Bass Pro Shops
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| File:Bass Pro Shops.JPG | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1972 |
| Headquarters | Springfield, Missouri |
Key people | John L. Morris, founder and CEO |
| Products | Sporting goods, hunting and fishing |
| 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 fifty-four large retail stores in the United States, one in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada, and one near Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It also owns and operates subsidiaries such as Tracker Marine Group, Big Cedar Lodge, RedHead, XPS, American Rod and Gun, White River Fly Shop and restaurants Islamorada Fish Company, Hemingway's Blue Water Cafe, Uncle Buck's Fishbowl and Grill, 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 Cabela's, Dick's Sporting Goods, Gander Mountain, and Sportsman's Warehouse. While Bass Pro operates some stores with "Sportsman's Warehouse" as part of the name, the company is not affiliated with the retailer simply known as Sportsman's Warehouse.
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 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 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 Stores
A Bass Pro Shops store ranges from 300,000 square feet (28,000 m2) down to 42,000 square feet (3,900 m2). 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. 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, teaching skills as varied as fly fishing, Dutch oven cooking, archery hunting, and GPS navigation.
Bass Pro Shops House Brands
Bass Pro Shops carries a number of house brands. Among these are:
- Bass Pro Shops
- Bob Timberlake
- Johnny Morris Reels
- Natural Reflections
- Offshore Angler
- Redhead
- Uncle Buck's
- Worldwide Sportsman
- XPS
Tracker Marine Group
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. It sells these boats 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.
Locations
- Alabama
- Decatur (planned)
- Leeds (Birmingham)
- Spanish Fort (Mobile)
- Prattville (Montgomery)
- Alberta
- Balzac (Calgary) (opened in Spring 2009)
- Arizona
- Mesa (Phoenix)
- California
- Bakersfield
- Manteca
- Rancho Cucamonga (San Bernardino)
- Colorado
- Denver
- Florida
- Destin
- Dania Beach
- Fort Myers
- Islamorada
- Miami
- Orlando
- Tampa (planned)
- Georgia
- Augusta (Planned)
- Atlanta
- Macon
- Savannah
- Illinois
- Gurnee (Chicago)
- Bolingbrook (Chicago)
- Indiana
- Clarksville (Louisville)
- Portage
- Iowa
- Council Bluffs (Omaha)
- Altoona (Des Moines) (Recently Opened)
- Louisiana
- Bossier City (Shreveport)
- Denham Springs (Baton Rouge)
- Kansas
- Olathe (Kansas City)
- Maryland
- Hanover (Baltimore)
- Massachusetts
- Foxborough (located at Patriot Place, just outside Gillette Stadium)
- Michigan
- Auburn Hills (Detroit)
- Mississippi
- Pearl (Jackson)
- Missouri
- Branson
- Columbia
- Independence (Kansas City)
- St. Charles, Missouri (St. Louis)
- Springfield (headquarters)
- North Carolina
- Concord Mills, Concord (Charlotte)
- Nevada
- Las Vegas
- New York
- Auburn
- Buffalo (Planned)
- Ohio
- Cincinnati
- Rossford (Toledo)
- Oklahoma
- Broken Arrow (Tulsa)
- Oklahoma City
- Ontario
- Vaughan
- Pennsylvania
- Harrisburg
- Quebec
- Montreal (Planned)
- South Carolina
- Myrtle Beach
- Tennessee
- Memphis
- Nashville
- Sevierville (Knoxville)
- Texas
- Garland (Dallas–Fort Worth)
- Grapevine (Dallas–Fort Worth)
- Katy (Houston)
- Pearland (Houston)
- San Antonio
- Virginia
- Hampton (Hampton Roads)
- Richmond
Islamorada Fish Company Restaurant
Many locations include an Islamorada Fish Company, a chain of restaurants owned by Bass Pro Shops.
Uncle Buck's Fishbowl and Grill
The new Altoona, IA Outdoor World features 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 sqft underwater themed facility is connected to the Bass Pro Shops, but features a separate entrance to accommodate late night diners and bowlers.
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 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 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.