, owner of Plenium Builders worked together to bring the massive new Scheels superstore to fruition. The large retail complex is owned by Brighton, a real estate development and construction firm headquartered in Meridian, Idaho, with more than 50 years of experience developing and constructing a residential, commercial and mixed-use developments.