Retail  March 25, 2020

Loveland council approves incentive deal for outdoor retailer Jax

LOVELAND — The Loveland City Council approved an incentive package Tuesday night for Jax Inc. that will permit the outdoor recreation and farm/ranch retailer to move to the west side of Loveland and expand operations, if it can negotiate a deal to buy the Kmart site at 2665 W. Eisenhower Blvd.

The council voted 6-3 in a meeting in which most council members joined remotely because of concerns over spread of the COVID-19 virus.

The deal will provide Jax a sales tax rebate of up to $1.5 million paid over 10 years out of incremental increases in sales tax collections. The city will not advance any money into the deal; Jax receives the rebate only if its sales perform at a level greater than $5 million per year.

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Jim Quinlan, president of Jax, told the council that the existing store has not performed well since the opening two years ago of “a very large business out east,” which was a veiled reference to the opening of competitor Scheels All Sports in Johnstown just east of the Loveland city limits.

“We are taking a big risk in doing this, even with the incentive,” Quinlan said. 

The Jax plan would include renovating the existing Kmart building, creating retail pad sites that would be marketed to other companies, and attempting to capitalize on the millions of visitors who pass by the site on their way up the Big Thompson Canyon and Rocky Mountain National Park. Prior to the recent economic downturn caused by the coronavirus spread, Jax anticipated that it would grow its sales by 50 percent initially and over time 70 percent from what it currently is at the store’s original location at 910-960 E. Eisenhower in Loveland.

Council members opposed to the deal, Mayor Jacki Marsh, Andrea Samson and Rob Molloy, said they liked the idea of Jax moving to the Kmart site, but were responding to constituents who have told them they oppose incentives. Marsh said she believes the deal can be done without the incentive of a sales tax rebate.

Those in favor, Don Overcash, Richard Ball, Steve Olson, Dave Clark, Kathi Wright and John Fogle, said the city was not at risk in doing the deal because the rebate is paid from increases in sales tax revenue, not existing revenues. They also hoped that the Jax relocation would spur other development on the west side, which has been a target area for business growth in the city for the past decade.

© 2020 BizWest Media LLC

LOVELAND — The Loveland City Council approved an incentive package Tuesday night for Jax Inc. that will permit the outdoor recreation and farm/ranch retailer to move to the west side of Loveland and expand operations, if it can negotiate a deal to buy the Kmart site at 2665 W. Eisenhower Blvd.

The council voted 6-3 in a meeting in which most council members joined remotely because of concerns over spread of the COVID-19 virus.

The deal will provide Jax a sales tax rebate of up to $1.5 million paid over 10 years out of incremental increases…

Lucas High
A Maryland native, Lucas has worked at news agencies from Wyoming to South Carolina before putting roots down in Colorado.
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