So far Bass Pro has been a success in downtown OKC. And, you remember all of those smaller businesses that complained about Bass Pro. Well, all but a couple are now saying that Bass Pro has increased interest in the area for hunting and fishing merchandise and have actualyl led to increased sales at their businesses. They've just had to adjust some. OKC Bass closed, but in my opinion, they were going ou tof business long before Bass PRo came to town, and were just looking for a someone to blame their bad business on.
Anyways, bass Pro is exceeding all expectations.
This is great news for retail in Bricktown.
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"Bass Pro meeting sales goals
By The Associated Press
Bass Pro Shops' 10-month-old store is meeting or exceeding sales goals set under an agreement that paved the way for the city to fund construction of the $19 million building, company and city officials said.
The company pays the city $449,000 a year in rent, after operating expenses are deducted, for the store, but part of the rationale for city's investment was the expectation that the business would provide hefty increases in city sales tax revenue.
While the city and the privately held sporting goods company would not reveal sales tax figures for Bass Pro, the store contributed to an overall sales tax picture that has seen revenue grow 3.76 percent between July 2003 and June 2004.
Retail sales make up about half of the city's sales tax collections, said Jane Abraham, management and budget specialist for the city.
City councilors who voted in favor of paying for the 110,000-square-foot Bass Pro building, complete with wall murals and a giant tank of bass, believe the store has spurred economic development in the Bricktown entertainment district.
"We needed something to kick-start development in Bricktown," said Mayor Mick Cornett, who was a councilor at the time of the vote.
The city had already invested in the area through the Metropolitan Area Projects, but Bricktown still didn't have an anchor tenant.
Bass Pro acts as a tourist destination, drawing visitors in the same way Oklahoma RedHawks baseball games do, Cornett said.
Cornett does not expect the city to initially pay for buildings for other retailers as it did for Bass Pro.
In the case of Bass Pro, Cornett saw a lack of momentum in Bricktown and a need to extend the city's tax base. Bass Pro planned to come to the area, and Cornett wanted to make sure Oklahoma City benefited from the store.
He and other councilors attribute recent downtown development to Bass Pro.
Two hotels, a movie theater, restaurants and condominiums are planned for the Bricktown area.
"I think Bass Pro is the engine that drove all of this development to take place," said Council member Larry McAtee. "It has far exceeded my expectations."
Opening new stores is a big part of Bass Pro's growth, said Larry Whiteley, Bass Pro spokesman.
As part of its deal with Oklahoma City, Bass Pro agreed not to build another store within 75 miles of the store in Bricktown. In March, the company announced it would build a store in Broken Arrow, about 110 miles from Bricktown. Whiteley does not expect the stores to hurt each other's sales.
The company has 23 stores, and it will open three more in November and about 14 next year, he said.
"We're not the big bad guy coming in and running people out of business," he said. "We get more people involved in the outdoors."
Sporting goods competitors have had mixed reactions to Bass Pro.
Miles Hall, founder and president of H&H Gun Range in Oklahoma City, has seen a 30 percent increase in sales since Bass Pro came to town.
H&H set a record for sales in December, just after Bass Pro opened. The gun range and retailer topped December's sales in July, Hall said.
"From H&H's perspective, it's been wonderful," he said. "They created a buying frenzy."
However, H&H had to adapt to the competition quickly. The store stopped selling clothes and hunting scents, which Bass Pro could sell for less. H&H expanded its gun and ammunition offerings, Hall said, and it focused on customer service.
Academy Sports and Outdoors, with five stores in Oklahoma City, easily adapted because of its size, said President David Gochman. The Katy, Texas-based company has sales even with last year's, he said.
"We are larger than most and can take care of ourselves," he said. "It's the family-owned businesses that take a real hit."
Gochman questioned the wisdom of a city paying for a facility in the volatile sporting goods industry, and he called for Bass Pro to be accountable to the public for upholding its end of the deal with Oklahoma City.
Councilman Brent Rinehart, who voted against funding the building, believes the deal gave Bass Pro an unfair advantage over other retailers.
"The city's responsibility is infrastructure, providing services, not going into the development and retail business," he said.
Mike Brown, an owner of Outdoor Outfitters, has seen sales go down since Bass Pro opened. The store also hasn't hired as many part-time seasonal workers as it normally would because of lower profits, he said.
He has trouble matching the deep discounts of larger competitors and must look for products they don't have.
"When a big competitor comes into town, you evaluate," he said. "
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