Bass Pro Shops to Expand in SoCal
Springfield, Mo.–based Bass Pro Shops is set to open a 180,000-square-foot Outdoor World super store at the Victoria Gardens open-air shopping center in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. This will be the outdoor goods retailer’s first Southern California store.
The retailer, which caters to outdoorsmen, is known for woodsy visual displays featuring taxidermic fish and game mounts and for giant aquariums packed with the company’s namesake largemouth bass and other species.
The stores carry a large assortment of casual apparel and outerwear from vendors such as North Face and Columbia, as well as private-label goods. Fishing tackle, hunting gear and marine equipment make up the remainder of the stores’ merchandise.
“It’s part retail, part entertainment and part outdoor adventure,” said Jack Lam, city manager of Rancho Cucamonga, which approved the project last week.
Plans call for ground to break within six months, and the opening is planned for 2007. The Victoria Gardens store will be located on the east side of the shopping center, next to Interstate 15.
Bass Pro also plans to open a store in Manteca, Calif., at about the same time. Currently, the retailer has 27 stores in 17 states and Canada. The shops attract 75 million visitors a year, according to the company.
Rancho Cucamonga officials, citing U.S. Department of Fish and Game data, said California has one of the highest populations of outdoor enthusiasts in the country, with more than 850,000 hunters and 3 million anglers. —Robert McAllister
