Bass Pro Shops was founded by Johnny Morris in 1971 in Springfield, Missouri. However, its first retail outlet opened in 1972. In addition to the store, the founder also opened the Wonders of Wildlife in Springfield, Missouri. This museum and aquarium recreates a multitude of ecosystems and is considered the largest wildlife attraction in the world.
Discrimination lawsuit
In 2011, Bass Pro Shops was sued by The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for failure to hire Hispanic and Black applicants. In 2014, Bass Pro Shops appealed the lower courts ruling., but was rejected by the court. In 2016 Bass Pro Shops tried again and The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission asked the 5thcircuit court to reject Bass Pro Shops appeal on the grounds that Bass Pro Shops engaged in the practice of "reckless indifference" when it came to hiring practices of minorities. In 2017, Bass Pro Shops settled its discrimination lawsuit with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for 10.5 million. As part of the settlement, Bass Pro Shops agreed to strengthen its diversity hiring and recruiting practices by Posting job openings at schools with a significant minority population. Participate in job fairs held in communities with large minority populations. Post job openings in publications that have been historically popular with black and Hispanic audiences. Develop a diversity and inclusion section of its website that lists job opportunities and discusses inclusion efforts.
Acquisitions
In September 2017, Bass Pro Shops paid 5.5 billion to acquire competitor Cabela's. The deal was financed via preferred equity financing from Goldman Sachs and Pamplona. Goldman Sachs contributed $1.8 billion towards financing and Pamplona contributed the remainder for a total commitment of $2.4 billion. In 2019, Bass Pro Shops sold eleven of the Cabela's stores to Sansome Pacific in a sale-leaseback scheme. The acquisition of Cabela's resulted in 2,000 jobs lost in Sidney, Nebraska, Cabela's headquarter at the time of the acquisition. Sidney had a population of less than 7,000 in 2017, when the 2,000 jobs were lost. As part of Cabela's acquisition, Bass Pro Shops sold Cabela's World's Foremost Bank brand to Synovus and Capital One, a transfer of over $1 billion in assets.
Operating divisions
Retail stores
Bass Pro Shops operates retail locations in the United States, as well as in Canada. The largest flagship stores are known as Outdoor World stores. The largest store currently is the Pyramid in Memphis, Tennessee. Bass Pro Shops also hosts Outdoor Skills Workshops, teaching skills such as fly fishing, Dutch oven cooking, archery hunting with an archery range in the store, and GPS navigation.
Boat brands
Bass Pro Shops also owns White River Marine Group which manufactures and distributes boats under the brand names Ranger, Nitro, Triton, Tahoe, Tracker, Sun Tracker, Regency, Mako, and Ascend.
The NRA National Sporting Arms Museum opened in the flagship store in Springfield, Missouri on August 2, 2013. It features sporting artifacts, including some historical firearms from the NRA Museum Collection. The museum will host firearms and artwork from the Remington Arms Company factory collection, including engraved Colt revolvers of the American frontier and firearms of U.S. Presidents.
