Last May, I wrote an open letter to BassProShops asking them to open a store in Minnesota. In my idyllic mind, I saw my post collecting thousands of signatures (i.e. comments) to start a grass roots effort that ultimately brought BassProShops to Minnesota.
Well, that didn’t happen.
Frankly, I was surprised there wasn’t more interest. But, no matter.
Yesterday, Macy’s Inc. announced they would be closing the Bloomingdale’s store at the Mall of America. The store anchored the Southeast corner of the Mall since it’s opening in 1992.
The Mall says it will be splitting the space into shops for five new retailers. They will also be renovating some basement space adding 60,000 square feet of retail area.
It sounds like they already have deals in place for the spaces. It would have been a perfect opportunity for BassProShops. But from the sounds of it, we’ll still have to wait for the Mall’s expansion plans to move forward before seeing BassProShops in the state.
I’m not holding my breath.
I really don’t see a huge need for BPS here. Most things are covered fine with Gander and Dick’s. The bigger Dick’s stores actually have a really large fishing section. Maybe there are specifics I’m missing, but having also shopped their site online, they don’t even have that great of prices. TackleWarehouse.com slays them on price and shipping, and has lots of cool / new niche stuff I don’t think you can find at BPS. I guess it would be novel to visit, but are hardy outdoorsmen going to suffer the MOA to pick up a pack of senkos?
I’d prefer to see someone open a smaller, specialized store, similar to a TackleWarehouse, that offers stuff like Megasbass, Lucky Craft (full line), Jackall, etc., all the craziest stuff from Japan, and maybe customer lure painters from within the state.
I have empathy w/u for the lack of a MN BPS in that here in Indiana we have just 2 and they are at opposite ends of the state. Being a transplanted Minnesotan (I hail from Nisswa/Gull Lake area)I’m always looking for places to check out the latest Penn reels and other new goodies. While I’m at the family place down in Florida in winter I visit the fairly new BPS in Fort Meyers near the airport. It’s a terrific store-great layout. My main focus in visiting BPS however is not to purchase but to pick brains. Having been a freshwater fisherwoman all my life I was new to saltwater fishing and it’s a whole different animal in both equipment and technique. So I traipse in the FM store a couple times of year. Their prices are often exorbitant and I can often find the exact same item cheaper at local WM, or local bait shops where I prefer to spend my money. I do shop BPS’s clearance sales tho & there are some real steals!! When I head to MN around the opening weekend of Walleye Season I head to the Gander Mountain store in Bemidji or the local Fleet Farm store. They suit my freshwater fishing needs quite admirably and don’t break my bank account. Well that’s about all. I’ll be launching my new blog in a week or so and one section of it will be devoted to women who fish & fishing in general, & the rest to cooking game, graphic design, gardening, canning &preserving what we grow- everything from making our own blackberry wine to vinegars, marmalades,chutneys etc to go with the venison we love to eat. Love your blog by the way. Thanks for posts that inform and make me think! Christine in Indiana
You know my feelings on BPS, I’m sure, but for the sake of posting a useful comment, let me share my thoughts. I visited a BPS north of Detroit and if their selection is any indication of what they’d offer northern anglers, you’ll be better off with what Austin recommended. It was a completely different experience compared to the BPS here in Shreveport. Everything on the shelf was geared toward fish like walleye, muskie, and pike. They had some bass stuff, sure, and even some panfish-related items, but you’re asking for one thing and you may end up getting a completely different store than you expect. A Gander Mountain in Indiana had more of what I needed as a bass angler. I’m just glad I have places like Academy Sports around here, in addition to a few small tackle shops.
Thinking about it as I fell asleep last night, a BPS could work for the MOA, but I still don’t think it would inherently work for MN anglers. It would be a decent attraction for the mall. I don’t think catch and release bass fishing is as big up here as walleye and people fishing for food in general (could be totally wrong).
Both Gander and Dick’s don’t do it for me. The fishing section is a tiny fraction of the store and doesn’t offer nearly the selection I’ve seen at BPS. As an example, I’m a big fan of Zoom plastics and BPS offers pretty much their entire product line while Gander and Dick’s only offer a few dozen choices. Cabela’s is better, but too far away for Metro residents (unless you happen to live near Rogers).
The way I judge it is that I could spend a good 5-6 hours at BPS (even Cabela’s) perusing their fishing section. At Gander’s and Dick’s, it would take me an hour at most.
Comparing BPS or any brick and mortar store to TackleWarehouse is unfair. TW is an Internet store and will always have better selection and be able to beat the prices of a brick and mortar store.
While I’m a bass fisherman personally, having a BPS here would be good for anglers in general no matter which species they target. Walleye would certainly be the focus here, but there are plenty of bass anglers to bring good product selection for our kind.
It’s not so much I want a BPS at the Mall, but a BPS somewhere in Minnesota. I only mention the Mall because they are slated to be part of the (non-existent) Phase II. If I could choose a location for them, I would pick the Northern edge of the Metro. There’s plenty of land, it’s on the way out of town for weekend cabin-ers, and well, it’s close to me.
It just seems to me that in the state with the highest per capita boat owners in the country, BPS is missing out on a great opportunity.
Wow… it is a shame that they didn’t jump right in and take they space. Would be great to have a Bass Pro shop nice and close.
Maybe someday… I’ll keep my hopes high!
I too would like to see a BPS here in Minnesota. At first I wondered if it made sense to have both Cabelas and a BPS here. But after my uncle took me to their local BPS in Kansas City, Missouri I now see the light. The selection was fantastic! I agree about Gander and Dicks. I hardly ever go to Dicks unless they are having a good sale. Gander used to be good to find some of the more hard to find things but not so much anymore.
I miss Sportsmans Warehouse. That place was an incredible fishing store far ahead of Cabelas as far as a fishing departmet.
I would most definitely have to agree with you on that one, Garett. While it was a little further for me to get to, I had no trouble making the drive. When I was looking for a specific spinning reel, they were the only ones in town that carried it. And they had an amazing wall of plastics. I miss them as well.
Yea that’s all I want when looking for some fishing gear, to dredge through the chaos and crime filled MoA.
little bird says BPS is coming to the much disputed land that is being annexed buy proctor mn…….