Opening Day for Bass Pro Reels 'em In

By Kathleen Baydala
kbaydala@clarionledger.com

Brian Albert Broom/TheClarion-Ledger Hundreds of shoppers line up in Bass Pro Shops' parking lot for their first look at the new Pearl location on Wednesday.

PEARL — David and Ashley Davis of Lucedale woke up at 4:30 Wednesday morning so they could make the 2 1/2-hour drive to Pearl.

Bracing against the brisk morning, the Davis family and its visiting exchange student waited in line nearly two hours for the opening of Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World.

"I wanted the girls to see this," David Davis said, gesturing toward his 5-year-old daughter Avory and 16-year-old Elisabeth Gubert from Germany.

"It's very big," Gubert said, once inside, casting her eyes up at the second story archery range.

At 9 a.m., Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World opened its doors to hundreds of waiting shoppers.

Brian Albert Broom/TheClarion-Ledger An estimated 1,400 people entered Bass Pro Shops during the first hour of its opening Wednesday. By 7 p.m., that number stood at 10,000.

"I've been waiting for this for two years," said Ken Tree, who was the first person through the doors.

Tree, 47, of Madison said being first in line was more important than sleep.

He arrived at the store about 7 a.m. after leaving work at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

Brian Albert Broom/TheClarion-Ledger Tony and Shannon Moak of Brookhaven shop at Bass Pro Shops' new store in Pearl on Wednesday morning. "We're like kids in a candy store," Tony Moak said.

He had been awake since 8 a.m. Tuesday.

As a reward for his patience, the store's manager gave him a gift card.Kenneth Brown, 31, of McComb said he took off work Wednesday to be at Bass Pro Shops' opening day.

"I'm looking for reels," said Brown, whose passion for bass fishing began 20 years ago when his dad taught him how.

Like Tree and the Davis family, Brown was in line shortly after 7 a.m."I love Bass Pro Shops," he said "I've been to the one in Bossier (City) and the one in Atlanta."

Store officials estimated 1,400 people entered Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World during the first hour of its grand opening.By 2 p.m., roughly 5,000 had passed through its doors.

By 7 p.m., more than 10,000 customers had been to the store.

"The crowd's been steady in and out," general manager Pat Renegar said Wednesday afternoon. "Our grand opening is tonight and tomorrow, and I think it will get busier over the weekend."By nightfall, the line to get in had formed again.

More than 500 people were waiting to enter the store an hour after its official opening at 6 p.m.The number of customers inside had exceeded the maximum allowed under the fire code.

The company was donating 10 percent of sales from 6-9 p.m. to National Fish Habitat Foundation. Also on hand were bass anglers Bill Dance and Jimmy Houston, NASCAR driver Kerry Earnhardt and former Ole Miss and New Orleans Saints quarterback Archie Manning.

David Gray, promotions manager at Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World in Bossier City, La., said his store saw roughly 50,000 during its three-day grand opening in November 2003."We're hoping you all exceed our numbers," Gray said.

Bossier City, which is near Shreveport in northwest Louisiana, has a population of more than 56,000. Pearl has more than 21,000 but is considered a suburb of Jackson, which has a population of about 184,000, according to the 2000 U.S. Census.Despite the crowds, traffic was limited to the parking lot. As of 4 p.m. Wednesday, Pearl police had no major snarls, jams or wrecks to report.

Pearl Police Chief Bill Slade said the department stationed five cars around the store Wednesday morning and seven that night just in case.

"I believe there will be increased traffic, especially over the weekend, but it won't be anything a little patience won't take care of," Slade said.The anticipation of Bass Pro Shops' opening has been building for a long time.

Company officials announced in summer 2003 it would open a 130,000-square-foot facility here. A series of delays pushed the opening, which originally was scheduled for spring, back until Wednesday."It's been elbow-to-elbow," said Dean Davis, promotions manager for the Pearl store. "There are three times as many people as I thought would be here on a Wednesday."

The store employs 225 people and is expected to draw 2.5 million visitors annually to Pearl.

Sales figures from Wednesday's opening were not made available.