Outdoor retailer Bass Pro Shops formally announced its plans to enter the Anchorage market Tuesday, saying it will open a 100,000-square-foot Mountain View store in time for 2013’s fishing season.
In a Tuesday statement, the chain praised the new store’s location -- in the Glenn Square Shopping Center, on the Glenn Highway at its intersection with Mountain View Drive -- as convenient to both Merrill Field and anyone headed north from Anchorage for backcountry recreation. About 60,000 square feet of retail space at the shopping center is being fast-tracked for expansion to accommodate the store.
About three to four acres of land by the location, slated to become one of the chain’s “Outpost” flagship stores, is expected to be developed as a wetlands nature center. Bass Pro Shops says both the nature center and the store will “pay tribute to Alaska’s great outdoor heritage.”
“We are very excited to bring Bass Pro Shops to Anchorage and Alaska,” the chain’s founder, Johnny Morris, said in its statement. “This highly visible and accessible location, makes it the perfect place for us to build what we hope will become our premier flagship ‘Outpost’ store to better serve the sportsmen of Alaska and the millions of tourists that come to Alaska for the adventure of a lifetime.”
In July, competing outfitter Cabela’s announced plans to open a 100,000-square-foot store in South Anchorage, employing a projected 200 workers when it opens in spring 2014.
Contact Chris Klint
