Bass Pro sales falling slightly at Pyramid store

Sales fell slightly in Bass Pro Shops’ third year at The Pyramid, but still met expectations of city officials and retail experts.

Bass Pro Shops reported sales of $45.6 million in the year ending April 30, down 2.3 percent from $46.7 million a year earlier.

The destination retail store opened at the end of April 2015, capping a decade-long quest by the City of Memphis to backfill a previously vacant Pyramid arena.

The Bass Pro sales data, supplied in response to a public records request, is important because the retailer is an anchor of a Downtown tourism development zone (TDZ), which funnels sales tax increases into public improvements.

The TDZ is expanding to include a proposed aquarium and other upgrades on Mud Island, and Bass Pro is a key revenue source.

“Bass Pro revenues continue to meet City expectations,” city Housing and Community Development division director Paul Young said in an email. “Over the past 3 years, the Downtown TDZ has generated a $5 million to $7 million annual surplus above current debt service commitments.”

Sales taxes flowing into the TDZ are used to repay a $197 million, 2011 city bond issue. The debt financed preparation of the Pyramid and surrounding land for Bass Pro and allowed the city to buy out Shelby County’s interest in the nearby Memphis Cook Convention

Center.

Bass Pro also pays rent of at least $1 million a year, which is set aside for maintenance, upkeep and improvements to The Pyramid.

The Pyramid opened in 1991 as a venue for concerts and sporting events but was vacated after FedExForum came on line in 2004.

Springfield, Missouri-based Bass Pro Shops is privately held and doesn’t break out sales for individual stores. But the company’s reports to the city, which are used to calculate rent, provide a window into the store’s operations.

The latest figures confirm what retail experts said last year: that Bass Pro’s sales had leveled off at a sustainable rate after an expected dropoff as the store moved out of the typical honeymoon phase for a new retail store.

The second-year total was down 15.5 percent from $56.3 million in the first year.

Shawn Massey, a partner in The Shopping Center Group, said third-year numbers are a reliable baseline for the future, and he believes that number should rise modestly.

“Year 3 sales typically show what the store will do going forward,” Massey said in an email.

“Some of the new swagger may have worn off after the first two years but it shows a steady stream of regular customers and a solid performance by Bass Pro Shops.

“I do think going forward we will start seeing a slight increase in sales due to inflation in prices and developing new customers.”

Massey said other projects nearby, including the planned Convention Center update and expansion and the city’s Bicentennial Gateway development, should help Bass Pro grow the store’s sales 1-3 percent a year.

“Bass Pro continues to be both an anchor for downtown Memphis and a catalyst for new development in the Pinch area,” Massey said.