Bass Pro Shops store to anchor $500M Massachusetts development

The Springfield-based sporting goods retailer is preparing to open its first Outdoor World store in New England, and the first to play off the popularity of a professional football team.

The 150,000-square-foot hunting, fishing and camping emporium will be an anchor tenant for Patriot Place, a 1.3-million-square-foot outdoor shopping destination taking shape on 700 acres surrounding Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots. The Kraft Group, a privately held, family business that owns the Patriots, is bankrolling the $500 million project.

On Aug. 2, the Krafts and Bass Pro officials gave the public a sneak peek into the store, which will feature a large waterfall, a logging-themed laser arcade and hand-painted murals. And as a special tribute to the Patriots, the team logo will be carved in a handrail adjacent to an NFL-themed shop inside the store, according to a team news release.

In their quest for the ideal anchor tenant, the Krafts learned of Bass Pro and later contacted the retailer about building a new store in Patriot Place.

“During our development planning, we scouted numerous stores for Patriot Place and were blown away by the size and scope of the Bass Pro Shops that we visited,” Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft said in the release. “They are more than just stores; they are destinations for many shoppers. New England has never had a store quite like Bass Pro Shops, and we are proud to bring it to Foxborough.”

Members of the Kraft family could not be reached by press time.

Bass Pro, along with big-box retailers Circuit City and Bed, Bath & Beyond, are part of the first phase of Patriot Place, which should open in November. A Renaissance Hotel, Victoria’s Secret and a movie theater are among the tenants for the second phase, which is slated for completion in fall 2008.

Sports pairings

The Foxborough Outdoor World is the first Bass Pro store adjoining a major professional sporting venue, although company spokesman Larry Whiteley said the retailer has built stores in the vicinity of minor-league baseball parks and racetracks in the past. Whiteley said there’s no hard-line strategy to join forces with professional sports teams.

“It just depends on the opportunity,” he said. “There’s lots of people contacting us about locations.”

The pairing of Bass Pro and the New England Patriots seems like a “perfect match,” said Diana Haytko, an associate marketing professor at Missouri State University who studies retail trends. The Krafts have boosted the value of underutilized parking space with Patriot Place, and Bass Pro customers are a good fit for a football-themed shopping destination, Haytko said.

“The choice of Bass Pro is … ingenious in that it has everything for outdoor activities, and the demographic profile of the Bass Pro shopper matches very well with the profile of the NFL fan, specifically those who can afford to attend NFL games,” she said. “These are outdoors people.”

Coast to coast

On average, Bass Pro stores draw about 3 million visitors annually, Whiteley said. The company has 43 stores throughout the country and Canada. The first Bass Pro store in California – located in Rancho Cucamonga, west of San Bernardino – opened in mid-July.

In the Midwest, Bass Pro officials continue to explore possibilities to lease The Pyramid in Memphis, Tenn.

The Memphis Commercial Appeal reported Aug. 8 that Bass Pro has entered into another nonbinding letter of intent with the city of Memphis and Shelby County to lease The Pyramid for a new store. The first letter of intent was struck in early 2006, and it stated Bass Pro would cover redevelopment costs up to $100 million and the Pyramid’s more than $20 million in debt service.

The new letter of intent indicates that Bass Pro would allocate $45 million for the $75 million to redevelop the former home of the Memphis Grizzlies professional basketball team, according to the news report.

Through January, Bass Pro will study the viability of opening a store in the 32-story, 360,000-square-foot Pyramid. The newspaper reported that Bass Pro has a deadline of Jan. 31 to finalize its development, design and architectural plans.

Attempts to reach Memphis Chief Financial Officer Robert Lipscomb for comment were unsuccessful. [[In-content Ad]]