Luxembourg Garden Paris
It seemed that even Google was trying to tell us something.
We’ve been intrigued by the idea that Memphis should consider a European-inspired park for the 30-acre field on our riverfront just south of Beale Street Landing. Because of how Beale Street Landing will be a magnet for activity, there’s never been a better time to think about what Tom Lee Park should be if it were a real park.
One park we love is the park in the St. Germain-des-Pres section of Paris, Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris. It’s one of the most successful parks we’ve ever seen, so we would put it on our list of the world’s best parks. But we were curious to see if anyone agreed, so we Googled “great city parks” to see if it was included among obvious choices like Central Park. It was.
Of course, Tom Lee Park wouldn’t make a list of even the South’s great parks and Google seemed to agree. At the bottom of the great city parks results was this message: Memphis: Lawn Maintenance. It summed up for us the problem with Tom Lee Park. It’s a field with a wonderful view, but it’s a park taken to its most minimalistic.
Great Parks
We were also thinking about Helsinki’s beautiful parks and other European parks that seem to capture the spirit of their cities, that offer options for activities, that have seductive landscaping that includes trees, flowers, and native grasses, and that are signatures for their downtowns and waterfronts. And, even if the park is on the waterfront, it is common for them to have water features where kids can float rented boats and adults can simply relax.
Helsinki
If you’re like us, when you think of great parks in other cities, you don’t think of open, flat, unimproved land like Tom Lee Park. Even in Paris facing the Seine and with an embarrassment of architectural riches, parks don’t acquiesce and take a passive approach. Instead, they are characterized by a strong sense of place, by diverse uses by diverse people, and by elevating the city’s quality of life.
Paris on the Seine
Luxembourg park features 2,000 elm trees, flower beds changed out three times a year, statues, a long carp-filled pool of water, children’s play area, classic puppet shows, a merry-go-round, chess games, and lawn bowling.
Europe aside, there’s new momentum in U.S. cities to revitalize and renew existing parks. Chattanooga rediscovered the Tennessee River and created a destination waterfront; Portland’s Jamison Square is home to an interactive fountain that attracts kids and grandparents and offers free outdoor performances; Seattle created a sculpture park on the waterfront near Pike Place Market; Louisville reclaimed its riverfront with new parkland, fountains, and activities, and Providence created Waterplace Park whose activities center around the dazzling WaterFire public art installation.
Portland
Getting It Right
In waterfront parks that work, the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts. This is the central failing of Tom Lee Park, where 1 plus 1 always equals 1. For a city like ours that has to send a different message to the rest of the country, particularly to young workers, that math has to change.
We were excited way back when Tom Lee Park was doubled in size, because there was promising talk that it would be programmed with activities and it would be upgraded as prime greenspace. It was not to be, and today, it’s sometimes difficult to understand why it was even worth increasing in size for the lack of vibrancy that exists there today.
Tom Lee Park should be model public realm for the rest of the country. The drama of the river should be matched by the drama of the park setting. New discussions about the riverfront should begin about what Tom Lee Park should and could be if it is to regularly attract families looking for special experiences in a special environment.
There are lessons to be learned from park reinventions taking place in cities around the world and in parks like Jardin de Luxembourg that got it right. As we’ve said before, Memphis doesn’t have to tell its story better; it has to tell a different story. A vibrant, exciting Tom Lee Park could be one of these different stories, building on the green ethos developing in Memphis and contributing to a new pride and self-worth that tell us that we deserve the best.
Improving Our Self-Image
It’s reminiscent of The Pyramid and FedExForum. In the mid-1980s, in our desperation to act like a big-time city, we bought hook, line, and sinker the idea that a “state-of-the-art arena” could be built for $39 million. With upgrades that included a steel clad exterior, upgrades to the seating to eliminate benches in many sections, and an increase in capacity, the final cost was just over $60 million.
Today, it’s hard to imagine how we were so gullible, but we didn’t know how badly we had taken the bait until FedExForum was built for about $215 million. FedExForum had about as much in common with The Pyramid as Autozone Park had in common with McCarver Park at the Fairgrounds.
Our lack of self-worth has led us to accept mediocrity for decades, but there are signs that things are changing. If The Pyramid were a park, it would be Tom Lee Park. And yet, it can be the FedExForum of waterfront parks. We need only to decide that we do in fact deserve the best and that our public realm can be competitive with any found in competing cities.
