Company Case 11 Bass Pro Shops: Creating Nature's Theme Park for People Who Hate to Shop Outdoor-products mcgaretailcr Bass Pro Shops has seem- ingly been breaking the rules of retailing for nearly 50 years and basking in the spoils as a result. With more than 95 retail stores throughout the United States and Canada. the privately held Springeld, Missouribased company reeled in $4.6 biltion in revenues during the most recent year nearly $50 million per storemaking it the number one out door retailer. Going against common retail Wisdom, Bass Pro Shops stores are enormous and packed to the gills with overhead. Even more dating. the chain has achieved retail success by targeting customers who hate to shop! The typi- cal Bass Pro Shops customer is a reclusive male outdoors man who yearns for the great outdoors but detests jostling crowds and shopping. OVer the past feralr decades, Bass Pro Shops has evolved from a popular mail-order catalog business into one of the nation's hottest store retailers. Despite Bass Pro Shops often- remote locations, customers flock to its superstores to buy hunting, shing, and outdoor gear. More than 120 million people visit a Bass Pro Shops store ever}r yearalmost double the number that attended a game put on by the NFL, NBA, and MLB combined. In a true display of \"destination retail," customers drive an average of more than 50 miles to get to a Bass Pro Shops store (some drive hundreds of miles} and stay an average of two hours. Schools, churches. and senior centers even send in people by the busload. Filling in Gap in the Market So how do you explain Bass Pro Shops's climb to the top? Bass Pro Shops's ability to attract these hordes of otherwise reluctant shoppers to its stores is part of a doublehook strategy that dates back to the company's beginning. First, each store guarantees a product assortment that is as wide as the Missis- sippi River and as deep as the Mariana Trench. In l9'r'l. J ohnny Morrisa tournament sherman and avid outdoorsmanwas frustrated by the lack of decent shing tackle in sporting goods stores. With the ink on his college diploma barely dry. he rented a UHaul trailer and headed out on a erossacountr)r road trip. lling the trailer with latest and greatest in premium shing tackle. Returning to Springeld. he set up shop in his father's liquor store near Table Rock Lake. With that, Bass Pro Shops was born. That rst Bass Pro Shops store quickly outgrew the liquor store. And within a few years, Morris's vision of what he want- ed Bass Pro Shops to become began to take shape. At the time, the sporting goods retail sector was fragmented with lots of in- dependent retail shops catering to different outdoor activities. To meet the needs of customers across the country. Bass Pro Shops printed its rst catalog in 1974. The company's catalog business has been a mainstay ever since. But the company,r simultaneously moved to ll a gap in brick-and-mortar retail. With no national chain that could serve the outdoor masses. Bass Pro Shops quickly moved beyond shing, adding hunting, camping, outdoor cooking gear. out- door footwear and apparel, and nature-themed gifts. During this expansion, Bass Pro Shops not only carried the leading national brands, it also developed a portfolio of store brands, includ ing its first brand, Bass Trackerthe first dedicated bass boat and still the market leader. By manufacturing and selling direct. Bass Pro Shops could not only pass on huge savings to custom- ers, it could compete on price with just about any company. Growing rapidlyr throughout the lQTDs. the second hook of Bass Pro Shops's strategy solidied with the opening of the rst Outdoor World showroom adjacent to its headquarters. From that day on. it was clear that Bass Pro Shops was to be much more than a chain of stores that sells lots of cool stuffit was to be a place that pmvided engaging customer experiences for all who would visit. To that end. Bass Pro Shops has cre- ated what amounts to a natural history theme park for outdoor enthusiaststhe \"Disney World" of sporting goods. Nature's Theme Park Take the store in Memphis. Tennessee. for exampleBass Pro Shops at the Pyramid. Former home of the Memphis Grizzlies. the 535.000-square-foot. 32-story glass-and-steel Pyramid now houses the largest Bass Pro Shops store. The store is dominat- ed by various representations of wildlife. from the deer. duck. turkey. bear. bobcat. and wolf tracks imprinted in the concrete floors to the hand-painted murals from renowned artists depict- ing nature scenes reflecting the local geography. Butthe Pyramid also brings wildlife to life in three dimensions. Each store features lifelike, museumquality taxidermy animals in action poseseverything from prairie dogs. deer. elk. and caribou to brown bears. polar bears. musk oxen. and mountain goats set in natural dioramas that make customers feel like they're on location in some of the most striking outdoor landscapes. And while these animals are stuffed. the Pyramid store boasts 600.000 gallons of water features. stocked with live sh and other wild- life. Consider the cypress swamp with an 84,000-gallon alligator habitat (live feedings every Saturday) surrounded by lO-foottall trees, various aquariums, and the Live Duck Aviarya four-pond multi-habitat home to ve species of ducks. The carefully planned and orchestrated wildlife displays set the structure for the rest of what amounts to one of the most dynamic and captivating retail adventures in the world. Visitors can ride the nation's tallest freestanding glass elevator to the Lookouta breathtaking glass-oored cantilevering observa- tion deck at the top of the Pyramid. From there, visitors can survey the view outside the store as well as the one inside. And there is plenty to see inside, including the arcade shooting gal- lery, archery and pistol ranges, fudge shop, Beretta Fine Gun Center, interactive Ducks Unlimited Waterfowling Heritage Center, and the 103-room Big Cypress Lodge. Because visitors to the Pyramid store often make a day of it, there are two full-service restaurants on site, including Uncle Buck's Fishbowl & Grill. One