Outdoor-products megaretailer Bass Pro Shops has seemingly been breaking the rules of retailing for nearly 50 years and basking in the spoils as a result. With more than 95 retail stores throughout the United States and Canada, the privately held Springfield, Missouri–based company reeled in $4.6 billion in revenues during the most recent year—

nearly $50 million per store—making it the number one outdoor retailer. Going against common retail wisdom, Bass Pro Shops stores are enormous and packed to the gills with overhead. Even more daring, the chain has achieved retail success by targeting customers who hate to shop! The typical Bass Pro Shops customer is a reclusive male outdoorsman who yearns for the great outdoors but detests jostling crowds and shopping.

Over the past few decades, Bass Pro Shops has evolved from a popular mail-order catalog business into one of the nation’s hottest store retailers. Despite Bass Pro Shops oftenremote locations, customers flock to its superstores to buy hunting, fishing, and outdoor gear. More than 120 million people visit a Bass Pro Shops store every year—almost double the number that attended a game put on by the NFL, NBA, and MLB combined. In a true display of “destination retail,”

customers drive an average of more than 50 miles to get to a Bass Pro Shops store (some drive hundreds of miles) and stay an average of two hours. Schools, churches, and senior centers even send in people by the busload......................................

Questions 1. Define Bass Pro Shops’s targeting strategy. Does it provide a truly differentiated experience?
2. Describe how Bass Pro Shops became the nation’s leading outdoor retailer based on the retail marketing mix.
3. Based on the major types of retailers, how would you classify Bass Pro Shops?

4. How is it possible that Bass Pro Shops was succeeding while Cabela’s was floundering?
5. Was it a good idea for Bass Pro Shops to acquire Cabela’s?
Explain.