There are structural reasons that Memphis’ economy is lagging, but we have also lagged because unlike Nashville, we believe that we are undeserving and should accept whatever is offered to us, whether it is high quality or not. What makes Nashville different is that it never assumes that it doesn’t deserve the best, and because of it, it goes out and gets it.
It’s time for us to do the same.
You’re right. We don’t like who we are. That’s why we are always trying to remake ourselves to be somebody else. Led by this blog.
Thank goodness you are not allowing this issue to die. Tom Lee remains perhaps the most glaringly underutilized space in this city. Uninviting, uncomfortable and thus underused. To create what is essentially a giant green parking lot in an area where temperatures regularly exceed 95 degrees for as much as 1/3 of the year is asinine. Actually the comparison to a parking lot is unfair. Many well designed parking lots include shaded areas. The riverfront remains a collection of rocks (historic rocks, but rocks none the less), parking lots and billiard table like surfaces where we can stand, look at the river for 10 minutes and then return to our daily routines.
As for not liking who we are- I agree that this city’s history of building to the lowest common denominator speaks for itself. Fortunately it appears that the mindset is changing for the better. Hopefully our efforts to reinvent this city will reflect higher aspirations.
We need an Amenities Assessment and a Marketing Mechanism for existing programming.
I have heard from a number of people who read your post and are excited about the idea of reinventing TLP. Interesting though, was the wide array of desires people have when prompted. As expected: trees, monuments, celebration of the river, art were all mentioned. But some were fist pounding mad about the need for a water feature for kids, playgrounds & athletic facilities. Some mentioned a more defined viewing area for concerts on the lawn.
Anyway… my point is, perhaps we need a community wide and especially a Downtown Amenities Assessment. What do we have and what don’t we have? Court Square, Confederate Park, Jefferson Davis and Mud Island all offer something today. What is missing that could both make TLP interesting while filling a void? This would be easy, cheap, quick (and someone likely already has it). No need to hire consultants or planners.
We also likely need a clearinghouse for EVERYTHING going on in all of our area parks and especially in Downtown public spaces. A marketing machine for the riverfront. I think RDC does some and Downtown Memphis Commission does some and Parks Department does some but I am not sure that people know where to go to find out about existing parks programming. We need to build from what we have going on already.
I love the images of premiere public spaces. But, I think these two things would set the stage for productive public conversation with minimal effort.
It is very likely that the number of visitors to the riverfront will take several big jumps in the coming years. The completion of Beale Street landing (and the end of that construction) will open a new section of riverfront. The Bass Pro Store will undoubtedly bring visitors from all over the region. And the Harahan Bridge Project will be a national attraction attracting tens of thousands each day. Big things are happening, it is indeed time to look at our assets and make plans for many folks to enjoy.
Michael: The riverfront is not a stage set where no blade of grass is never to change. It is now a detriment to this city’s brand and to its vibrancy. If you think that the present Tom Lee Park is what we need in Memphis, I’ve got some pasture land in Fayette County you might like.
Thanks, John, that’s a truly great idea. We’ll pass it along to the powers-that-be and cross our fingers.
Thanks, Gregt, we agree: the time has never been better to do something significant.
SCM, I’m not arguing against doing something with Tom Lee Park. I’m even agreeing with your suggestion that we have a self-esteem problem. We certainly do.
Here’s where we might disagree:
You are saying that our self-esteem problem leads to IN-action. I am saying that our self-esteem problem to leads to the WRONG actions.
You are saying that we do too little, or nothing at all, because we feel we are “not worthy”. I am saying that our feelings of unworthiness lead us to minimize and even destroy what is truly Memphis – who we really ARE – and try to replace that with something we hope is more acceptable to outsiders, imported from elsewhere.
We destroyed Beale Street, then had to recreate it when we realized that people actually like it would come here to experience it. We tore down Stax, then had to rebuild it once we realized its importance. We almost lost the Lorraine Motel. We almost lost Overton Park. I’m sure you can think of plenty more examples.
Lately, we are replacing that tired, old historic cobblestone landing that is SO YESTERDAY, with a brand-new, steel, $42M Beale Street Landing – designed from afar by some folks in Argentina. Our expectation, apparently, is that people will come to Memphis to see this giant urban art piece – even though it has NOTHING to do with Memphis and its history.
