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Natural Heritage |  |
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Natural Heritage
• Conservation |
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| • Camping • Caves • Conservation • Fishing • Hills & Hollows • Hunting • Plants & Animals • Rivers & Lakes |
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| Conservation Index • Pure Ozarks: Bass Pro |
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by Joshua Heston
Looking closely at some million-dollar companies in America makes you wish you hadn't.
With Springfield-based, Ozarks-to-the-core, Bass Pro Shops, the closer you look, the better the view gets.
The Bass Pro brand has become a well-loved symbol of Heartland America's culture as well as the ethics associated with Ozarks country: hard work, common people, the outdoors.
The now-familiar widemouth bass logo is nationally recognized, visible from NASCAR hoods to Larry the Cable Guy's choice of caps.
But beneath the obvious corporate accomplishments is a very real — very Ozarks — reason for all this success.
But to understand that, you have to understand where it all began.
Johnny Morris, as a young Springfield man pursuing the dream of becoming a bass master, was a visionary.
On the road, he enjoyed access to the best fishing gear — gear that was frustratingly absent from stores in his hometown. He first approached a local department store on the south end of Springfield, asking if they would consider carrying some harder-to-find bass fisherman items.
He was turned down.
In response, Morris turned to his father, renting an eight-foot-square of space in a local liquor store, and stocking it with every fishing product he wanted to see available.
It was a very saavy move.
The liquor store was situated on a direct route to Branson fishing country. Sportsmen bound for Table Rock Lake would often stop for one reason and end up up excited by the fishing assortment they found.
It wasn't long before the question became, "Can we order this stuff"" Morris began drawing flyer pages by hand and mailing them out. Humble beginnings for a business which, today, mails over 150 million catalogs per year.
Business continued to scale upward and it wasn't long before Morris moved his Bass Pro Shop into a vacant bowling alley and then into the very department store that had turned down his request. Johnny Morris had purchased the entire shopping plaza and proceeded to develop what is now the Bass Pro Shops national headquarters.
Today, that headquarter store is Missouri's number one attraction based on annual attendance. And the number one question visitors ask upon arriving in Springfield? "Where's Bass Pro?"
So, why all the excitement?
(continued above right)
Well, each Bass Pro Shop (at the time of this article there are nearly 50) is not just a fishing store. And it's more than a resource for those interested in outdoor recreation.
Each store really is a museum — and art gallery — dedicated to the outdoors. Every new store displays, on average, 3,500 local antiques. Massive aquariums showcase only native fish species. And each interior, from the hand-painted chandeliers to the massive stonework, is made by dedicated craftsmen located in Nixa, Missouri.
The dedication to the region, and appreciation for great craftsmanship, is obvious.
Saavy business, a native workforce, and superlative craftsmanship aside, Johnny Morris' focus is conservation.
The company hosts extensive outdoor workshops through it's stores as well as partnering with Big Brothers, Big Sisters to form the Outdoor Buddies Program.
"The industry is beginning to understand that hunting and fishing is a legacy to preserve," states Larry Whiteley, manager of outdoor education. "We need to understand and appreciate the outdoors to benefit from it — and that's the bottomline for us.
"The benefits? It's hard to worry about stress and family problems or whatever, when you are out there hiking or fishing or just sitting on the bank watching a sunset. Just getting out in the creation God made for us and enjoying it. It affords perspective. It's better than a $1,000 therapy bill and anyone can do it!"
