Jeff Woodhouse
Moaning Marlow Meldrew
Just whilst seeing other threads about shops, my wife is in America just now, California to be exact, and before she went she asked if I wanted anything.
Oh boy, Santa has never ever been given such a list, but after cutting it down to a nice Shimano baitcasting reel and soem Power Pro line and a few other bits, she went for them yesterday to a local Bass Pro shop.
Say local, 40 miles away, but that's Americans for you, they'll travel. It's the first time she's been, I never have, but my my daughter (lives out there) explained to me what it was like.
OK, Bass Pro shops were founded on fishing, but now sell guns and camping equipment, home and cabin furniture and all manner of stuff. This store she went to is big, I mean B-I-G! It's over three floors and from what my daughter says is as big as our local Asda supermarket and that's a fair old size.
The tackle is in the basement and there's a huge tank containing all sorts of freshwater fish that goes to the ground (1st in USA) floor where it's a pool. The lift (or elevator) runs up the side of the tank even!
Outside there's a pool stocked with fish where they hold demonstrations in casting and there's shooting galleries and all sorts of things going on. Cup of tea? Nah, over there they have a coffee shop and restaurant, you can spend all day in there and buy a boat if you want.
Compared to British tackle stores, we can't hold a candle to the Yanks. Our attitude to the sport is often, spend as little as you can, whereas the Yanks treat it as more important than life or death. IT IS LIFE!
Dreaming apart, do you think that a huge superstore for all outdoor sports could work in this country? The Decathlon stores, and some of them are huge like the one in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France, are pretty popular over in Europe and they were hoping to gain a foothold in Britain. I don't think it worked though.
---------- Post added at 11:30 ---------- Previous post was at 10:56 ----------
Found some pictures of the very store -
Do you think we'd get these crowds?
This must be the indoor tank, so they mislead me into thinking it formed a pool on the ground floor, but still impressive!
Want a boat?
Choose a reel.
Stroll around
Have a bite to eat.
Now compare with your tackle shop. We have a l-o-n-g way to go.
Oh boy, Santa has never ever been given such a list, but after cutting it down to a nice Shimano baitcasting reel and soem Power Pro line and a few other bits, she went for them yesterday to a local Bass Pro shop.
Say local, 40 miles away, but that's Americans for you, they'll travel. It's the first time she's been, I never have, but my my daughter (lives out there) explained to me what it was like.
OK, Bass Pro shops were founded on fishing, but now sell guns and camping equipment, home and cabin furniture and all manner of stuff. This store she went to is big, I mean B-I-G! It's over three floors and from what my daughter says is as big as our local Asda supermarket and that's a fair old size.
The tackle is in the basement and there's a huge tank containing all sorts of freshwater fish that goes to the ground (1st in USA) floor where it's a pool. The lift (or elevator) runs up the side of the tank even!
Outside there's a pool stocked with fish where they hold demonstrations in casting and there's shooting galleries and all sorts of things going on. Cup of tea? Nah, over there they have a coffee shop and restaurant, you can spend all day in there and buy a boat if you want.
Compared to British tackle stores, we can't hold a candle to the Yanks. Our attitude to the sport is often, spend as little as you can, whereas the Yanks treat it as more important than life or death. IT IS LIFE!
Dreaming apart, do you think that a huge superstore for all outdoor sports could work in this country? The Decathlon stores, and some of them are huge like the one in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France, are pretty popular over in Europe and they were hoping to gain a foothold in Britain. I don't think it worked though.
---------- Post added at 11:30 ---------- Previous post was at 10:56 ----------
Found some pictures of the very store -
Do you think we'd get these crowds?
This must be the indoor tank, so they mislead me into thinking it formed a pool on the ground floor, but still impressive!
Want a boat?
Choose a reel.
Stroll around
Have a bite to eat.
Now compare with your tackle shop. We have a l-o-n-g way to go.
Last edited: