View Full Version : Bass Pro Tulsa



In_Tulsa
10-22-2005, 03:14 PM
Hey I just got back from the new Bass Pro in B.A. you guys have got to take the trip this is the best Bass Pro I have been to something like 150000 sq. feet and there are LOTS of coming soon signs this is going to blow up with all kinds of stores this is GREAT for the whole state.

windowphobe
10-22-2005, 05:11 PM
From what I hear, it's supposed to be pretty fabulous, not to mention about twenty or thirty percent bigger than the Oklahoma City store.

Broken Arrow, according to some, cut a deal with the devil to land the store, but then again, the same people would say the same thing about OKC.

jbrown84
10-22-2005, 07:41 PM
What does it really have that OKC's doesn't? I find it hard to believe that it's worth a trip all the way up there to see basically the same thing spread out a little more. Maybe it has a restaurant that we don't. Meh...

So what kind of "coming soon" signs are there? Anything exciting?

Karried
10-22-2005, 07:44 PM
That's cool, congratulations on your new Bass Pro.

In_Tulsa
10-23-2005, 08:05 AM
I know that 2 hotels and about 10 new restaurants (Toby Keith I Love This Bar is suppose to be one of them) a 15 screen movie plex and about one million sq. feet of new retail and a convention center with a hotel so that will be 3 hotels. Like I said this is great for Tulsa and Oklahoma. Now the deference in Bass Pro OKC and Bass Pro Tulsa would have to be the appearance. It has a GRAND entrance that I have never seen in any kind of store and the thing that got me is the two HUGE glass elevators next to the massive waterfall. Just come down and take a look and you will see what I mean.

Karried
10-23-2005, 08:11 AM
From a media story:

They call it outdoor world and they bring the outdoors indoors or make the indoors look like the outdoors. However you want to look at it, it's big. This is just how founder Johnny Morris likes it.

Bass Pro Shops’ Bill Rice: "He likes open, he likes the outdoors, the outdoor feel of the building, and they build it to scale.”

And that keeps everyone busy. "Busy is an understatement." Donna Self says most of the inside detail work was done in just the past 5 weeks. “When I walked in the door, all we had was fixtures sitting, with no pegs, no product, no anything."

Bill Rice "Don't have anybody standing around wondering what to do, they know what to do and they're after it. 200 people working as hard as they can go, it’s an anthill." The size of the place can make one feel a little small. With some 100 animal displays, you can find something new wherever you look.

In keeping with the big theme, this 3-story waterfall empties into a 17,000 square foot aquarium, which, when they open, will be fully stocked with fish. The displays, both live and stuffed, will be species that are typical of Oklahoma.

Bass Pro officials say Mr. Morris is a stickler for details; in fact, one section of the store he wasn't satisfied with will be completely redone. Bill Rice: "We're gonna relocate some ceilings and make them higher, lower some chandeliers tear some offices out completely and relocate them. He's done this a long time and pretty successful at what he's doing so."

jcashisalegend
10-23-2005, 05:18 PM
There is a seafood restaurant and a starbucks opening in the Bass pro shop.

Karried
10-23-2005, 07:25 PM
:chef: I wonder if we can cook the fish we catch in the aquarium?


Just kidding, I hate to think about the lobsters when I go to a seafood restaurant ... :beaten_fi

metro
10-24-2005, 07:39 AM
[/QUOTE](Toby Keith I Love This Bar is suppose to be one of them) [QUOTE]

I'm not sure how valid this is, TK has a contact with Harrah casino's on all of his restaurants except the Bricktown location. I could be wrong though.

In_Tulsa
10-24-2005, 08:05 AM
I heard on a country radio station here in Tulsa that Toby Keith is going to open a restaurant by Bass Pro. So I don't know for sure. It would be nice if he does.

swake
10-24-2005, 08:45 AM
I visited the place,

Wow, the facility is impressive, I will give you that, I have been in one other Bass Pro, in Florida, but this one is much larger. It's amazing, a store that size devoted to the killing of creatures.

And was it ever packed, it was like going to fair, but even more hick than that. Whole families spending the day. All I can say is wow, and I won't be going back. Oh, and thank god it's not in downtown, it's out in the sticks in Broken Arrow, where it belongs. I am now glad that it's not on 71st in Tulsa or in Jenks on the river either, it would not have been a good fit in those places either. Toby Keith's place would fit right in if they want to build one in the surrounding center.

Oh, and Stone Wood Hills place where Bass Pro is located is really massive, I got lost a couple of times trying to leave. You may be able to see Bass Pro right off the highway, but getting there is a little complicated.

swake
10-24-2005, 08:45 AM
I visited the place,

Wow, the facility is impressive, I will give you that, I have been in one other Bass Pro, in Florida, but this one is much larger. It's amazing, a store that size devoted to the killing of creatures.

And was it ever packed, it was like going to fair, but even more hick than that. Whole families spending the day. All I can say is wow, and I won't be going back. Oh, and thank god it's not in downtown, it's out in the sticks in Broken Arrow, where it belongs. I am now glad that it's not on 71st in Tulsa or in Jenks on the river either, it would not have been a good fit in those places either. Toby Keith's place would fit right in if they want to build one in the surrounding center.

Oh, and Stone Wood Hills place where Bass Pro is located is really massive, I got lost a couple of times trying to leave. You may be able to see Bass Pro right off the highway, but getting there is a little complicated.

thecains
10-24-2005, 07:22 PM
Broken Arrow isnt the sticks.....It is huge and is booming.

swake
10-25-2005, 07:45 AM
71st St and 161st E Ave is not Brookside or Maple Ridge either.

Patrick
10-25-2005, 09:55 AM
I'm really happy for BA. The only thing I fear is that this will draw tax dollars away from Tulsa. I think that's been the fear all along.

Anyways, next time I'm in Tulsa I'll definitely stop by for a look. Each Bass Pro is different. I know the one in BA has restaurants in it. The reason a restaurant was left out of the Bricktown Bass Pro is because Bricktown already has plenty of restaurants.

Anyways, with Grand Lake nearby, I bet the BA Bass Pro will do fabulous.

BDP
10-25-2005, 10:42 AM
That does sound like a much more appropriate setting. I wonder when Bass Pro is actually going to finance something themselves. I'm sure they're nice stores, but I just can't bring myself to go to, let alone buy something at, a national store whose business model is to have local communities finance projects that compete with local businesses.

jbrown84
10-25-2005, 08:09 PM
I'm beginning to see Bass Pro as a mistake for Oklahoma City, even though I was in favor of it at the time. Bass Pro's rapid expansion has made it no longer the regional attraction it once was. They're basically putting one in every city with more than 200,000 people now.