(By that same logic we should close up the Graceland Mansion and build a new Elvis Theme Park next door.)
So I agree with you that Memphis does have a self-esteem issue. (Sometimes I wonder if it could even be termed “self-hatred”.) I agree that it’s a problem for us. But I think it’s a problem for different reasons.
Mike:
We don’t disagree at all about the problem with wrong actions. But there has to be action. What we are doing and how we’ve been doing it has created an economy that’s lethargy and a city that’s inconsequential from a national perspective. In that regard, the riverfront should say everything about who we are as a city, not just who we were as a city (although that too is important). I can think of plenty of examples of how we settled for magic bullets, but I can think also of the times we got it right – National Civil Rights Museum, Autozone Park, FedEx Forum, etc.
As for the riverfront, we think it’s about doing both – restoring the cobblestone landing for historic reason (although it sure would be nice if they weren’t just a photo op) and the the dramatically designed Beale Street Landing that has all to do with Memphis and defines its relationship with the river in an attention-getting way (which we desperately need so we’re not seen as a lazy mid-sized city of little consequence).
The Graceland folks themselves have discussed a theme park in the past so it’s about how to renew and improve your core asset so that it speaks to a new reality and new demands of the market.
We think like you that we have a self-esteem problem, but we think it manifests itself as much in small thinking as much as anything when it comes to how to best use unique assets for their most returns.
Harahan yes we can. This project is one of those game changers whose time has come. We have a pretty good riverfront that is getting better everyday. Nay sayers you can be silent for a second. But the Harahan bike ped trail across the Harahan bridge is like a holy grail of symbols for a new day in Memphis. It is the gateway to Tom Lee Park and a great riverfront.
Larry: Thanks for that reminder. When we put up this post, we meant to mention the connection between a reinvented Tom Lee Park and the Harahan Bridge. Connectivity does matter.
I am truly excited about the Harahan. Having seen firsthand the impact of such a project in Poughkeepsie, I have no doubt it will have perhaps the largest impact on the riverfront since the expansion of Tom Lee Park or even the construction of Riverside Drive.
The mid-term prospect will be to leverage this renewed focus and the associated increase in activity to address the deficiencies found at Tom Lee. Strike while the iron is hot.
First: If they do something with Tom Lee I hope they maintain it better than Mud Island park. We went there on a visit to Memphis this summer and it was run down and crumbling, in desperate need of basic maintenance. But the museum was nice…
Second: Since you always use that same picture of Portland Waterfront Park I figured I would share this… That picture is of the extreme north end of Waterfront Park – which stretches the complete length of Portland downtown from the Riverplace Marina on the south to the steel bridge on the north. Here is a nice Google image search with tons of other pictures:
http://www.google.com/search?q=portland+waterfront+park&hl=en&prmd=ivnsm&source=lnms&tbm=isch
One of the things that makes that park gret, however, is access. Firstly it is completely accessible from almost every east/west street in downtown. Second, all of the bridges have stairs or ramps down to it. Third, it is part of the Willamette River greenway which stretches for miles along the Willamette river and is popular with bicycles, joggers, skaters, and other activities – and connects several parks and bridges along the way. Fourth, it is connected via bridges to the Eastbank Esplanaude, another “parkway” of sorts for bike/ped use on the east side of the river thus making the parks a great loop (At lunch we often walk the loop between the Hawthorn bridge and the Steel bridge in the Waterfront park and Eastbank Esplanaude). Fifth, it is accessible via 4 light rail lines, the Portland streetcar, and many many bus lines. And lastly – they use waterfront park for all kinds of events, including the regular weekend “Saturday Market” (which is partly in the park and partly across a street in the city) – and those events keep people in and aware of the park all year long.
If Tom Lee is to be successful, it not only needs to be nicely built – but it needs to be accessible. You will need to be able to walk and bike to it, and it will need to be accessible without a car. It needs to have regular events in it which bring people to the park so that people from all over get to have a reason to go there the first time and see what it has to offer…
There you go. My opinions, they may not matter much though. 🙂
I am looking at Google Maps of Memphis right now, to see where things are that you folks are talking about. I see something really neat that I wonder if folks down there have thought about much…
When you zoom out, it looks like there is a nice line of green going along the river the entire length of the metro area.
In Portland we have the Willamette greenway (which I mentioned earlier) which stretches along the river a long way north and south, and we have some other connected greenways either done or in the plans which connect most of the metro area along the river north and south.
