Bass Pro Shops will celebrate the opening of store No. 34 on Thursday and the newest addition to Branson Landing. The new Bass Pro Shops White River Outpost will serve as an "anchor" store for Branson Landing, a $420 million public-private development on the city's downtown Taneycomo lakefront, which opened last month.
Branson Communications Director Jerry Adams said the city has anxiously awaited Bass Pro’s opening. “We are very thrilled for Bass Pro’s opening here in Branson, because of its reputation as an outstanding outdoor retailer,” Adams said. “We believe it will be a major asset to the Landing and will be a great draw for people.”
According to officials with Bass Pro Shops, the Branson Landing facility will be part museum, part art gallery, part education, conservation and entertainment center. Because of its location on Lake Taneycomo, it will feature an operating marina, guide service, boat rental and boat service center, along with an 11,255-square-foot floating White River Fish Company restaurant. The floating restaurant building has been moved south of its former location as Dimitri's restaurant.
Store officials also said the Branson facility has been crafted to replicate earlier buildings that once stood on the banks of the White River. Aged, recycled beams and metal from old buildings have been used in the construction. The main area of the store will feature heavy timber, vaulted spaces with light coming in, an Ozarks trout pool aquarium and a mural depicting the Ozarks outdoors. The store will also feature a log-framed fly fishing shop, which will be filled with record fish mounts and historic photographs and artifacts to celebrate trout fishing in southwest Missouri and northern Arkansas.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at 9 a.m. on Thursday. The store will officially open its doors for a preview celebration during the fundraising event and ribbon-cutting ceremony from 5:30-10:00 p.m. Wednesday.
A portion of the night’s sales will be donated to the “More Fish” campaign of the National Fish Initiative, while local conservation groups will sell food and drinks courtesy of Johnsonville and Coca-Cola with 100 percent of the proceeds benefiting those organizations. The event is free.
Information provided by the Branson Daily News