of six companyowned restau- rant chains, Uncle Buck's is a nautical-themed dining experience with a saltwater aquarium that weaves in and around the restau- rant, offeng diners full view of exotic and tropical sh. And be- fore or after the meal, diners can work up an appetite or work off calories in the Fishbowl 's 13-lane ocean-themed bowling alley where the balls are returned right through a shark's gaping jaws. Half the Size with All the Fun While Bass Pro Shops at the Pyramid is larger and more fantach than any of the chain's other stores, each Outdoor World store is designed to shower its guests with the same captivating experi- ence- Most stores have but one restaurant and no hotel and are just under 200,000 square feetHabout the size of the average Walmart supereenter. But the rest of the formula plays out in magnicent Splendor across the many Bass Pro Shops outlets in North Ameri- ca. One mother sums up the Bass Pro Shops experience: We recently had a visiting family group that included two 5-year- olds. They thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Bass Pro Shop! It's half re- tail store and half wildlife museum. There was plenty to see for any outdoor sports enthusiast. The kids loved seeing real sh and ducks, as well as plenty of inanimate displays. There were boats they could sit on and \"trees" they could hide in. The store includes a restaurant. They offer plenty of merchandise for every budget. but you don't really have to spend money to enjoy the visit. Highly recommended! With its retail design that builds theater and entertainment into every store. Bass Pro Shops is not only a haven for the reluctant male outdoorsman, it's enjoyable for everyone. \"First off, I am not an outdoor person so Bass Pro isnlt a shop for me,\" says a recent store visitor. \"That being said, I loved this store. I felt like I was in a museum and aquarium.\" Bass Pro Shops provides even more reasons to visit with var- ious special events such as Family Sununer Camp, Professional Bull Riders Event, Fall Hunting Classic, and Halloween Bass Pro Style. Each event is lled with demonstrations and activi- ties, including seminars for shing and hunting featuring national and local experts. But no other Bass Pro Shops event compares to Santa's Wonderland. a six-week extravaganza that transforms each Bass Pro Shops outlet into a veritable: Christmas village fea- turing rustic cabins. moving model trains. animated Christmas characters. interactive talking caribou. and live elves set among snowcovered hills and illuminated Christmas trees. Kids are free to hang out in the play zone and get their hands on old-time model trains. RC trucks. slot cars. and both laser and foam-dart guns. Families can spend time at various activity tables and make decorations and crafts to take home. They can also enjoy one of various seasonal goodies. And. of course. Santa's Wonderland wouldn't be complete without a visit from the big guy himself. the event's main feature that includes a free studio-quality photo. As amazing as Bass Pro Shops's retail design is. the chain is not alone in its approach to marketing the great outdoors. Nebraska-based Cabelals got its start just before Bass Pro Shops. has almost as manyr stores. and pulls in nearly as much in revenues. Beyond the similarities on paper. the Cabela's retail experience is nearly identical to that of Bass Pro Shops. right down to the aquariums. animal-lled dioramas. and shooting galleries. In fact. the two chains have so much in common that Bass Pro Shops bought Cabela's two years ago. That's right. The number one out- door retailer acquired number two. As much as Bass Pro Shops had been thriving nancially. Cabela's had suffered declining sales and losses. With few markets playing host to both chains. the promise of economy-ofscale advantages. and the elimination of its largest competitor. Bass Pro Shops made the acquisition with condence that it could turn the Cabela's chain around. How is the marriage going? So far. so good. While Bass Pro has certainly taken advantage of the combined company to merge certain aspects of its operations. it has continued to operate Appendix 1: Company Cases 547 Cabela's stores as a separate chain. The merger gives Bass Pro a 4. How is it possible that Bass Pro Shops was succeeding combined total of 177 stores, $10 billion in annual revenue, and while Cabela's was floundering? one of the fastest-growing online businesses in retail. Regardless 5. Was it a good idea for Bass Pro Shops to acquire Cabela's? of the brand on the sign out front, the company does business Explain. the same way it has for decades-by wowing customers with the unsurpassed retail experience of its nature's theme parks. "People spend time there when they go," said Morris of Bass Sources: Taylor Stanton, "Bass Pro Shop's $5 Billion Acquisition Nets Pro Shops stores. "They can't wait to see what's around the next Fastest-Growing Online Outfitter," Slice Intelligence, April 25, 2018, aisle. It's an experience. It's about creating memories. It's about http://intelligence.slice.com/blog/2016/bass-pro-shops-5-billion- aquisition-nets-fastest-growing-online-outfitter; Matt Olberding, being with friends and family. It's about having fun." "Bass Pro Give Details on Buyouts, Cabela's Future in Sidney," Lincoln Journal Star, March 8, 2018, https://journalstar.com/ Questions for Discussion business/local/bass-pro-gives-details-on-buyouts-cabela-s-future-in 1. Define Bass Pro Shops's targeting strategy. Does it provide /article_dbd7e03f-74f9-58f3-8631-209f13185017.html; Lee Tolliver, a truly differentiated experience? "Money Hasn't Change Humble Bass Pro Founder," The 2. Describe how Bass Pro Shops became the nation's leading Virginian-Pilot, January 16, 2011, http://pilotonline.com/sports/ outdoor retailer based on the retail marketing mix. outdoors/money-hasn-t-changed-humble-bass-pro-founder/ 3. Based on the major types of retailers, how would you article_939a1378-026d-517b-9875-dd01ddc69b8e.html; and http:// tripadvisor.com, www.cabelas.com/, and http://basspro.com, ac- classify Bass Pro Shops? cessed October 2018