Bass Pro Shop Opens New Outdoors Store Feb 19 in New Hampshire
OutdoorHub 01.30.14
Bass Pro Shops Sportsman’s Center in Hooksett salutes area’s diverse landscapes and abundant wildlife.
With some of the largest mountains on the East Coast, and major rivers such as the Merrimack, Piscataqua, and Connecticut, New Hampshire offers one outdoor adventure after another. The new Bass Pro Shops Sportsman’s Center in Hooksett is a tribute to New Hampshire’s natural beauty, outdoor traditions, and abundant wildlife. The store will open Wednesday, Feb. 19, after a ribbon-cutting ceremony that begins at 6 p.m.
The 139,000-square-foot Hooksett Bass Pro Shops, located at 2 Commerce Drive, offers something for everyone who enjoys the outdoors, whether it’s camping, fishing, hunting, boating, and more. It will outfit the area’s outdoor sportsmen and women, in addition to the many people who visit New Hampshire to enjoy the state’s natural resources.
The store’s imagery, murals, and displays reflect the region’s geography and wildlife populations. From mountain vistas and sparkling waterfalls to birch tree forests and rushing trout streams; vast New England-Acadian timberlands, the Merrimack Valley and the seacoast region; from deer and moose, bear and bobcats, turkey and ducks—all find their place inside the store.
Bass Pro Shops – Store, Museum, Art Gallery, Entertainment and More
Bass Pro Shops uniquely designed, award-winning stores are often considered to be part museum, art gallery, antique store and aquarium, and centers for conservation education and fun. They also offer the area’s largest selection of high-quality outdoor gear as well as a staff of dedicated professionals who promote the outdoor lifestyle and live it as well. In fact, Bass Pro Shops has been voted best in delivering service excellence two years in a row by J.D. Power and Associates.
Using many area artifacts, antiques, period pictures, state record wildlife mounts and memorabilia, the store becomes a living museum of the region and its hunting, fishing, camping and other outdoor legacies.
Learn About Bass Pro Shops Dedication to Conservation
Since the beginning, Bass Pro Shops’ Founder Johnny Morris has been dedicated to inspiring people, especially youth and families, to love, enjoy and conserve the great outdoors. That commitment, demonstrated over the course of several decades, is a big reason why Bass Pro Shops is known as the outdoor industry’s corporate conservation leader. Bass Pro Shops’ has partnered with and supports the efforts of many conservation organizations that work to conserve and manage the nation’s natural resources. The company’s key conservation initiatives include fish and wildlife habitat improvements, conservation and outdoor skills education, improving water quality and quality of our lakes and springs, and conservation advocacy.
The Conservation Partner Wall, which is located near the checkouts at the Hooksett Bass Pro Shops Sportsman’s Center, reflects that commitment to conservation with a display showcasing the logos of national conservation groups that Bass Pro Shops partners with.
“The people of our company believe very strongly that the future of our industry, the sports we serve, and the sports we personally enjoy are absolutely more dependent upon how we manage our natural resources, or conservation, than anything else,” said Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris. “It is far more important than any catalog we mail, any new store we open, or any new product our vendor creates.”
Decorating With Nature in Mind
Hand-painted murals wrap the store’s interior and depict familiar scenes of the region. One gets the sense of traveling through New Hampshire’s landscape as the murals transport the viewer through a series of panoramic vistas—all beautifully replicated with the stroke of an artist’s brush. Through the use of special lighting techniques, the murals take on a living, breathing quality.
Customers will enter the store through a birch tree forest. The lobby, which is designed to resemble an old hunting lodge’s trophy room, features a large, stacked rock fireplace. Vintage photos of area New Englanders enjoying outdoor activities, antique gear, and wildlife mounts complete the lobby.
Two fighting moose, antlers locked in a death grip, are displayed above the turnstiles as you enter the store. The moose display is on loan from the “Forever Locked” Moose Foundation.
