What) Scheels is a huge and successful sports retail chain spread across eight states with 23 stores. We visited their "World's Largest All Sports Store" in Sparks, Nevada. It's the only place we've been where we could buy a gun, ride a Ferris Wheel, sample fudge and then listen to animatronic U.S. Presidents give speeches. The Sparks Scheels, at 295,000 square feet, inhabits its own large, mall-like structure, surrounded by parking to accommodate vehicles of all sizes. If you're pulling a double tandem of dead deer, you'll find a space.

    Like its brethren elsewhere, the Sparks Scheels sells hunting and fishing gear, hiking and camping equipment, sports footwear and pretty much anything for the active outdoor life. Maybe that's what most visitors are here for (marketing… plan…working!). But not us. We spot their two 16,000 gallon aquariums (one freshwater and one saltwater) and the indoor mountain with hundreds of mounted wildlife -- elk, bear, goats. A restored 1921 Ferris Wheel dominates the center of the store. It’s 65-feet-tall, costs a dollar to ride and is the largest in the company's history (some of its other stores have Ferris wheels, naturally).

    Address: 1200 Scheels Drive just north of the I-80 exit at Sparks Blvd.    Mon - Sat  9 am - 9pm,   Sun 10 am - 6 pm. (1)

    Why) Back in 2004, I read an article in Slate magazine (2) about the outfitting chain store Cabela's.  It is the sort of spectacle that really fires the Buckys imagination.  So, I decided to put this Scheel's store on the list because it sounds similar and because in the previous 5 years this was as close as I could get to a Cabela's.