Record year ahead for Bass Pro

Bass Pro Shops has big plans for 2003.

The Springfield-based outdoor retailer is making a splash in nine cities throughout the country with plans to build new stores, using its tourist- and outdoor enthusiast-driven sales tax revenues as bait.

Seven cities are biting while two other unnamed cities are nibbling, marking a record year for Bass Pro Shops store development.

On the drawing board this year are stores in Auburn, N.Y., Destin, Fla., Myrtle Beach, S.C., Hampton, Va., Bossier City, La., Oklahoma City, Okla., and Columbia.

By the end of the year, Bass Pro could have 25 stores on line. There are 16 stores open in 11 states.

"This is about double what we would normally do," said Bass Pro spokesman Larry Whiteley. "The opportunities became available for these and we just took advantage of them."

Whiteley could only confirm the locations of seven new stores because agreements have not been reached with two cities, he said.

The previous high was the four stores opened in 1999. Since then, Bass Pro opened three stores in 2000, three stores in 2001 and one last year.

Whiteley said there is no rhyme or reason to why such a large number of store openings is planned for 2003.

"It just depends on the opportunity that becomes available," he said. "It will vary from year to year."

Although Whiteley would not name the other two cities, published reports out of Wichita, Kan., and Little Rock, Ark., say officials there are in negotiations with Bass Pro representatives.

According to the Wichita Business Journal, an announcement could be made this month if and where a Bass Pro store locates in Wichita.

Discussions for a Little Rock store appear to be less developed. Little Rock Mayor Jim Dailey and developer Tommy Hodges confirmed talks with Bass Pro representatives regarding a World of Sports store there, but the Arkansas Times reports the hang-up has been in the financing of the project. One possibility is a tax increment financing district, but it is apparently meeting some opposition, the report stated.

The Bass Pro Web site also lists Las Vegas as a future site. Officials in the city of Las Vegas public information office could not confirm the city was a potential site.

Financial lures

The "opportunities" Whiteley refers to are perhaps financial incentives made available to Bass Pro. Cities are making attractive financial offers just to get Bass Pro interested. For instance, the cities of Hampton, Va., and Oklahoma City, Okla., are building stores for Bass Pro.

In September 2002 the city of Hampton approved a $22.9 million deal for an 110,000-square-foot Outdoor World. The city is paying $7.3 million, while Bass Pro pays $1.5 million. A Hampton developer is covering the remaining $14.1 million

Oklahoma City's City Council voted in May 2002 to build a $17.2 million, 110,000-square-foot Bass Pro Shops Sportsman's Center in its downtown Bricktown commercial development.

According to Brenda Workman, central city development director for the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, the city is issuing up to $18 million in revenue bonds to build the store and make parking improvements. The city owns the land and will lease the retail space to Bass Pro for $446,000 in net annual rent, according to the 15-year contract.

The deal, unprecedented in the city, is worth it, she said, because of the economic impact the stores provide. Good things have happened since the Bass Pro announcement: two hotel chains have committed to building in the Bricktown development, which includes a Courtyard by Marriott from Springfield hotelier John Q. Hammons.

"Development begets development," Workman said. "It is a strong piece for attracting investment in the future."

The payout to the city over the life of the agreement is a minimum of $17.4 million in direct revenues from Bass Pro based on lease payments and a 2 percent sales tax, according to a report by Peckham Albers & Viets Inc., a consulting firm hired by the city. The report projected that the Bass Pro store could generate $38.5 million in annual sales and that's a conservative figure. Of that amount, $22.8 million would be new sales to Oklahoma City and $15.7 million, or 41 percent, would come from market share captured from existing businesses in the metro area, the report stated.

Jeff Tebow, co-owner of Outdoor Outfitters in Oklahoma City, a company that will be in direct competition with Bass Pro, said the incentives for Bass Pro Shops to locate there are unfair to existing businesses in the same market.

Public vs. private monies

The city incentive issue in Oklahoma City gained enough steam to result in a lawsuit, filed by Citizens Against Taxpayer Abuse, a group opposed to cities funding private development, Workman said.

She said the lawsuit and a petition to change the city charter faltered due to technicalities. The group wants a measure put to Oklahoma City voters that would require a public vote before city funding could be used to assist a retail business.

"It did not meet the criteria," she said of the petition, which would not have affected the Bass Pro store because it was not be retroactive. She said the city expects to deal with the issue again, though.

"We're trying to attract the private sector," she said. "This is the first deal that we have done to attract a large retailer."

Whiteley said he was unaware of the opposition against the Oklahoma City store. "I have no idea," he said. "That wasn't communicated to this (public relations) department."

Whiteley said financial incentives to Bass Pro are common because of the activity it creates in a city.

"When we sign, (the development) automatically gets more tenants wanting to come along," he said. "It enables the project to grow because they got us to come. (Bass Pro is) the anchor."

Whiteley said the increased volume of stores is not expected to deflate sales or visitor counts at the headquarters store.

"People keep coming to Springfield, Missouri," he said. "It is the biggest one ever."

Bass Pro attracts about 4 million visitors a year, half coming from Missouri, according to Whiteley. Whiteley would not release any sales figures for Bass Pro Shops.

He said the new stores introduce more people to Bass Pro. "In turn, when they find out about the Mecca, they want to come see it."