Big hunting expo
Retailer expects thousands to attend
Bass Pro Shops at The Pyramid will stage its first big bash since its grand opening, 10 days in October that could bring tens of thousands of visitors Downtown for a wide range of events centered on duck hunting along the Mississippi River flyway.
The Missouri-based retailer, which opened the 535,000-squarefoot tourist draw on April 29, plans to launch the first World’s Hunting & Wildlife Expo with a marketing effort that puts Memphis in focus for a national audience of hunters.
“This is our first year so we do not have specific attendance projections though we anticipate tens of thousands of visitors will make the trip to the Pyramid specifically for the event,” Bass Pro Shops communications director Jack Wlezien wrote in an e-mail.
Events scheduled for families include free concerts, a foot race, pep rallies for fans of University of Memphis and University of Mississippi football teams and a snackeating contest.
The expo is scheduled Oct. 1625. It will be the first major event at the 750-employee riverside store marketed by Bass Pro throughout North America since the opening. Attracting tens of thousands of visitors could have the economic magnitude Downtown of a major convention.
“I think with the duck-calling championship we’re expecting to draw from all over the country,” said Bass Pro Pyramid general manager David Hagel.
The company said 1 million visitors passed through turnstiles by July 1.
Memphis officials anticipate 2 million visitors per year and say tourists could help speed redevelopment along the riverfront, on Mud Island and in the Pinch District.
The idea for the bash originated when Bass Pro executives including founder Johnny Morris were planning the attractions inside The Pyramid. Among the nation’s 14.6 million licensed hunters are thousands who travel to Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee for the annual migration by millions of wild ducks flying to their winter areas. “We’re right on the Mississippi River. When we first thought of the cypress swamp idea this was something we knew we wanted to do,” Hagel said. “It’s our time of year. Let’s celebrate it.’’
In addition to merchandise inside the store, Bass Pro is planning to have truckloads of merchandise available including duck decoys and caseloads of ammunition. The new store contains the company’s largest duck hunting shop and one of the nation’s few Beretta gun centers, although the event isn’t timed to coincide with hunting season. Arkansas’ regular duck season begins Nov. 21 followed by Mississippi’s duck season for adult hunters opening Nov. 27.
“I’m about to bust at the seams” with inventory in storage, Hagel said. “It will come to the point we’ll have to look for something logistically, for warehousing, but right now we’re trying to see how much it (The Pyramid) will hold.”