New Bass Pro Shop opens today

[mattplapp]

Your correct, price on items can hurt the little guy sometime, but if they run their business in a way that's profitable and offer a service to customers that is needed, they'll be OK.

The big guys are doing what Wall Street wants, they make more money on their product before they sell it with rebates and coop advertising that guys like us can't get. They can sell most of their products for close to cost and still be Ok, but that's why this is America.

In a nitch business like this it's hard to a small store to survive against the big guys and I have heard it's tough to find a good tackle shop down in Louisville, I guess I forgot that fact when I posted.

As far as electronics, we've got all of them, Garmin, Lowrance, Navman, Hummingbird and all the accessories and chips as well. We can install anything, we have 7 Mechanics and 6 of them are Bass Fisherman so they know what to do. We're located in Florence KY, next to the Airport. We will be at the Louisville Boat Show this year to give you guys and gals a taste of our store.

Thanks,
Matt

Hope to see you all in the future

[mattplapp]

Thanks for you kind words. We try our best. We've seen a large increase in customer from down in your neck of the woods the past 6 months because of how we take care of people. Tell your son to come on up. This is time of year we love to sell boats and make deals. Those bills are painfull in the wintertime.

Thanks
Matt

[Topwater2004]

Thanks for the info Matt. I was thinking you were in fact in the Louisville area and having to compete with this new BassPro.

I guess you already were competing against them in the Cincy area.

I definetely will give you a shot when I need to buy my new unit. The boat is put up for the winter, bonus check doesn't come now until March, its 1/3 the size it used to be, etc.... I just feel lucky to have a job sometimes.

The whole economic world is changing, big guys are winning big time.

[Viper201]

For some of us saving money is a big deal,even if its .25 cents on a crankbait,thats why we love these stores plain and simple.A lot of us spend a small fortune on tackle and lures every year and if we can get the same equipment from a big chain store cheaper than we can get it from a local then the chain will win our business every time,thats just the way it is.I'm going back down friday morning and i've got a shopping list from guys i work with that are wanting the zoom soft plastics at 50% off,its hard to argue against the big stores when they're keeping some of our money in our pockets.

[Topwater2004]

Zoom 4" Tab Tail grubs, the absolute best soft plastic there is in a grub. Watermelon and Pumpkinseed are all you need.

[Dave Stewart]

Matt: Good point on the chain store vs the small business store. If we as anglers do not support the smaller tackle shops they won't be around for long....seems another BPS is opening every month. Just like Wal-Mart....there are 5 Wal-mart superstores within 25 miles of my house and I live in a rural setting. There definitely is a difference between dealing with a small tackle shop than with BPS. Last time I stopped in at the Nashville store I was asked by one of the employees working the fishing area if they could help me...I was wondering around looking some slab spoons....the guy asked me to describe what a slab spoon was....I told him if he didn't know he needed to go to work at Wal-mart...they don't know what one is either.

[Topwater2004]

Dave,

You can get some information from the smaller tackle shops, but sometimes they too are a little short on providing it. Many times I have asked at a bait shop what the bite is or pattern and can't get too much info.

It is also true that the help in these large stores lack knowledge of the sport in many cases, but lets face it those jobs are not supporting a family on minimum wage so you can't have a true professional working for $6/hr in the store.

As in your case, you are a true professional and no matter what tackle shop you go to, I doubt that the help or owner even could keep up with you on fishing knowledge. I admit that I myself don't know what a slab spoon is, but I have a good idea and could find it quickly if I worked in a tackle shop.

My goal this year was to become a better crankbait angler. I actually was a better crankbait angler 15 years ago than I am now, and was trying to get some of the skill back. Went out and bought $250 worth of what I thought would work, and had some success but never tore em' up like I do on plastics.

So what did I do, I put the cranks down again and pretty much fished plastics. Got a big full box of shiny pretty crankbaits though, looks impressive anyway.

Good luck and let me know when that Kentucky Lake tailwater bite takes off in the spring. I want to give it a shot.

topwater

[mattplapp]

Time will catch up with Bass Pro and other Big Box Retailers. Now Wall Street demands new stores to keep increasing their cash flow, but soon enough there will be too many and it will start to go the other way.

Look at Krispy Kreme. They had a small presence in our market up here in NKY and Cincinnati back in 1999, by 2003 they had a store on about every corner, donuts in every gas station and grocery store and Wall Street Loved them. But then sales flattened and started to go down because the new-ness wore off. Now today there is not 1 single stand alone Krispy Kreme in this market and their presence is minimal.

It's the American way sometimes, but I think once all the dust clears, fisherman in every market realize what you get from a local well run tackle store versus the big guys.

