Bass Pro Shops is jumping into new markets

The company brand and logo are everywhere, from hats to TV shows to movies to NASCAR races.

But the company thinks there are bigger fish to fry.

The fishing and hunting supply super store is opening a total of five new stores this month – a record for the company – bringing the total to 33. The store openings on the schedule: Council Bluffs, Iowa; Denver; Clarksville, Ind.; Sevierville, Tenn.; and Pearl, Miss.

The company’s Web site also lists announcements for new stores in 16 other locations, including the Branson Landing development.

Another is in Buffalo, N.Y., where plans were announced late in 2004 to bring in the fishing super store as part of a redevelopment project for Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, called “the Aud.”

Catching the fish

With its net cast in so many cities, Bass Pro corporate spokesman Larry Whiteley said choosing the right location for growth is important.

“(We look at) the number of hunting and fishing licenses sold in that area, and the number of catalog customers in that area, because we know we have a built-in customer base there,” he said. “The number of outdoor opportunities in that area – chances to hunt, fish, hike, watch birds – and of course, location, location, location.”

A unique location under discussion is the vacant Pyramid in Memphis, Tenn. The company is reportedly looking at moving into the 360,000-square-foot downtown Pyramid.

Memphis Chief Financial Officer Robert Lipscomb said by e-mail that he was “not comfortable, at this point, with getting into details” on the project, referring further questions to Bass Pro.

Whiteley said the company is “aware of the opportunities,” but no formal discussions have taken place.

Jeff Sanford, president of the Memphis Center City Commission and a member of the committee looking into how to reutilize the city- and county-owned Pyramid, said that consultants have determined that the best use of the facility would be “destination retail,” a label that only about 15 companies, including Bass Pro, fit.

“Ideally, a satisfactory reuse of the Pyramid would be one that attracted millions of visitors a year and by some means paid the existing debt service on the building,” in excess of $22 million, Sanford said.

Spawning other business

One of the draws of new Bass Pro locations is the potential for shadow growth – the influx of other stores, restaurants, etc.

Oklahoma City, which opened its new store in October 2003, projected more than $110 million in direct and indirect revenue for the city and state between the beginning of construction and 2017. Only a small portion of that money, $17.4 million, came from direct revenue from Bass Pro itself; the rest came from increased tourism and sales from the other businesses that located near the new store.

Whiteley said that indirect growth is part of the reason that so many cities are willing to offer tax increment financing deals to get a new Bass Pro store, despite some people’s worries that the deals could draw tax money away from other areas. (See “The Skinny on TIF” at left.)

“It’s a proven fact that when we come into an area and open our stores, it adds more jobs, more tax base, adds other new businesses and helps the infrastructure,” Whiteley said. “Not only does other city business increase, but new businesses come in and surround us because they know we draw in crowds from all over.”

Earlier this month, The Falls at Crackerneck Creek, a $170-million development in Independence, received approval for about $40 million in state tax increment financing over the next 21 years.

Independence City Manager Robert Heacock said the goal is to have a Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World open there in time for the 2006 holiday season. He said the project relies on a variety of state and local funding sources amounting to about $70 million in tax monies.

While Heacock said he didn’t have sales estimates for Bass Pro available, estimates for the total development – the 160,000-square-foot Bass Pro anchor plus 500,000 square feet in retail space and a hotel – exceed $300 million annually by 2015.

“I think it will serve to anchor an existing retail power center in the region,” he said. “It will serve as a major tourism destination site and bolster the employment base here significantly.”

Bass Pro stores generally gross $30 million to $50 million a year in sales, according to the developers of the recently opened store in Broken Arrow, Okla.

Oklahoma City has seen the results, according to City Manager James Couch.

“I think that the spinoff is way off the charts,” he said. “Everything around it is filling in tremendously fast, and it would not be there without the Bass Pro there.”

However, direct store sales to start the year were soft. The Associated Press reported in May that Bass Pro’s Oklahoma City sales totaled $9.56 million in the first quarter, down 7.3 percent compared to the same period in 2004.

But even with so many stores so close together – there are now six stores open or under construction within 220 miles of the Springfield location, called the Mecca of the chain – Whiteley said the company does not worry about brand over-saturation. Company estimates put 2004 Springfield visitor totals at about 4 million annually.

“It’s an amazing phenomenon to me,” Whiteley said. “It blows my mind how, for example, the St. Charles store is doing great. The Springfield store last year had one of its best years ever, and this year is on pace to do the same. The question I always ask when people ask me that is, ‘If we were worried, why would we keep doing it?’”[[In-content Ad]]