This tableau with stuffed bears inside Bass Outdoor World is only one of its surreal features. I visited one of these stores for the first time the other day and found it an assault on my gentle sensibilities. A salesman proudly told me that the store contained $2 million worth of taxidermy. Across the US, there are 51 similar stores, with plans for many more in the offing.
What is Bass Outdoor World? It’s a colossal store selling gear for outdoor pastimes—camping and hiking, hunting and fishing. The stores are often on the fringe of metropolitan areas, along the highways that affluent people use to reach their vacations. The stores have huge parking lots, vast inventories. They are extravagantly materialistic, while seeming to worship the natural world.
The Bass Outdoor shop in Portage Indiana is a cavernous two-story building, with a rough-hewn timbered look under fluorescent lighting. It features a dizzying array of fishing gear, a showroom of expensive boats, and, upstairs, a hunters’ paradise with a sobering display of guns.
As the United States becomes more built up, our focus on the glories of outdoor life becomes more intense, too. There is a vast commercial market for roughing it, a market where you can buy fancy sights and expensive comfortable chairs from which to shoot deer. With enough expenditure, campsite conveniences rivaling the comforts of domestic life can be had.
Have you ever been to Bass Outdoor World?
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- Cats
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- Rods and reels
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- Upstairs
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- Liars welcome
Kanerva says
Wow. Last time I was in one of their stores was probably 2002. The Engineer was living in Florida at the time and we would visit so he could check out the boats and gear. I don’t recall stuffed animals although your rods and reels picture is familiar.
It always struck me as a shop more for people who wanted to look as though they were outdoors a lot, rather than the types that really were outdoors.
Celia says
Interesting observation. The store itself is definitely seductive. Thanks for sharing.
Harley says
I have been to one of those stores as well–and yes, wow and wow again !!! I’ve been to a few really, really good outdoor stores but never one like the Bass store. It was way cool as described……..Nice post !
Celia says
I wonder whether that store will sell enough to stay in business. I bet many go only for the experience. . .
Janet says
We have a Bass Pro Shop about two hours from here. I’m more of a REI gal (husband is a Bass guy) but love the look and feel of the stores. Ours has a shooting gallery that hubby and I have played in. What a fun post!
Celia says
The “extras” of the store make it interesting. It’s almost like an amusement park, or a curiosity shop.
Thanks, Janet.