Don't forget about BJ's (Grill and Pub).

Who the heck fights at a Bass Pro Shop?

Come on Odessa 🫣 pic.twitter.com/yNM63QQ390

— Facts About Texas (@FactsAboutTexas) November 2, 2025

This happened at the grand opening in Odessa.

And not a single punch was landed that day! LOL

Looks like a badly scripted wrestling match!

lol it's Odessa. Not shocked.

OnlyForNow said:

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Very different stores but Gander Mtn couldn't make it. Hope this has more backing behind it and lasts longer than 5-8 years.

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Gander Mountain didn't fail because of our store. The whole company went bankrupt. Apples to oranges.

Rex Racer said:

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OnlyForNow said:

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Yes, true. But I don't think Bass Pro/Cabela's is going to keep a store that is losing money around.

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That's fair. And I agree. I'm just not going to make the assumption that it will lose money.

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I would be gob smacked shocked if it lost money here

OnlyForNow said:

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Yes, true. But I don't think Bass Pro/Cabela's is going to keep a store that is losing money around.

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You already have them losing money?

Such a great attitude towards new and exciting businesses from some folks here.

I was really hoping the trolls would spite fund books for kids. If anyone wants to donate, it is a good program and it will be cool once it gets going in Brazos County. bvil.org/donate

I emailed the city about the presentation that was given on this. No response other than the mayor who told me he forwarded it to the relevant staff. He's working on recovering. Pray for him.

I updated the numbers from my email to reflect what they have in the agenda they released yesterday. The numbers that they have put out indicate that all told, this is expected to be a roughly $2 million hit to taxpayers after 10 years.

$924k (PV of property taxes on $25.8 million in taxable value using 7% discount rate)

$779k (PV of net sales tax using 7% discount rate )

vs.

$3.667 million immediate payment to Bass Pro Shop

This isn't blighted land. The city could sell it to innumerable firms who would be happy to make money doing business here. This appears to be a really bad deal for the citizens of College Station.

College Station has a lot going for itself. If Bass Pro Shops isn't willing to be in this wonderful town without being a $2 million drain on local taxpayers, they shouldn't be here.

I believe that staff said the store would produce $20 million in taxable sales over that same 10 year period, which 1.5% comes back to the city.

And if Bass Pro does not hit the metrics in the Chapter 380 agreement, they do not get the property tax rebate. The incentives are not a blank check. They are tied to numeric targets the company has to meet.

There is also the workforce: a couple dozen jobs, plus upper management who may choose to live here.

I understand some deals in the past have been poor and deserve scrutiny. This one, at least on paper, is not just a net positive for the taxpayer. It is a net positive for the community, because it is Bass Pro Shops, and it is a store worth having here.

Edit to add: I combined total sales tax revenue without separating just the cities and have fixed the mistake.

Valen said:

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I believe that staff said the store would produce $20 million in taxable sales over that same 10 year period, which 1.5% comes back to the city.

And if Bass Pro does not hit the metrics in the Chapter 380 agreement, they do not get the property tax rebate. The incentives are not a blank check. They are tied to numeric targets the company has to meet.

There is also the workforce: a couple dozen jobs, plus upper management who may choose to live here.

I understand some deals in the past have been poor and deserve scrutiny. This one, at least on paper, is not just a net positive for the taxpayer. It is a net positive for the community, because it is Bass Pro Shops, and it is a store worth having here.

Edit to add: I combined total sales tax revenue without separating just the cities and have fixed the mistake.

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He made his math less wrong and removed the insinuation that my numbers were either intentionally misleading or sloppy (by the way, that is a great way to troll me).

But there are still some issues with Mr. Cepak's characterization of the agreement. There is no property tax rebate. The agreement, if (heaven forbid) they go through with it, involves "an operations reimbursement of $3.5million upon completion of construction, along with $167,105 in reimbursements for building permit and impact fees. Additionally, if Bass Pro Outdoor World, LLC generates at least $20million in locally taxable sales each year, the City will offer a sales tax reimbursement averaging 60percent over ten years, decreasing from 80percent to 35percent over the term."