Happy Turkey Day,
Matt

[MikeAxsom]

I don't get out of my home area much, but last summer I drove out west on a business trip and made my first stop at a BPS. I had stopped to see if they had a particular type of ultralight rod I was looking for. I had driven about 4 hours when I pulled in and was in a notable hurry to get to a bathroom before starting to look around. I was stopped about halfway through the store by a guy who was pitching a deal on cabin rentals at Gatlinburg, TN. He was as insistant as a door-to-door Bible salesman and by the time I convinced him that I really needed to get on about my business it was almost too late for that business. On the way back through I was stopped again by someone pitching something else and had to rescue myself in order to get to the fishing rod area. I did indeed find the rod and bought it, but I may never go back into that high pressure sales environment again. Are all the BPS stores like that?

[Dave Stewart]

Jackson: Thanks for the kind words. The small tackle shops I normally frequent here at Ky Lake are pretty good about talking to folks...I know I follow up with some of my clients that I recommend a certain shop to get their baits and ask them what they thought of the shop and/or the folks there..mainly because if they don't treat my clients right I don't recommend them anymore. Haven't had much of that happen but I have had it happen and one in particular that I even suggest to my clients that they do not do business there....the folks there will tell you anything to get you to buy a lure....I hate folks that think they have to do business like that. Of course their business rep suffers in the end just as the one I mentioned has.

Sorry to hear about the luck with the crankbaits...I like to fish crankbaits too but just like all the other techniques..I have found that you don't need a whole lot of different patterns...just some of the higher percentage color patterns in different running depths. Took me years to figure that out and not go overboard on buying a lot of different baits...of course like most folks at that end of every season I will go thru my stuff acquired that year and weed out those lures that either never get thrown or don't produce on a high percentage basis...there are so many times a weird color will come out and be hot for a week or two then they never hit it again....If one looks at the lures they catch fish on most of the time they will see that a very high percentage of them have been repeaters for years and still sell well.

I don't keep up with the tailwaters bite much as I don't fish down there....not that you can't catch fish there..I just have too much lake water to cover on the other side. Hope when you come down you tear them up though and even better on some of those crankbaits you have.

[elnutsmalljaws]

Don't get me wrong, I love to go to the BSP just a much as the next guy. I am sure I will be visiting the new one soon, but hate the fact that they keep getting bigger and bigger all the time. Personal opinion only, but if companies like BSP and ESPECIALLY Wally World are not controlled by our great government of the world we will have a Monopoly on our hands soon which is completely illegal. I am only 38 but can remember when Wal-Mart had other competition in the retail world as few as 20 years ago. But slowly and surely they have disappeared one by one and if things are not controlled we will have no other retail chains to compete with WAl-Mart and Sam's Club and the Walton family will own everything. If/when this happens, all those great prices and deals that everyone gets today could be sky high prices later for we have no other options to shop for they are all out of business. I have taught my management staff that If someone starts a plant across the street from ours, and they do it better, safer, with better customer service and quality, we will be out of business in a matter of time. If you look around at today's society, you see more and more businesses especially small businesses closing up shop. Small hardware and lumber stores folding to the Home Depot's and Lowes of the worlds. Even K-Mart has pretty much shut down due to Wal-Mart. I have never met Mat Plapp or been to his store but sure wished I lived close for I know I would visit it just due to his customer service that I perceive it would represent. The way a company runs is a direct reflection of its leader. I see Matt posting items about his store and seminar's, sure it is to draw business into his facility but you can read the genuine service that he is trying to provide. I bought a new boat 2 years ago and already know if / when I buy my next new one I will certainly look him up to see what he has to offer just from the postings he has made on this sight. Bigger is not always better. Yes it may get all of us a lower price for the mass quantities that the big retail chains purchase now but what happens when that same retail chain wakes up and realizes that not only are they the Big Dog on the block but also the ONLY DOG ON THE BLOCK.

Just my opinion

Tight Lines

[TI]

What a great thread for discussion, especially having contribution from Matt Plapp giving his side of the coin. Matt's perspective is interesting and I think spot on as it relates to the long term opportunities. I believe that there is a place for both the "Big Box" and local pro shops like Plapps in our markets. It will depend on location, service and inventory when an angler chooses his destination. Personally, I will stop in Gander to pick up some items simply because I'm in the neighborhood. But, if I need something specific for bass fishing on local waters or some quality service on rods and reels, then I'll plan a trip to The Outdoorsman in Greenwood. It is a great store with great people behind the counter. Truly!! However, I can't find everything that I like there. I fish a specific lure in a specific color May through November and I can't find it anywhere but Bass Pro Shops online. So, everyone is getting a share of my spend. And honestly, The Outdoorsman or Black Hawk or Plapps or whatever local pro shop would be my first choice everytime. I think a lot of bass fishermen feel the same way.

TI