Bass Pro Shop Will Showcase An Extraordinary Opening
Posted by caperdew on October 12, 2008
The first Northern California Bass Pro Shop will be opening on Wednesday. Based on other store openings, more than 10,000 people are expected to attend Wednesday’s pre-grand opening celebration. Bass Pro Shop is expecting to draw guests from up to 250 miles away for the five-day event. Read the following to find out more about the extraordinary Bass Pro showroom.
Bass Pro may lure 50,000 to Manteca in five days
Dennis Wyatt
Managing Editor
Manteca Bulletin
The biggest party Manteca has ever seen starts Wednesday at 8 a.m.
That’s when Bass Pro Shops opens its first Northern California store as the anchor in the Promenade Shop at Orchard Valley at the lifestyle center being built at Union Road and the Highway 120 Bypass.
Store representatives are projecting in excess of 50,000 guests in a five-day period go through the 120,000-square-foot store to celebrate the store’s opening.
Based on other store openings, more than 10,000 people will attend Wednesday’s pre-grand opening celebration.
It is such a huge crowd – many people spend four to six hours in the store – that the original opening time of 3 p.m. Wednesday worried Caltrans so much about the potential for a massive grid-lock on the Highway 120 Bypass just as the afternoon commute gets underway that Bass Pro Shops agreed to open the doors Wednesday at 8 a.m.
Official ribbon cutting activities are at 5 p.m. and the big draw – the “Evening of Conservation” to raise funds for area conservation groups – starts at 6 p.m.
To put the store’s draw in perspective, the implosion of the four 15-story Spreckels Sugar silos 12 years ago drew just over 9,000 spectators to watch what was a 15-second event. Concerns about dust – which never materialized – prompted the CHP to temporarily close the Highway 120 Bypass.
The biggest events in Manteca – the Crossroads Street Fair in April and the Pumpkin Fair in October – have had record turnout for the two-day events that came to just under 35,000 people. Most people spend a couple of hours at the street fairs. By comparison, Bass Pro Shop’s average visitors spend between four and six hours.
Bass Pro Shop is expecting to draw guests from up to 250 miles away for the five-day event.
Bass Pro representatives noted the store is a tribute to the grandeur of Yosemite National Park, and the history and culture of California’s Central Valley and its people complete with 3,500 area artifacts, antiques, pictures, mounts and memorabilia.
Hand-painted murals depict scenes of California ’s picturesque countryside from Emerald Bay to Muir Wood, to Gray Lodge State Wildlife Refuge and Sutter Buttes, to the California coast and Sierra range. The décor includes Spectacular waterfalls, lush forests, pristine mountain lakes and beaches.
Massive log and rock work frame the Grand Entrance. Inside, rustic wood floors, antique pine wall finishes, and vaulted post and beam construction ceiling make up the front lobby. A fire crackles in the 18- by 15-foot moss rock double-sided fireplace and a 65-foot replica of the world’s largest tree (in volume), The General Sherman in Sequoia National Park, greets visitors.
Giant outdoor themed chandeliers, made by Bass Pro Shops’ own artisans, hang throughout the store. Elk, deer, raccoon, rabbit, turkey, bobcat and bear tracks are imprinted in the concrete floor. Bear, deer, sheep and other wildlife in natural and action settings are set amidst boulders on top of the 24,000-gallon fresh water aquarium.
Massive rockwork soaring up to 30 feet high above the aquarium replicates Yosemite ’s Half Dome and allows visitors to walk under the waterfall as it cascades into the fresh water aquarium
The main aquarium will be stocked with more than 120 fish native to the area including largemouth bass, striped bass, sturgeon, brook trout, rainbow trout, blue catfish, white crappie and bluegill. The trout pond will feature 20 native rainbow, brook, cut throat, golden and brown trout. Two elevators rise up behind the trout pond offering riders a bird’s-eye view of the store and all the wildlife dioramas. An antique pedestrian trestle walkway spans the second floor between the hunting and camping department.
Special displays in the store include a pictorial and memorial tribute to John Muir and the 26th United States President, Theodore Roosevelt. An avid outdoorsman, President Roosevelt promoted the conservation movement and efficient use and maintenance of natural resources. Muir, an early advocate of conservation, was instrumental in saving the Yosemite Valley, the Sequoia National Park and various other wilderness areas.
The store also features a General Store and a Fudge Shop.
There is a laser arcade themed as a remembrance to one of California ’s most significant events-the Gold Rush. Remnants of an old gold mining community have been taken over by a bevy of wild ‘critters.’ The arcade features 56 animated laser targets and each laser rifle costs 50 cents for 20 shots.
The Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World in Manteca will also include a Conservation Room celebrating local conservation groups. The room will accommodate 120 people for various civic, educational or conservation functions.
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FAST FACTS |
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• WHAT: Bass Pro Shops • WHERE: Union Road at the Highway 120 Bypass • WHEN: Wednesday, Oct. 15. Doors open at 8 a.m., ribbon cutting at 5 p.m., “Evening of Conservation” starts at 6 p.m. • TIPS: Don’t take Union Road to reach Bass Pro Shops either Wednesday or the following four days. Take Main Street or Airport Way to Woodward Avenue and approach the south side of the mall from roads off Woodward Avenue. |
Carol Perdew
(209) 239-7979
www.CentralValleyHomes.com
