Bass Pro Shops
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Bass Pro Shops | |
|---|---|
| Type | Private |
| Founded | 1972 |
| Headquarters | Springfield, Missouri |
| Key people | John L. Morris, founder and CEO |
| Industry | Sporting goods |
| Products | Sporting goods, hunting |
| Revenue | ▲ $1.9 billion USD |
| Website | www.basspro.com |
Bass Pro Shops (Outdoor World) is a privately held sports equipment and outdoor recreation goods store headquartered in Springfield, Missouri. The original Outdoor World store, referred to as the "Grand Daddy" is located at the corner of Sunshine and Campbell in Springfield. Bass Pro Shops rings up an estimated $1.9 billion in sales in about fifty large retail stores in the United States and one in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. It also owns and operates subsidiaries such as Tracker Boats, Big Cedar Lodge, RedHead, XPS, American Rod and Gun, White River Fly Shop and restaurants Islamorada Fish Company, Hemingway's Blue Water Cafe and Riverside Inn. Bass Pro Shops is known for a large selection of hunting, fishing, and other outdoor gear. Its major competitors in the U.S. include many other sporting goods retailers such as Dicks Sporting Goods and Academey Sports. While Bass Pro operates some stores with "Sportsman's Warehouse" as part of the name, it should be noted that the company is not affiliated with the retailer simply known as Sportsman's Warehouse.
Contents |
[edit] History
The owner, John L. Morris, began his career in sporting goods with a fishing section in the back of a Brown Derby liquor store owned by his dad, located in Springfield on the road to Table Rock Lake and Branson, Missouri. That small fishing department sold homemade bait and worms, proving popular enough that Bass Pro Shops incorporated in 1972. These homemade baits were so popular that many people wanted the opportunity to buy these when they had returned home. Thus began the Bass Pro Shops catalog first mailed in 1974. Soon, it became the world's largest mail order sporting goods store. In 1975, to meet the burgeoning demand for Bass Pro Shops exclusive products, American Rod and Gun [[1]] was established. Acting as a separate wholesaling entity ARG serves more than 7000 independently owned retail stores world wide. In 1977, Bass Pro Shops introduced the first fish-ready complete boat motor and trailer package with the Bass Tracker. In 1984, construction began on the Outdoor World Catalog Showroom in Springfield, Missouri. Big Cedar Lodge opened in 1988 on Table Rock Lake. In 1995 Bass Pro Shops Sportsman's Warehouse opened in Atlanta, GA, this is the first store outside the state of Missouri. In November of 2001, the State of Missouri made use of Outdoor World's popularity as a tourist destination, and opened the Wonders of Wildlife museum next door to the store in Springfield. The first store was founded by Zach Hosford.
[edit] The Stores
A Bass Pro Shops store ranges from 300,000 square feet all the way down to 42,000 square feet, many of them have two levels and are around 150,000 square feet. Around the stores, you will see taxidermy mounts native to the area. All of the stores have an indoor water feature that showcase fish species that are indigenous to the area with the larger stores having more than one water feature. In some of these aquariums professional anglers and store pro-staff hold demonstrations showing the use of an artificial bait. Bass Pro Shops is also known for its Outdoor Skills Workshops. These classes are free and open to the public on a first come first served basis. They teach skills as varied as fly-casting, Dutch oven cooking, archery hunting, and GPS navigation. Bass Pro has published one-page ads in outdoor magazines that their stores are “so damn big, you have to hire a guide." What makes the stores really unique is the detail taken when designing the interior and exterior of the store. Bass Pro has a fabrication shop in Nixa, Missouri, that builds the pine and cedar log structures, as well as 55 artisans that are coppersmiths, blacksmiths, carvers, painters and fabricators. They hand make the chandeliers, lights, lanterns, wood carvings and iron work that is displayed throughout the store. They also have artists that paint huge murals on the walls and ceilings that incorporate mounted animals for a 3-D effect. Disney is the only other retailer with a comparable fabrication facility. Bass Pro's fab shop also designs and creates all the shooting acrades in the store.
[edit] Tracker Marine Group
In 1978 Bass Pro Shops introduced the first "fish ready" professionally rigged boat packages and in so doing changed the way the marine industry sold boats. The Bass Tracker came complete with motor, trailer and optional marine gear that is selected to suit each customers needs. The Tracker Marine Group produces more recreational boats than any other company in the world. It's brands include Tracker Boats, Nitro, Sun Tracker, Tahoe, Fisher, ProCraft, Kenner, Mako, Myacht and SeaCraft. It sells these boats in showrooms attached to every Bass Pro Shops store, in stand alone Tracker dealerships and to independent marine dealers through out the United States.
