Bass Pro Memphis : A review

[Grayfox54]

As many of you know, the new Bass Pro Shop located in the old Pyramid in downtown memphis opened this weekend.  The media and city have been pushing this full tilt treating it as the greatest thing to happen since Elvis. 

Normally, you couldn't drag me to downtown memphis. There has never been a show, event, ball game, etc that I've ever considered worth that kind of hassle. I haven't been down there in at least 10 years or more. 

However, things just sort of fell into place so that for this, so I figured oh, what the hell.  Not the least of which were that a friend had given me a Bass Pro gift card for my birthday and I'm a curious, retired old fart with nothing better to do.  :shrug:

Being an early riser anyway, I figured I'd beat the traffic and get there before the doors opened. The store opens at 8:00 am, I got there at 7:15. To my surprise, there was already a long line at the door stretching out into the parking lot. BTW: today was the first day of actual business and they were giving free gift cards to the first 200 people. I just barely made the cut and got a $5 card. When the doors opened at 8:00, there must have been 300-400 people in line. 

 

I must say the place is impressive. Its big, but not quite as big as I thought it would be. For some reason I thought the pyramid was bigger than it actually is. I will add that it is much bigger than your average sporting goods store. 

The decor is basicly rustic swamp. This is one of the points the media has been focusing on in efforts to push the place as a tourist attraction. It really does make for a nice outdoorsey feel. I liked it. In the middle of the main floor there's a sort of large, 2 or 3 foot deep pond that branches off in several directions. There are bridges that cross it a various point so that you can get to other parts of the store. This pond is stocked with live fish and were interesting to watch. There is also a very large aquarium which takes up a sizable section of the back wall. 

Scattered about the place are many scenes featuring an assortment of stuffed animals. Deer, bear, boar and a bunch of smaller critters decorate the entire store. 

One of the things that tickled me was all the wide eyed city types Ooing and Ahing all this stuff like they're never seen a live fish or a real blade of grass before.  :shake:

Now the media has been focusing on the decor of the place and promoting it as a tourist attraction. While it is interesting and nice to look at, the plain fact remains that this is a STORE. The decorations only make up 10 maybe 15% of the place. Everything else is shelves and racks of merchandise just like any other store. In that respect, the place is still impressive. Just about anything a hunter, fisherman, camper or outdoorsman could ever want can be found here. Although I think the prices are a little high. But if you want it, they got it.

One of the things that also prompted me to go there today was I was hoping to use my birthday gift card to score some of the ever elusive and pricey .22 ammo. I figured that this opening was such a big deal that they would probably have some. I was right. They currently have a large supply and selection of .22 bulk packs from Winchester, CCI, Remington and Federal. Some brands very reasonably priced and others not so good. But it was going fast and even with the amount they had on display, I really don't see it lasting through the weekend.

One disappointment I had was that I did want to take that much vaunted elevator up to the observation deck and check out the view. However, that cost $10 per person and there were already too many people in line willing to pay the price for me to even consider it.  :-\

 

Conclusions:

Pros: As a store the place is quite impressive. The selection of merchandise is absolutely outstanding.  The decor is both pleasing and interesting. I liked it.

Cons: Downtown memphis is probably the worst possible location they could have chosen. The traffic is awful. I also believe that the majority of  the customer base for Bass Pro live in other sections of town much too far away to make regular shopping there practical. The prices are just a little high for my tastes. 

While the place is interesting to see, I seriously doubt it will ever become the big tourist attraction so many people think it will. 

Frankly, with so much working against it, I suspect that in two, maybe three years, the store will be forced to close.

 

As for myself. I went, I saw, satisfied my curiosity and I did enjoy it. However, I seriously doubt I will ever go back. as i said in the beginning, I really hate going to downtown memphis. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mikegideon]

I'm not big on downtown areas either, but mostly because of parking. Looks like they have their own lot. 

[Lowpower]

Prices on the federal and was it the Bulk 550 pack?

 

Thanks

[jh225]

Cons: Downtown memphis is probably the worst possible location they could have chosen. The traffic is awful. I also believe that the majority of  the customer base for Bass Pro live in other sections of town much too far away to make regular shopping there practical.

 

Exactly what I thought when I heard of the plan to build. Last time I checked, a major metropolitan downtown is not exactly conducive to fishing, shooting, etc.

 

Add to it the hotel whose LOWEST rate is $295 a night and you have a recipe for an empty Pyramid yet again in short order.

 

The city of Memphis invested huge money into this place for what purpose?  I would love to hear the thoughts of the people who made this decision.

 

All I see is another Bass Pro store (and thy ain't that great to begin with) except this one is in a ridiculous location.

[JPR1959]

The taxpayers of Memphis are still paying the lease on that store!!!

[Grayfox54]

Lowpower,

Sorry, but I didn't even notice the Federal 22s  at first as they were at the other end of the counter. They were the 500 round bulk packs. But I didn't check the price.

 

Prices I did notice:

Remington Bucket o' Bullets $80

CCI Mini-Mag I believe it was 800 rds?  in a plastic ammo can $107

Both of these were going fast. Seems that most folks were more interested in large amounts as sales we're limited.

 

I had just over $51 on the gift cards so I went with Winchester

555 pack $30

333 pack $18

That works out to 0.06 per round which is about as good as it gets these days. After checking out I had a balance of $0.21 on my card.  ;)

 

If any of you in the memphis area are interested, I strongly suggest you get there soon. Like I said, they do have a large supply, but it was also going pretty quick.

 

The store is a very interesting place to visit once. But my fear is that most people will only go there once just to see it. Without repeat business, I don't see how it can survive.

 

 

 

 

[xsubsailor]

 I went down there this afternoon and  wasn’t overly impressed. I guess it would be a fun place to take kids to see all the stuffed animals and other things they have scattered around but it didn’t really do anything for me. 

 

 I rarely buy things at Basspro anyway but this one is about ½ the distance compared to the one on Sycamore View. The only bad thing is having to drive through Frayser to get there. The best part as far as I’m concerned is that everything I’m interested in, is just inside the north entrance; fishing on the ground floor and the guns just above on the second floor with an elevator right inside the door. 

 

 They do have lawsuits waiting to happen though. In some places, the fish pond is right next to the walkway and if you happen to be looking at the scenery, you could very well wind up in the water because there is no barrier or railing to prevent you from falling in.

[Garufa]

 They do have lawsuits waiting to happen though. In some places, the fish pond is right next to the walkway and if you happen to be looking at the scenery, you could very well wind up in the water because there is no barrier or railing to prevent you from falling in.

 

 

Well, boo hoo hoo.