By Kathleen Vereen Dayton, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Sep. 2--Fish hang from the ceiling and swim in a tank, while the image of a prehistoric sea turtle is stamped onto the floor of the Grand Strand's newest large-space retailer, Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World.
The giant sporting goods store officially opens today at Colonial Mall, filling an expanded and rebuilt space formerly occupied by Kmart.
It is Bass Pro's first South Carolina location and the latest big-box store to shake up the Grand Strand's dynamic retail market, which welcomed 100 new stores at Coastal Grand-Myrtle Beach in March.
Bass Pro is a very different type of anchor for Colonial Mall, which was built in 1986.
'This will make us at Colonial Mall a destination,' said Colonial Mall's general manager, Joe Perl.
Perl said the addition of Bass Pro is good for the area's retail mix, overall.
'Here at the intersection of [U.S.] 17 and [S.C.] 22, it will make this the crossroads or focal point of the north end,' Perl said.
Perl said the new anchor will benefit the mall, which has to cope with Coastal Grand, which plans to have nine new stores by the end of the year.
'For retailers looking to put in one store in the market or a second location in the market, Colonial Mall certainly will be on top of their radar screen,' Perl said.
Bass Pro's concept of incorporating merchandise with entertainment is a good indication that cash registers and price tags are no longer enough in today's retail world.
Bass Pro Shops is almost twice the size of other large sporting goods stores in the area and will contain a restaurant, Islamorada Fish Co., which opens in October. The store and restaurant together will employ more than 400 people, making it among the area's largest private employers. Visitors can gawk at the store's 11,000-gallon indoor aquarium and approach the store's entrance by crossing a bridge over a moat.
Only time will tell how the massive and lavishly decorated retailer will impact other area sporting goods stores.
Managers of several local sporting goods stores, including Dick's Sporting Goods, Sports Authority and Boaters World, declined comment on the opening of Bass Pro Shops.
Existing retailers should survive, said Ellen Tolley, spokeswoman for the National Retail Federation.
Destination retailers like Bass Pro attract visitors who are likely to shop and eat out at other venues as well, she said.
'It's not always bad news when a new retailer moves in,' Tolley said. 'In fact, new retailers can draw from a larger geographic range and can help out everyone. Sometimes existing retailers get a little nervous when a new player comes to town, but they might find it helps their sales.' Nathan Kelly, vice president and general manager of Savannah Mall in Savannah, Ga., said that happened when Bass Pro Shops anchored there last summer.
'They've had really a fantastic effect on our entire property, because of their drawing power,' Kelly said. 'They've increased the market for us from the typical 30-mile market area to at least 50 miles and probably further than that.' Before Bass Pro opened, Savannah Mall was down to one anchor from four. The mall is only four miles from Oglethorpe Mall, which was more established, Kelly said. After Bass Pro opened, small shop sales at Savannah Mall increased 29 percent.
'Since [it opened], we've also secured a deal with Target,' Kelly said. 'This is going to be the first Target in the market.
That's causing quite a stir.
Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World at Colonial Mall joins a retail cluster that has emerged over the past few years around the intersection of U.S. 17 and S.C. 22, a route completed in May 2001.
The shopping hub includes Wal-Mart and Tanger Factory Outlet Centers. A new strip center, Arcadian Shores Commons, is under construction.
Earlier this year, Dick's Sporting Goods at Coastal Grand became the latest addition to the area's sporting goods scene. The 55,000 square-foot store opened in March.
Coastal Grand's general manager, Steve McGhee, thinks the 11-mile distance between the two malls assures plenty of customers for both.
'We're more centrally located on the main artery of [U.S.] 501 coming into Myrtle Beach,' McGhee said. 'We tend to get more tourist traffic, being in the location we're in.' McGhee was formerly general manager of Colonial Mall and helped secure Bass Pro as a tenant.
'Bass Pro is a good tenant. I think they'll do well there and we wish them luck,' he said.
'As far as the market goes, there's plenty of room in the market for them.'
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