Inside the new Bass Pro in South County — and how the massive store was developed

May 09, 2023

As the grand opening celebration for the St. Louis area’s latest Bass Pro Shops location kicks off Wednesday and lasts through the weekend, representatives of the retailer said they’re excited for the public to see the massive store that’s been in the works for two years.

Doors will open for the new 90,000-square-foot Bass Pro Shops at 3600 S. Lindbergh Blvd. in Sunset Hills, in south St. Louis County, starting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday with the grand opening continuing through the weekend, the retailer said in a news release.

Each of the Springfield, Missouri-based company’s wildlife-themed stores typically becomes a retail destination that attracts people from far away to peruse items related to camping, hunting, fishing, hiking, outdoor recreation, boating and bicycling, retail analysts have told the Business Journal when past stores have opened.

What to expect during the grand opening

The festivities for the grand opening celebration, the “Evening of Conservation,” kicked off at 6 p.m. Wednesday with singers Chris Janson and Clay Self, Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris, St. Louis Cardinals legend Whitey Herzog, professional fishermen Roland Martin and Kevin VanDam, and Mark, Terry and Matt Drury of Drury Outdoors.

For the first night, 10% of proceeds will go to conservation organizations, the company said.

In anticipation of huge crowds throughout the grand opening weekend, customers will have to park in the parking lot across South Lindbergh Boulevard at the closed Bed Bath and Beyond store at 10770 Sunset Hills Plaza.

The Sunset Hills Police Department will have officers posted on Lindbergh Boulevard to safely escort visitors across the busy highway, said Sgt. Jeff Senior, spokesman for the department. Bass Pro will also bring in additional security, said Paul Cox, general manager of the Sunset Hills store.

The retailer expects a large turnout Wednesday and continuing through the weekend for the grand opening event, but Cox wasn’t sure how long the opening crowds might last. The company also isn’t projecting any specific numbers for attendance.

But Bass Pro officials know the demand is there, as throughout construction, people have come up to the doors and asked to be let in, wanting to shop there, Cox said.

The store will have various giveaways on all the days of the grand opening, but also will offer 10% off throughout the celebration for people who have the Bass Pro Club-branded credit card, Cox said.

Why are Bass Pro stores so popular?

The company wanted to bring in more customers from the southern footprint of the St. Louis metro.

The retailer’s two existing stores in St. Louis are farther north and west, a Bass Pro in St. Charles and a Cabela’s store in the former St. Louis Mills mall in Hazelwood.

Retail analysts have speculated in the past why Bass Pro Shops locations have proven to be so popular, with one retail consultant calling it “Disneyland for outdoor enthusiasts.” Like Disneyland, the experience can be something customers remember long after shopping at the store, said Cox.

“As a kid, I still remember being excited when we would be near a Bass Pro, and I remember going with my dad and with my family. I think you have a lot of that,” Cox said. “It is also a lot of the theming, a lot of the decor, and even just that range of product selection that we offer. We really carry things that you do for love and fun. If you’re passionate about the outdoors, that’s definitely what we are. And I think that’s really the draw for people to drive that distance.”

Store customized for St. Louis

The Sunset Hills store will have a few distinct services. The location has a shop for boat sales and service that doesn’t exist at either of the other Bass Pro locations in St. Louis, offering both a boat dealership and an in-store service center for boats, all-terrain vehicles and utility task vehicles, or UTVs. The St. Charles Bass Pro has a boat dealership, but its service center is located off site, Cox said.

Every Bass Pro Shops location has a design customized for its city, and the Sunset Hills store is themed around explorers Lewis and Clark. From artwork to the light fixtures in the foyer, intricate Lewis and Clark-inspired custom designs can be found throughout the store, Cox said.

In another custom touch inspired by the southern St. Louis location, the store’s 14,000-gallon aquarium is modeled after Onondaga Cave in Crawford County, which is located about an hour south of Sunset Hills, Cox said. Custom murals were painted directly on the walls by brothers Aaron and Adam Wolken, who spent six years painting many of the murals and dioramas inside Morris’ entertainment attraction World of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium in Springfield, Missouri, Cox said.

Perhaps the most notable artwork is a mural that was cut out of the original Bass Pro location in Springfield — which company officials refer to as the “granddaddy” store — and moved to Sunset Hills. The mural from painter Bob Sopchick of York, Pennsylvania, who died last year, was part of a fly-fishing display in Springfield that was redone. The mural was cut out of the wall and preserved to be displayed in Sunset Hills, Cox said.

From vacant shopping center to retail destination

Bass Pro did not disclose the cost of its investment in Sunset Hills. But the company’s desire to draw people to a destination rather than just a store makes it one of the most attractive retail tenants that a shopping plaza owner could find, said Sansone Group broker Grant Mechlin, who brokered the deal between Bass Pro and Clayton-based commercial real estate firm Sansone, the retail center owner.

“They make a major investment in their stores in order to create an attraction. And so people come to not only shop, but really experience all that Bass Pro has to offer,” Mechlin said.

Finding the perfect location to create that destination in south St. Louis was so important to Bass Pro that the retailer initially signed up in mid-2021 for a store size that would have been smaller than most of its locations, with around 75,000 square feet created from vacant Toys R Us and Ross Dress for Less stores.

But during construction last year, Sansone Group negotiated the exit of the lone open business remaining at the plaza, The Tile Shop, which transferred the operations of that store to its other location in Brentwood, said Mechlin.

With that 17,000 square feet added to the Bass Pro, the store now takes up the entire shopping center and is the typical size for a Bass Pro store, Cox said.

Sansone Group originally developed the shopping center, known as Shoppes at Sunset Hills, and the one across the street, Plaza at Sunset Hills, in the mid-1990s before selling them. The company re-acquired the retail centers in 2015 in a joint venture with Goldman Sachs.

The joint venture continues to own Shoppes at Sunset Hills while Sansone manages the center, with Bass Pro Shops signed to a 20-year lease, Mechlin said. The real estate firm declined to disclose terms of the lease. Sansone Group also made a significant investment in the store, but Mechlin declined to give details.

When Sansone Group retail brokers Mechlin and Mark Kornfeld learned several years ago that Bass Pro was searching for a site in south St. Louis, they pitched the plaza as a perfect fit, with a central location near two major commercial corridors, Lindbergh Boulevard and Watson Road, about a mile from interstates 44 and 270.

Bass Pro appreciated the “market separation” that the site would have from St. Charles and Hazelwood, as well as the reach into southern Missouri that a store in Sunset Hills could offer, Mechlin said.

“This provided the opportunity to serve the southern half of the market, as well as much farther beyond, because they have a very much regional reach,” Mechlin said. “It’s a massive regional draw that will be great for the entire area and community, and it’ll certainly help the rest of the retail around it as well.”

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