SAYREVILLE, NJ — Wednesday is the big day. The brand-new Bass Pro Shop right off the Garden State Parkway and Driscoll Bridge in Sayreville will have its grand opening tomorrow.
Festivities kick off at 5 p.m. with a singing of the National Anthem by rising country music star Celeste Kellogg, followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 6 p.m. NASCAR legend Martin Truex Jr. will be there, and fishing legend Charlie Evans, prize-winning bass fishermen Ott DeFoe and Jimmy Houston, host of "Jimmy Houston Outdoors" and George Poveromo, host of "George Poveromo's World of Saltwater Fishing."
All will be on site until 8 p.m. Wednesday, greeting fans and posing for photos. Bass Pro Shops founder and billionaire CEO Johnny Morris, 78 and who lives in Springfield, Missouri, is rumored to even stop by.
Wednesday, Nov. 11 is Veterans' Day and veterans are invited to stop by their VIP Veterans Tent for special giveaways and opportunities to honor those who served. The store has veterans' parking spaces near its front entrance.
More than 4,000 people are expected for Wednesday's grand opening, and the store will be busing people down from Woodbridge Center Mall and the South Amboy ferry terminal. There will be overflow parking in the Epic Church parking lot next door.
Select New Jersey media outlets were invited for a behind-the-scenes tour Tuesday of what the new Bass Pro looks like inside.
Their Sayreville store is very big; 200,000 square feet. While this isn't the largest Bass Pro Shop in the country (that title goes to their signature store in Springfield, Missouri, which is three stories), this is the largest single-story Bass Pro Shop in the country.
"We chose this location for its proximity to all the major highways, but also for its central location in a state that really has a huge outdoor enthusiast community," said Alex Rusanov, general manager of the Sayreville store and who led the media tour Tuesday. "New Jersey has a huge fishing and boating community, with the Raritan River and the Atlantic Ocean right outside our front door. And there are also many people in New Jersey who enjoy camping and just getting outside."
The company says they don't just want to be a hunting/fishing/outdoors store: They want to be a destination for families to visit all across the area. That's why Morris built a massive aquarium inside, and a sting ray tank where children will be invited to touch the rays.
"We want this to be more than retail: We want this to be a destination store where people will spend hours," said Rusanov. "Anytime we open a new Bass Pro Shop, our hope is always to introduce more people to the outdoors, especially kids and young people."
Starting Thursday, the day after their grand opening, they will have a holiday village in one section of the store and Santa Claus will be on site, and will be greeting and taking photos with children.
The Sayreville Bass Pro Shop has a restaurant with a liquor license, a bowling alley and arcade games, but the restaurant and bowling lanes are not ready to open yet. They are hoping it will open before the end of the year. The restaurant will be called The Flemish Cap, which is an area of famous fishing grounds in the North Atlantic off Canada. It's a place where the warm Gulf Stream meets the very cold Labrador current; it attracts big fish and only the most expert deep-sea fishermen venture there.
The arcade games are up and running.
The store sells guns and hunting rifles in the back.
How much did it cost to build the Sayreville Bass Pro Shop? The company is not saying, with general manager Rusanov saying he "doesn't know." However, the Bass Pro Shop is the anchor store of what is planned to become Riverton, a 400+ townhome community. Riverton was granted more than $400 million in tax credits from the state under Gov. Phil Murphy.
Morris started Bass Pro Shops in 1972 in an 8-square-foot space in his father's liquor store in Springfield, Missouri. Today, he runs an empire of more than 180 Bass Pro Shops and Cabela stores across the United States and Canada.
Schedule for the grand opening Wednesday, Nov. 11:
5 p.m. Singing by Celeste Kellogg
6 p.m. Ribbon cutting
Appearances by fishing legend Charlie Evans, 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr., 2021 MLF Bass Pro Tour REDCREST Champion and 2019 Bassmaster Classic Champion Ott DeFoe, two-time Bassmaster Angler of the Year, 2002 Bass Fishing Hall of Fame Inductee and host of "Jimmy Houston Outdoors" Jimmy Houston, George Poveromo, host of "George Poveromo's World of Saltwater Fishing," Brian "Pigman" Quaca and Junie Quaca, husband and wife, hunters and television hosts of "Pigman: The Series," and Rick Clunn, 2022 Bass Fishing Hall of Fame inductee.
Plus, PAW Patrol characters for the kids. Celebs will be available for meet and greets and autographs until 8 p.m.
Fifteen percent of sales on most items Wednesday night will be donated to local conservation organizations here in New Jersey. Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's CLUB Members receive 10 percent off almost everything in-store Nov. 11-15. Customers will enjoy exclusive giveaways and deals throughout the weekend. Daily door prizes will be given to the first 200 families through the door on Thursday, Nov. 12 through Saturday, Nov. 14.
Normal store hours will be 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday through Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday. The store will also have a service center for boats, motors and ATVs/UTVs, with certified technicians, parts and accessories.
The Sayreville Bass Pro Shops will also showcase President George H.W. Bush's personal offshore fishing boat Fidelity V, as part of a special tribute to American fishing presidents and their role in supporting conservation.
Starting Thursday, Nov. 12, the store will have a Santa's Wonderland, where families can meet Santa in store and receive a free 4x6 studio-quality photo with Santa.
Here's Celeste Kellogg's most famous song, "There's a Beach Somewhere:"
stores.basspro.com/us/nj/sayreville/1-bass-pro-dr.html
Massive Luxury Townhome Complex 'Riverton' Coming To Sayreville
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