Other murals and dioramas throughout the store include:
- A mural of Lake Winnipesaukee, as viewed from Mount Morgan, is featured in the fishing department. The lake scene transitions into the Merrimack River where smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, chain pickerel, pike, and Atlantic salmon are displayed.
- A mural of the Ammonoosuc River is the backdrop of the fly shop department. Brook trout, rainbow trout and brown trout are featured in a 3-D diorama.
- In the camping department, the Franconia Notch State Park and Sentinel Pine Covered Bridge is represented in a mural.
- The White Mountain National Forest mural in the hunting department, focuses on the Presidential Mountain range as viewed from the Mount Washington Valley. The Flume Cascade waterfall is also pictured. Black bear, white-tailed deer, moose, and eastern turkeys are also on display in the hunting department.
The murals are unique in the fact that what starts out many times as a simple painting extends into an actual fish or wildlife mount or some other property creating a 3-D effect.
A 13,000-gallon freshwater aquarium is a focal point of the store and will be stocked with more than 150 fish native to the area such as striped bass, black/white crappie, lake sturgeon, rainbow trout, freshwater drum, northern pike, walleye and channel catfish.
Wildlife Exhibits Showcase New Hampshire Species
Museum quality wildlife exhibits and dioramas are seen throughout the store. At any moment visitors could expect to come upon a flock of wild turkeys, bear emerging from a stand of trees, beaver working on a dam or a moose standing in a bog.
Mallard, northern pintail, and green-winged teal in addition to Canada geese —all are scattered throughout the exhibits and imagery of the store.
Bass Pro Shops dedication to detail is evident wherever visitors look as artisans work to create a visual style unique to that store, including handcrafted ornate metal fire screen doors, iron railings, sconces and more.
The Merchandise Matches Local Shoppers’ Needs
But the attention to detail doesn’t stop with store design and imagery elements. The same consideration is given to merchandise selection. Visitors will have the area’s largest array of freshwater rods, reels and fishing accessories to choose from – all specially selected for the area.
The White River Fly Shop, featuring antique and collectible fly fishing memorabilia, has a vast selection of the latest in fly fishing gear. Experts will continue the art of hand-tying flies on site and assist customers in making the perfect selection.
In the hunting department, customers will find an equally impressive array of hunting clothing and gear while the archery department offers a bow set-up shop and a 20-yard archery range.
More than a hunting and fishing store, visitors also will find items perfect for camping, hiking, outdoor cooking, bird watching or whatever their outdoor pleasures may be. A gift and nature center offers a variety of items such as:
• Artwork
• Lamps
• Bird feeders
• Furniture
• Home decorating items
• Gifts for the holidays
• Cooking accessories such as cookbooks, spices, grills, and jerky making items.
A wide selection of men’s and women’s footwear and apparel, featuring popular brands including Columbia, North Face, Bob Timberlake, and RedHead, are also available.
The marine and boat center displays a full range of boats fromTracker Marine, the world’s largest manufacturer of fishing boats. From big water boats to small fishing boats, canoeing and even kayaking, customers will find exactly what they need to have fun on the water with selections from Tracker, Nitro, Tahoe, Sun Tracker, Mako, Ascend and more. An on-site, state-of-the-art boat service center with three service bays also will be available for customers’ convenience for boat rigging as well as a full-time master service technician. In addition, Bass Pro Shops is the nation’s leading Arctic Cat dealer.
Bass Pro Shops Sportsman’s Center has hired 200 – 250 associates from the Hooksett area. In addition, the store will offer free outdoor skills workshops throughout the year for adults, kids and families that will help maximize outdoor fun by teaching new skills and improving existing ones.
A special Evening for Conservation to help benefit area conservation groups will take place the night before the official grand opening. This exciting, celebrity-packed event is free and open to the public. Information regarding this event will be available soon. For more information regarding the Hooksett Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World visit http://www.basspro.com/Hooksett.
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