Byline: Justin George
Nov. 12--HAMPTON, Va.--The red banner painted over the largemouth entrance of Bass Pro Outdoor World plays to the locals but lures in anglers from all over: 'Virginia is for lovers of the Great Outdoors.'
Inside, for sale, there are deer head, turkey head, sailfish head, black Labrador head or large mouth bass head trailer hitch toppers; shark head, fish head, dog head or turkey head can coolers; deer head, bounding elk, catfish, bass or crappie car decals; Jack Link's Kippered Beef Steak Nuggets and Cajun Beef Jerky; copies of 'Jack O'Connor: The Legendary Life of America's Greatest Gunwriter'; mild, hot 'n spicy or original Uncle Buck's Fish Batter; Scorned Woman fiery salsa; burlap sacks of Fartless Beer Bread mix; a No. 10 meat grinder; Mountain House freeze dried lasagna with meat sauce; 7behemoth.
'They do everything under the sun that's outdoors,' said David Dietel, an outdoor catalog buyer for the Wyoming-based Sierra Trading Post. 'For the hunter and fisherman-types, it's heaven.'
Dollar signs are in the eyes of city officials seeking millions in taxes. Area business owners are ready to catch the runoff of the estimated 1.5 million to 2 million Bass Pro visitors that are expected to shop there each year. Hotel managers, meanwhile, get giddy anticipating many of these folks checking in which is not a reach considering Bass Pro's headquarters in Springfield, Mo., is the Show-Me state's top tourist destination.
'I've heard comments over the years. There's been a family of four in the store and the kids are running and a mom says, 'No need to run. We have four days,'' said Loy Hibbs, an assistant manager at the $23 million Hampton store, who overheard the comment while working at one of Bass Pro's other 18 stores.
Bass Pro has become a business phenomenon catering to an estimated 113 million people nationwide who spend about $108 billion a year on outdoor-related goods.
The Hampton store includes scores of stuffed animals, from a bear climbing a tall tree in the foyer to a zebra gazing over rifle racks. It includes hunting video games and shooting range, a propeller plane that dangles near a waterfall and a ceiling that looks like an upside down sea with schools of mounted tuna, marlin, dolphin and lone sharks zigzagging. The 16,000-gallon aquarium, managers say, is the biggest draw, stocked full of largemouth, striped and hybrid bass, white and black crappie, channel catfish, bowfin and blue gill.
Many feel Bass Pro is a good fit for the area.
'There's a lot of fishing around and hunting,' said Brandon Schlatter of Virginia Beach, while shopping during a 'soft-opening' event last week at the Hampton store.
'Virginia does all that,' added his wife Tammy, picking up some lures and a 'Frogs and Tails and Fish Tails: That's what little boys are made of,' T-shirt for their son.
Others say it could be Hampton Roads' legions of NASCAR fans that makes it a good fit culturally.
'They have really tried to align themselves with that,' said Dietel, who worked for Bass Pro in 1998, when it first forayed into the sport, sponsoring the late Dale Earnhart's car.
Management of the Best Western Inn of Hampton Roads, which sits across from the road that leads to Bass Pro on Mercury Boulevard, recognizes the connection between Bass Pro and NASCAR, which the hotel chain sponsors.
'I would suspect that a lot of the fans love to fish,' said manager Keeler Abbitt.
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(c) 2003, Daily Press, Newport News, Va. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
