Bass Pro, Gaylord strengthen bond

Publicly traded Gaylord Entertainment Co. (NYSE: GET), the Nashville-based hospitality and entertainment corporation, has a 26.5 percent ownership stake in Bass Pro Shops.

Gaylord’s minority investment – it is considered a noncore asset – increased during the second quarter this year, when another Bass Pro minority investor, J.W. Childs, cashed out his 28.5 percent stake July 8, according to Gaylord’s second-quarter earnings call, which reported a $23.2 million loss.

Gaylord had previously owned less than 20 percent of Bass Pro, Gaylord spokesperson Greg Rossiter said in an Aug. 3 interview.

“The percentage of our stake in Bass Pro grew because there are now fewer investors in Bass Pro,” Rossiter said.

Company officials are in conversation to further strengthen the decade-old Bass Pro-Gaylord relationship, which currently includes Gaylord president and CEO Colin V. Reed sitting on Bass Pro’s board of directors. Reed, who was recently appointed Gaylord chairman effective May 2005, has said Bass Pro has the potential to deliver Gaylord significant value.

“We like Bass Pro very much,” Rossiter said. “We are discussing with them some issues that are important to us regarding board seats, collaborative marketing agreements, things of that nature.”

Rossiter would not say if part of the conversations involved Bass Pro having ownership in Gaylord. “I can’t go into any more detail than that,” he said.

Bass Pro officials could not be reached for comment.

Gaylord first invested in Bass Pro in December 1993 – “a few administrations ago,” Rossiter said.

Meanwhile, Bass Pro officials continue to expand stores nationally – with continued public incentives. At least seven of Bass Pro’s 12 new store announcements since November 2003 involve a public investment (see “Bass Pro’s gone fishing for public cash” in the July 5 issue).

Bass Pro can add another to the list: Mesa, Ariz. City officials announced the week of Aug. 16 that they offered Bass Pro and other retailers $42 million to anchor a 240-acre site.

And in Buffalo, N.Y., Empire State Development Corp. offered Bass Pro an $80 million incentive package in May to lure the retailer to Buffalo’s vacant War Memorial Auditorium. However, those talks haven’t developed, according to reports in Buffalo.

Bass Pro opened an Outdoor World Sept. 2, in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and broke ground Aug. 18 for a 130,000-square-foot Outdoor World in Pearl, Miss.

Pearl’s store, tentatively scheduled to open in October 2005, will anchor a 780,000-square-foot development called Bloomfield. The project is being developed and marketed by the city of Pearl, Rankin County, the Mississippi Development Authority and developer Bloomfield Equities LLC, according to an Associated Press article.

Like most of its new stores, Brass Pro officials expect Pearl’s store to employ 300 people and draw approximately 2 million visitors annually.

And according to published reports in Las Vegas, Bass Pro Outdoor World is scheduled to open Nov. 11 at the Silverton Hotel Casino. Other openings planned this year are Toronto, Canada, and Harrisburg, Pa., according to a Bass Pro news release. There are 23 stores.

Dash & Dine ends

Downtown Springfield’s free lunchtime shuttle service has delivered its final rider – until further funding comes in. Sept. 1 marked its final day, said Barb Baker, Community Improvement District manager.

The initial funding, provided by Fisk Limousines, 10 restaurants, CID and Downtown Springfield Association, carried the service for three months. It began June 8. More than 700 riders used the service, Baker said.

“The need and the want are there,” Baker said. “We are researching our funding options.”

Baker said office workers in Hammons Tower have shown a strong interest.

Eric Olson is the SBJ News Editor and can be reached at eolson@sbj.net.[[In-content Ad]]