[edit] Locations
- Alabama
- Decatur (planned, near Huntsville)
- Leeds (planned, near Birmingham)
- Spanish Fort (planned, near Mobile)
- Prattville (near Montgomery)
- Arizona
- Mesa (near Phoenix)
- Arkansas
- North Little Rock (Plans approved and awaiting ground breaking ceremony)
- California
- Bakersfield (planned, construction pending)
- Manteca (under construction)
- Rancho Cucamonga (opened on July 18, 2007 Victoria Gardens (shopping center), east of Los Angeles)
- Colorado
- Denver (in Northfield Stapleton)
- Florida
- Destin (east of Pensacola)
- Dania Beach (near Fort Lauderdale)
- Fort Myers
- Islamorada (World Wide Sportsman, Islamorada)
- Miami (Opened October 3rd 2007)
- Orlando (International Drive)
- Georgia
- Lawrenceville (in Discover Mills, near Atlanta)
- Macon
- Savannah (located in Savannah Mall)
- Illinois
- Gurnee (in Gurnee Mills north of Chicago)
- Bolingbrook (in The Promenade Bolingbrook southwest of Chicago)
- Indiana
- Clarksville (across the Ohio River from Louisville)
- Portage (near Gary)
- Iowa
- Council Bluffs (across the Missouri River from Omaha)
- Altoona (under construction, near Des Moines)
- Louisiana
- Bossier City (near Shreveport)
- Denham Springs (near Baton Rouge)
- Kansas
- Olathe (near Kansas City)
- Maryland
- Hanover (in Arundel Mills near Baltimore)
- Massachusetts
- Foxborough (next to Gillette Stadium, between Boston and Providence)
- Michigan
- Auburn Hills (near Detroit)
- Minnesota
- Bloomington (300,000 sq ft store in Mall of America, near Minneapolis) {opening to be announced}
- Mississippi
- Pearl (near Jackson)
- Missouri
- Branson (a major tourist area)
- Columbia
- Independence (opened on February 20, 2008 near Kansas City)
- St. Charles, Missouri (near St. Louis)
- Springfield (headquarters, Catalog Outlet, and main store)
- North Carolina
- Concord (in Concord Mills near Charlotte)
- Nevada
- Las Vegas
- Reno (planned)
- New York
- Auburn (near Syracuse)
- Buffalo (planned, demolition set to begin in 2006/2007, will be located downtown on the Inner Harbor at site of old War Memorial Auditorium "The Aud" and will be Bass Pro's first urban store)
- Ohio
- Fairfield (in Cincinnati Mills near Cincinnati)
- Rossford (near Toledo, located at the intersection of I-75 and I-80/I-90 (The Ohio Turnpike); announced 10-17-06, construction began with ground breaking October 30, 2007 opens 2008)
- Oklahoma
- Broken Arrow (near Tulsa)
- Oklahoma City (in Bricktown entertainment district)
- Ontario
- Vaughan (Vaughan Mills, near Toronto)
- Pennsylvania
- Harrisburg
- Washington (planned, near Pittsburgh)
- South Carolina
- Myrtle Beach (a major tourist area)
- Tennessee
- Memphis
- Nashville (in Opry Mills)
- Sevierville (Kodak community; at Interstate 40 Exit 407 in the Great Smoky Mountains tourist area)
- Texas
- Garland (near Dallas)
- Grapevine (between Dallas and Fort Worth)
- Katy (in Katy Mills near Houston)
- Pearland (near Houston)
- San Antonio (Largest store in Texas. Fourth largest in USA.)
- Virginia
- Hampton (the Peninsula portion of the Hampton Roads area)
- Richmond (planned)
[edit] Islamorada Fish Company Restaurant
Many locations include an Islamorada Fish Company, a chain of restaurants owned by Bass Pro Shops.
[edit] Affiliation with NASCAR
Bass Pro Shops and its owner John L. Morris have had a longtime interest in NASCAR racing. Bass Pro Shops has sponsored such racers as Dale Earnhardt, Kerry Earnhardt, and Martin Truex Jr. Truex Jr won the 2004 and 2005 Busch Series championships in the #8 Bass Pro Shops Chevy, and currently drives the #1 Chevy for Dale Earnhardt Incorporated in the Sprint Cup series. He finished 11 in the Chase for The Nextel Cup in 2007. Truex Jr renewed with Bass Pro Shops as his main sponsor for three years in 2007.
