The news comes eight months after its publicly held competitor, Cabela's, announced plans to build a 150,000-sf store on 38.5 acres of land near the Boomtown Reno casino and hotel off Interstate 80 near the California border. Bass Pro Shops president Jim Hagale says the Reno store will be its "grandest" to date, but a company source says the square footage of the proposed store has not yet been determined. The flagship of the company's 33-store portfolio--in its hometown of Springfield, MO--has more than 300,000 sf of retail floor area. Its Las Vegas store is about half that size, which is closer to the stores' average size.

Bass Pro Shops typically include laser arcades, climbing walls, archery ranges, fine gun rooms and outdoor education classes. The Reno store also will include a boat showroom and service center.

Station Casinos has optioned the land for the project from Bayer Properties Inc. If approved, the project will rise adjacent to Bayer's Summit Sierra, a 650,000-sf open-air upscale shopping center that is part of a 110-acre mixed-use development at the south end of the city. In so doing, Station hopes to have the same kind of success it has had with Green Valley Ranch Resort, Casino and Spa in Henderson, NV, which was developed adjacent to The District at Green Valley Ranch, a mixed-use retail, office and residential development.