By Ben Westcott, Chronicle Staff Writer
Bass Pro Shops set Wednesday, July 30, as opening day of its 70,000-square foot store in Clifton Park next to the Northway just south of Exit 9.
“This is something that the community’s been waiting for forever,” said General Manager Bryan Lalone, a Stony Creek native and Warrensburg High School graduate whose decades of experience in retail includes opening the Price Chopper in Warrensburg.
The new building will sell merchandise for fishing, hunting, camping, hiking, and boating. The property will also display 103 boats and offer boat service.
There are local touches like a huge hand-painted mural of Huddle Bay on Lake George that spans multiple walls, and a water feature replica of Split Rock Falls on the Bouquet River in Elizabethtown.
The store is accessorized with several more outdoorsy hand-painted murals, as well as legions of taxidermied animals, many donated by a local man who harvested them with a bow and arrow and prefers to remain anonymous, Mr. Lalone said.
The store joins more than 170 Bass Pro Shops across the country. It’s the fourth in New York State, the other three are in Auburn, Cheektowaga and Utica.
Mr. Lalone said of the location, “It’s in the gateway to the Adirondacks — 6 million acres of propert∂y that is the outdoor wilderness. So what better place to put it? It’s located on I-87, so it will be a close transition for anybody who’s trying to get here, whether they’re coming down I-90 or they’re coming from the east, or they’re coming from the south or the north.”
A lover of the outdoors himself, Mr. Lalone lives in Stillwater now.
“I grew up on 70 acres of land in the middle of the woods, with the Hudson River across the street. It was a chance for us to be outside.
“You’ve got to get kids now away from games, away from the videos, away from the madness of Facebook and Instagram and TikTok, and just outside and enjoying nature.”
“For every dollar spent during the Evening for Conservation, 20 percent (on most items) will be donated to local conservation organizations.”
It kicks off a “weekend-long celebration highlighted by fishing and hunting celebrity appearances, leaders in conservation, family activities, giveaways and more,” a company news release said.
Mr. Lalone said the store will have 145 employees.
Hunting Team Leader is Todd Mead, who lives in Queensbury.
He’s a two-time International Bowhunting Organization World Champion and one-time National Field Archery Association Indoor National Champion.
“I do mostly firearms hunting in the Adirondacks, but I do a lot of hunting out of state and across the country with my bow.”
Thee 1987 Hudson Falls High School grad recalled that when he was inducted into the high school’s Wall of Distinction, he told the crowd, “I’m not a lawyer, I’m not a doctor, I’m not a movie star — I’m an educated redneck.”
And a local one at that. “I’m an Adirondacker by heart,” he told The Chronicle. “I live, breathe and die Adirondacks.”
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