| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1972 |
| Founder(s) | John L. Morris |
| Headquarters | Springfield, Missouri |
| Key people | John L. Morris Founder James (Jim) Hagale President & COO |
| Products | Hunting, fishing, and outdoor merchandise |
| Employees | 16,000 (2008) |
| Website | www.basspro.com |
Bass Pro Shops (Outdoor World) is a privately held retailer of hunting, fishing, camping and related outdoor recreation merchandise. Bass Pro Shops is known for a large selection of hunting, fishing, and other outdoor gear.
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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 father, 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 was established. Acting as a separate wholesaling entity ARG serves more than 7,000 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, Georgia, its first store outside the state of Missouri. In November 2001, taking advantage of Outdoor World's popularity as a tourist destination, the Wonders of Wildlife museum was opened next door to the store in Springfield.[1][2]
Bass Pro Shops carries a number of house brands. Among these are:
For the article on the company, see Tracker Marine Group.
In 1978, Bass Pro Shops introduced the Bass Tracker boat, produced by the Tracker Marine Group. Its brands include Tracker Boats, Nitro, Sun Tracker, Tahoe, Fisher, ProCraft, Kenner, Mako, Myacht and SeaCraft. These boats are sold in showrooms attached to every Bass Pro Shops store, in stand alone Tracker dealerships, and to independent marine dealers throughout the United States. All Tracker Marine Group boats are manufactured in multiple plants in southern Missouri. Over 400,000 people have purchased Tracker boats since 1978.[3]
A Bass Pro Shops store ranges from 42,000 square feet (3,900 m2) up to 300,000 square feet (28,000 m2). The largest flagship stores are known as Outdoor World stores. The decor of the stores includes taxidermy mounts native to the local area. All stores have an indoor water feature that showcase fish species that are indigenous to the area. The fish in their tanks are game fish of great size. In some of these aquariums, professional anglers and store pro-staff hold demonstrations showing the use of an artificial bait. They catch the fish in these tanks to show how well the bait works. Bass Pro Shops is also known for its Outdoor Skills Workshops, teaching skills as varied as fly fishing, Dutch oven cooking, archery hunting with an archery range in the store, and GPS navigation. They hold many skills workshops with the top names in the outdoor world.[4]
| State/Province | City | Size | Year Opened |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Leeds | ||
| Alabama | Prattville | ||
| Alabama | Spanish Fort | 140,000 sq ft[5] | |
| Alberta | Rocky View | 150,000 sq ft[6] | |
| Arizona | Mesa | 170,000 sq ft[7] | |
| California | Manteca | ||
| California | Rancho Cucamonga | ||
| Colorado | Denver | 186,000 sq ft[8] | |
| Florida | Dania Beach | ||
| Florida | Ft. Myers | ||
| Florida | Orlando | 150,000 sq ft[9] | |
| Georgia | Lawrenceville | ||
| Georgia | Savannah | ||
| Illinois | Bolingbrook | ||
| Illinois | East Peoria | ||
| Illinois | Gurnee | ||
| Kansas | Olathe | 110,000 sq ft[10] | |
| Maryland | Hanover | 130,000 sq ft[11] | |
| Massachusetts | Foxborough | 140,000 sq ft[12] | |
| Michigan | Auburn Hills | 130,000 sq ft[13] | |
| Mississippi | Pearl | 130,000 sq ft[14] | 2005[15] |
| Missouri | Independence | 180,000 sq ft[16] | |
| Missouri | Springfield | 300,000 sq ft[17] | 1981[18] |
| Nevada | Las Vegas | 165,000 sq ft[19] | 2004[20] |
| Ontario | Vaughan | 131,184 sq ft[21] | 2005[22] |
| Pennsylvania | Harrisburg | 225,000 sq ft[23] | |
| South Carolina | Myrtle Beach | 102,000 sq ft[24] |
Bass Pro Shops have several other stores that do not fall under the Outdoor World flagship brand.
| State | City | Store Name | Size | Year Opened |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | Destin | World Wide Sportsman | 50,000 sq ft[25] | |
| Florida | Islamorada | World Wide Sportsman | ||
| Florida | Miami | World Wide Sportsman | 100,000 sq ft[26] | 2006[27] |
| Georgia | Macon | Sportsman's Warehouse | 120,000 sq ft | |
| Missouri | Branson | White River Outpost | 80,000 sq ft[28] | |
| Missouri | Columbia | Sportsman's Center | 82,000 sq ft[29] | 2005[30] |
| Missouri | Saint Charles | Sportsman's Warehouse | 88,500 sq ft[31] | 2001 |
| New York | Auburn | Sportsman's Center | 85,000 sq ft[32] | |
| Tennessee | Memphis | Sportsman's Warehouse | 84,000 sq ft[33] |
Many locations include an Islamorada Fish Company, a chain of restaurants owned by Bass Pro Shops.
The new Altoona, IA and East Peoria, IL Outdoor World locations feature a first for Bass Pro Shops: a 12-lane bowling alley. The project is in cooperation with Brunswick Bowling & Billiards. In addition to bowling, the facility offers a full service restaurant and bar as well as world-class billiards in the Black Widow billiard room. The 15,000 sq ft (1,400 m2) underwater themed facility is connected to the Bass Pro Shops, but features a separate entrance to accommodate late night diners and bowlers.
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 drove the #1 Chevy for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing in the Sprint Cup series from 2005-2009. He got his first win at Dover International Speedway and finished 11 in the Chase for the Sprint Cup in 2007. While Truex Jr renewed with Bass Pro Shops as his main sponsor for three years in 2007. In 2009, Truex Jr announced he would be leaving Earnhardt Ganassi Racing for Michael Waltrip Racing in 2010. Jamie McMurray, former driver of the Roush Fenway Racing Crown Royal Ford Fusion will replace Truex for the 2010 season.
McMurray won the 2010 Daytona 500 in his first race driving in the Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet. McMurray followed that up by winning the 2010 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis, making him the 3rd driver to win both races in the same season. McMurray also won the 2010 Bank of America 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
On September 21, 2011, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed suit against Bass Pro. According to the EEOC’s suit filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division (Civil Action No. 4:11-CV-3425), Bass Pro has been discriminating in its hiring since at least November 2005. The EEOC’s suit alleges that qualified African Americans and Hispanics were routinely denied retail positions such as cashier, sales associate, team leader, supervisor, manager and other positions at many Bass Pro stores nationwide.
The lawsuit alleges that managers at Bass Pro stores in the Houston area, in Louisiana, and elsewhere made overtly racially derogatory remarks acknowledging the discriminatory practices, including that hiring black candidates did not fit the corporate profile or customer demographics.[35]
The EEOC also alleges that managers at some stores retaliated against employees who expressed opposition to discriminatory practices and may have either fired or forced the resignation of others.[36]
Bass Pro Shops issued a statement denying the allegations and maintaining that the company had cooperated fully with an EEOC investigation.[36]