Bass Pro Shop is Open in Sevierville!

More than 240 sales associates helped manager, Jim Osborne to ready the 135,000 square-foot super store for its first customer today, November 20, 2005. Inside the store the Starbuck’s coffee counter as well as the Tracker boat and ATV dealership have their own set of employees to train for the grand opening.

The store opened at 9 a.m. this morning with a host of celebrities scheduled during the Evening for Conservation, which will start at 6 this evening. NASCAR driver Kerry Earnhardt, fishermen Bill Dance, Jimmy Houston, Jason Quinn Wally Marshall and Tim Horton, and former University of Tennessee Titan football stars will be on hand.

Once the Evening for Conservation begins, 10 percent of all sales will go to the “More Fish” campaign of the National Fish Habitat Initiative.

The store is designed to look like a lodge, with a wood interior, and a mezzanine overlooking the main floor with a view of the large fireplace. A huge fresh water aquarium of 18,000 gallons and a 7,000 gallon trout stream will be featured here. In addition to the Starbucks counter, an Islamorada Fish restaurant is planned to open in the spring and it will feature a 13,000 gallon salt-water aquarium behind the bar.

Also on the first floor, customers will find fishing and marine goods, apparel, gifts, sunglasses, marine technology and the Tracker dealership. The mezzanine will house hunting supplies including bow
or gun, camping, footwear and a rifle arcade with 50 animated targets and a seminar room that can hold up to 20 people.

The intersection where the Bass Pro Shop is located is at exit 407 off Interstate 40, and to date there is something interesting going on at three corners of the intersection. The Smokies Baseball arena is across the street and the new Heritage Log Home display room and factory is also located here. This is the exit that most visitors who are coming to the Smokies will get off to go into Sevierville, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg and we will just hope that the alternate routes that are on the drawing board for the area will get completed quickly to aid the traffic tie-ups that are so prevalent here currently.