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Outdoor Superstore Coming to Leeds to Hold Job Fair

The Leeds Civic Center will be hosting a three-day job fair for Leeds' new Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, set to open in November. The job fair will begin at 8:00 a.m. on Monday, September 8th, and will last each day until 7:00 p.m. through Wednesday, September 10th.

Part-time and full-time positions are open to applicants 18 or older in every department of both the retail store and the Tracker Marine Boat Center, to include the fishing, camping, hunting, archery, footwear, apparel, gifts, marine accessories, boat sales, credit card sales, customer service, loss prevention, parts sales and receiving departments. Cashiers, greeters, marine technicians, boat detailers, and boat sales consultants are also being sought. Applications will be provided, can be filled out, and will be accepted at the job fair.

“We usually cycle through about one thousand a day with this kind of thing,” says Harley Willis, manager of the new store. Willis says that the applicants will also fill out questionnaires pertaining to their interests. “We can definitely use people who are passionate, whether that passion be hunting, fishing, even bird-watching.”

When asked about skill sets or prior experience that applicants may need for employment at Bass Pro Shops, he explained that “anybody can come in.”

“We're in the retail business to service the customer,” he went on, “Sure, it's great if they have experience in retail, or say if they're in the hunting department and they know all about ammunition, but we're going to train them with what they need to know.”

Benefits provided include an excellent wage potential, flexible morning and evening schedules, holiday pay, medical insurance, and associate discounts at Bass Pro Shops.

LeedsAlabama.com, an independent online news magazine for the community, cites the new store, which will cover 150,000 square feet, as the “catalyst” for the development of the Grand River Project, a 110-acre master-planned community at the intersection of I-20 and Highway 78. Without the project, says David Hogan, publisher of the web-magazine, this area of Leeds “would hardly have seen development in our lifetime.” Both the new store and the Leeds Civic Center are about 18 miles and 23 minutes away from the UAB campus, according to MapQuest.

Bass Pro Shops' website, www.basspro.com, lists 61 open and future stores. For a glimpse at the potential economic impact of the outdoor superstore, consider the fact that BPS took in an estimated $1.9 billion in sales from 53 open stores last year, an average of nearly $35 million per store, according to Wikipedia.

Manager Harley Willis estimated that 275 to 300 positions would need to be filled, and that the store would probably begin staffing around the beginning of October.

Willis was sure to reiterate the fact that experience and know-how will take a back seat to character in the selection process.

“We're looking more at the quality of the people.”

If you have any questions you can visit www.basspro.com/jobs. Bass Pro Shops is an equal opportunity employer and a drug free workplace.