Bass Pro Shops (Outdoor World) is a privately held sports equipment and outdoor recreation goods store headquartered in Springfield, Missouri. The original Outdoor World store, referred to as the "Grand Daddy" is located at the corner of Sunshine and Campbell in Springfield. Bass Pro Shops rings up an estimated $1.9 billion in sales in about fifty large retail stores in the United States and one in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. It also owns and operates subsidiaries such as Tracker Boats, Big Cedar Lodge, RedHead, XPS, American Rod and Gun, White River Fly Shop and restaurants Islamorada Fish Company, Hemingway's Blue Water Cafe and Riverside Inn. Bass Pro Shops is known for a large selection of hunting, fishing, and other outdoor gear. Its major competitors in the U.S. include many other sporting goods retailers such as Dicks Sporting Goods and Academy Sports. While Bass Pro operates some stores with "Sportsman's Warehouse" as part of the name, it should be noted that the company is not affiliated with the retailer simply known as Sportsman's Warehouse.

History

The Stores

A Bass Pro Shops store ranges from all the way down to , many of them have two levels and are around . Around the stores, you will see taxidermy mounts native to the area. All of the stores have an indoor water feature that showcase fish species that are indigenous to the area with the larger stores having more than one water feature. In some of these aquariums professional anglers and store pro-staff hold demonstrations showing the use of an artificial bait. Bass Pro Shops is also known for its Outdoor Skills Workshops. These classes are free and open to the public on a first come first served basis. They teach skills as varied as fly-casting, Dutch oven cooking, archery hunting, and GPS navigation. Bass Pro has published one-page ads in outdoor magazines that their stores are “so damn big, you have to hire a guide." What makes the stores really unique is the detail taken when designing the interior and exterior of the store. Bass Pro has a fabrication shop in Nixa, Missouri, that builds the pine and cedar log structures, as well as 55 artisans that are coppersmiths, blacksmiths, carvers, painters and fabricators. They hand make the chandeliers, lights, lanterns, wood carvings and iron work that is displayed throughout the store. They also have artists that paint huge murals on the walls and ceilings that incorporate mounted animals for a 3-D effect. Disney is the only other retailer with a comparable fabrication facility. Bass Pro's fab shop also designs and creates all the shooting arcades in the store.

Tracker Marine Group

In 1978 Bass Pro Shops introduced the first "fish ready" professionally rigged boat packages and in so doing changed the way the marine industry sold boats. The Bass Tracker came complete with motor, trailer and optional marine gear that is selected to suit each customers needs. The Tracker Marine Group produces more recreational boats than any other company in the world. It's brands include Tracker Boats, Nitro, Sun Tracker, Tahoe, Fisher, ProCraft, Kenner, Mako, Myacht and SeaCraft. It sells these boats in showrooms attached to every Bass Pro Shops store, in stand alone Tracker dealerships and to independent marine dealers through out the United States.