Exterior logos and signs are up at the 85,000-square-foot, $25 million Bass Pro Shops in East Ridge, as the mega outdoor retailer moves ever closer to its summer opening date.
A rustic timber facade now covers the building's outer walls, and crews are at work pouring asphalt for the parking lot and driveways from Camp Jordan Parkway. Inside the store, muralists are working on adding signature Bass Pro Shops outdoor and wildlife art.
The main structure of a 12,000-gallon fish tank is in place. The tank will eventually hold Largemouth bass, black and white crappie, trout, hybrid stripers and catfish, among others.
"There's a lot of extensive work that goes in from a Bass Pro team that's here, that basically puts all the localization and personal touches," said Jarron Ritchie, store manager, on Tuesday. "There's hardly any wall space in here that's not painted."
Ritchie, who was announced as store manager in East Ridge earlier this year, hosted local media Tuesday morning for a sneak peek of the new store's innards, and progress.
Ritchie is a 10-year veteran with Bass Pro Shops, and previously managed a store in Nashville and just before coming to East Ridge, in Rossford, Ohio.
He is also a self-proclaimed avid bass fisherman, one of the things that made coming to East Ridge - with its proximity to national bass fishing hot spots like Chickamauga Lake in Dayton and Guntersville Lake in northwest Alabama - additionally appealing, he says.
The East Ridge Bass Pro Shops is an Outpost-class location, meaning it's a smaller-footprint store, compared to Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World stores. There are Outdoor World stores in Kodak, Tenn., near Sevierville, and a special, large Bass Pro Shops inside the Memphis Pyramid.
There is a total of six Bass Pro Shops locations in Tennessee and three in Georgia.
Ritchie said in East Ridge, the plan is to have the new store open sometime this summer, while the developers of the project, Chattanooga-based Wolftever Development, have long said they aim to get the store open to shoppers by June. Camp Jordan Parkway is scheduled to open prior to Bass Pro Shops.
The East Ridge store will host a hiring event at Camp Jordan Arena on April 11, 12 and 13, as the store seeks to fill 150 full- and part-time positions, including spots in the fishing, camping, hunting, archery, footwear, apparel, marine accessory and customer receiving departments, as well as cashiers, greeters and stockers.
The store is also looking for marine technicians, boat riggers, boat detailers and boat sales consultants for its marine department, which will offer boat service and sales. Tracker boats is a Bass Pro Shops-owned brand.
Ritchie said that in coming weeks, landscape work will start at the site, and "highway signs should start going in soon."
Contact staff writer Alex Green at agreen@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6480.