We know there are a lot of outdoorsmen in New Jersey. Bass Pro Shops is banking on it.
In what figures to be a grand celebration for hunters and anglers, Bass Pro Shops announced it will cut the ribbon on its new 200,000-square-foot Outdoor World store in Sayreville, Nov. 11.
The store will feature a nearly three-story, 80,000-gallon Shipwreck Aquarium, a deep-sea-themed restaurant with bowling lanes and President George H.W. Bush’s personal offshore fishing boat.
The event will feature NASCAR champion Martin Truex Jr., a lineup of fishing and hunting television stars and a donation of 15% of sales on most items to local conservation groups.
The store is part of the Riverton retail complex, off the Garden State Parkway near the intersection of Interstates 95 and 287. The company said it is designed to draw families and outdoor enthusiasts from across the Tri-State area.
It will be Bass Pro’s largest store on a single level, and only its second in New Jersey, after Atlantic City. The company has been hiring about 300 workers for the Sayreville location.
The store anchors Riverton, a planned $2.5 billion mixed-use redevelopment of the former National Lead site along the Raritan River. Plans for the waterfront property have called for about 2,000 homes, 1 million square feet of retail, a hotel, offices and a marina.
The aquarium is home to more than 280 fish, along with a ray touch pool and live jellyfish exhibits. The restaurant and entertainment area, The Flemish Cap, is inspired by the North Atlantic and includes casual dining, bowling and arcade games.
Along with fishing, hunting and camping gear, the store will sell boats, ATVs and side-by-sides. It also will include a Wahlburgers restaurant through a partnership with Bass Pro.
Bush’s boat, Fidelity V, will be displayed as part of a tribute to presidents who fished and supported conservation.
Festivities on Nov. 11 begin at 5 p.m. with a performance by singer-songwriter Celeste Kellogg, followed by a 6 p.m. ribbon cutting and the store opening.
Celebrity guests include four-time Bassmaster Classic champion Rick Clunn, Ott DeFoe, Jimmy Houston, George Poveromo, and Brian “Pigman” Quaca and Junie Quaca. PAW Patrol characters will be on hand for younger visitors.
The company said opening on Veterans Day has special meaning. Founder Johnny Morris’ father, John A. Morris, was a decorated World War II veteran who served in the Battle of the Bulge.
Morris started Bass Pro Shops in 1972 in an 8-square-foot space in his father’s liquor store in Springfield, Missouri. The company now says 250 million customers a year shop at its Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s stores in the U.S. and Canada.