That is, the tax reimbursement is heavily weighted to give BPS the benefit now whereas the city gets more in taxes later on. Some of the words of councilfolk and city staff have indicated to me they do not really understand why discount rates are important. So if you are ever in negotiations with the city, might try the old "I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."

It is better if people read the darned thing before spouting off on it. I am using the city's estimates. If you use $35 million as the revenue, it improves the situation to a $1.2 million loss over the 10 years. Below is a link (204 MB PDF warning). The Bass Pro Boondoggle bit starts at 9.4 [edit: page 656].

https://collegestationtx.api.civicclerk.com/v1/Meetings/GetMeetingFileStream(fileId=7429,plainText=false)

The goalposts appear to have been shifted to compare the scenario of BPS getting the deal and Corinth doing their thing vs. the city holding the land for 10 years. Counsel would have to be very stupid to do that. But they bought and refuse to sell the old Macy's so who knows.

I am all for growth, it is a good thing. What I am not for is subsidizing billion dollar companies with our local tax dollars. If you can only enter a market if you get a tax break then in reality you probably shouldn't be in that market.

EFR said:

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I am all for growth, it is a good thing. What I am not for is subsidizing billion dollar companies with our local tax dollars. If you can only enter a market if you get a tax break then in reality you probably shouldn't be in that market.

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Scenario 1: If they don't get a tax break, said company doesn't open up shop here. Therefore you do not get any taxes from them and they are not on the tax roll.

Scenario 2: If they do come here, and get a tax break, you don't get any tax money from them.

With both scenarios, you don't get any tax money from this company. But with the 2nd scenario you draw in customers who come in from out of town and spend money at a business they like. While they are here they shop at your other stores.

IMHO....The biggest perk to having a place like Bass Pro come here, is that some citizens REALLY want a Bass Pro here. So....you make your citizens happy and that is a win.

It's major retail and that always has benefits. To argue otherwise is pointless. There are also benefits to parks and people argue against those too.

Ultimately it looks like good things will win out here and Bass Pro will get a reasonable break. And we'll get a Bass Pro Shop.

It'll be a nice attraction for visiting baseball parents and families when the nearby park is complete. It'll get a lot of traffic that was already planning to be in CS anyways. Hopefully it enhances the experience so those families and teams continue to return as opposed to going to tournaments elsewhere.

techno-ag said:

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It's major retail and that always has benefits. To argue otherwise is pointless. There are also benefits to parks and people argue against those too.

Ultimately it looks like good things will win out here and Bass Pro will get a reasonable break. And we'll get a Bass Pro Shop.

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This. Not sure why anyone would argue against a more retailer. Big businesses bring other big business.

You anti-Bass Pro people want Waffle House and In-N-Out or not?

Broncos said:

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techno-ag said:

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It's major retail and that always has benefits. To argue otherwise is pointless. There are also benefits to parks and people argue against those too.

Ultimately it looks like good things will win out here and Bass Pro will get a reasonable break. And we'll get a Bass Pro Shop.

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This. Not sure why anyone would argue against a more retailer. Big businesses bring other big business.

You anti-Bass Pro people want Waffle House and In-N-Out or not?

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Great point. Restaurants follow big retail. Bass Pro doesn't do a deal unless there is a significant incentive via a 380 agreement. This is the loss leader to spur future development. Right now big box retailers are scared to go in South CS. This changes the dynamic.

ReelAg6 said:

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Broncos said:

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techno-ag said:

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It's major retail and that always has benefits. To argue otherwise is pointless. There are also benefits to parks and people argue against those too.

Ultimately it looks like good things will win out here and Bass Pro will get a reasonable break. And we'll get a Bass Pro Shop.

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This. Not sure why anyone would argue against a more retailer. Big businesses bring other big business.

You anti-Bass Pro people want Waffle House and In-N-Out or not?

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Great point. Restaurants follow big retail. Bass Pro doesn't do a deal unless there is a significant incentive via a 380 agreement. This is the loss leader to spur future development. Right now big box retailers are scared to go in South CS. This changes the dynamic.

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Costco?
Lowe's?
HEB just had a big expansion?