There in Memphis, a nice greenway for biking (or long long walking and running) could run from TO Fuller in the South, up through Riverside, DeSoto, Rivermont, Tom Lee, Jeff Davis, Mud Island/Mississippi Greenbelt. If you get the state or the Feds involved you could even potentially connect it to Meeman Shelby up north (I did notice all those bike signs up there along the roads that had a bike and said something like “Mississppi TRL” or something or other…) Although I concede that Meeman Shelby would be a little of a “pie in the sky” goal, it is doable. Bike paths are not massively expensive and require minimal maintenance. But at least connecting TO Fuller to the Mississippi Greenbelt should be doable – then when the Shelby greenline gets connectivity to downtown that would make a really nice link for N/S and E/W trails in the Memphis region.
Here in the Portland area we have worked long and hard on a network of mostly paved (although in some areas they might be packed gravel) trails which connect the entire region and several state parks. The state has worked hard on bicycle tourism, and we have hundreds of miles of trails connecting extreme outer parts of our metro area and region. If you are interested, Google it up – we connect all kinds of stuff with some very long trails and state designated bicycle corridors – from Champoeg (pronounced shamp-oo-ee”) state park in the south, to Sandy in the east to Vernonia in the west and all points in between. (Maybe start with looking at the Springwater corridor). And they are well on their way to filling in gaps – the goal being completely connected.
Does Mississippi communities contribute to things like this? Or do they tend to be a sucker kind of like Vancouver, Washington is to Portland.
OK, I’ll do it. The spectre looming over this enlightened discussion is Memphis in May’s annual destruction of Tom Lee. That is why it looks like an unforgiving dirt lot the other 11 months of the year. This year, Mother Nature provided an opportunity to prove that contrary to conventional wisdom, MIM events could prosper elsewhere. Every year, MIM’s promises to restore the park become more laughable. Since MIM has not been a “free” festival for a number of years, there is no longer a compelling reason or inherent civic duty to sacrifice the park. Thanks for painting a beautiful picture of the potential for this tragically underused 30 acre wasteland. It’s time for a public campaign to enlighten folks that Tom Lee is more than just a one-month-a-year festival ground. RDC should line up its political and public assets, even linking with the opponents of its earlier waterfront plans, and Save Tom Lee Park.
MIM and a better TLP can coexist. Doesn’t have to be either-or scenario.
Sometimes, doing nothing is the best thing to do. While we all agree that “something” needs to be done, I’d rather do nothing than do something that we’ll regret.
I think I’d have a little more belief if we weren’t staring at a somewhat rundown Mud Island Park. I remember when the monorail was cool and the museum was a nice place to visit … I still remember the talking Mark Twain. My out-of-town family and friends always enjoyed it … and Overton Square for that matter.
I remember when they talked about extending the monorail to make it a people moving system for Downtown.
There’s so much that COULD be done … but like many places, we just don’t have money to throw at them. The politicians have squandered the good will of the folk.
I think Tom Lee park is great. It could be greater by adding trees. Trees are good. I know, I know. In our ultra-consumerist society, plain old open space where kids can run and play and fly kites and such is not good enough. I’m sure that’s why Tom Lee doesn’t get much use now. It’s not a mall. It’s not a Walmart. It’s not a bowling alley, skating rink, or planetarium. It’s just a plain old green space sitting in a city filled with concrete, asphalt, and rooftops. I can remember a time when people created their own entertainment, when open space was the best thing since sliced bread. It’s just not good enough anymore. I understand consumerism. Have fun with that.
Memphis seems so far behind it can’t even have a cohesive idea and timely implemented plan for a PARK !
How’s that for a progressive city in 2011. So-called leaders have been kicking around bad ideas (or no intelligent actions) about Tom Lee Park, for decades now ! and look, it’s still a terrible space by comparison. Pitiful. Memphis really does have very good reason not to like itself.
We’ve got to do something, anything. Tom Lee Park should be a showplace instead of no place. If the bikers can finally get bike lanes, can’t we organize to get a great park? We can do something special and it wouldn’t cost a lot of money. I think that Memphis in May and a better park could work together, I think the entire public needs a great Tom lee Park insted of a couple of weeks of events.
I agree with the assessment that MIM and Tom Lee can coexist. We would need additional information from our park lover in Portland, but Google aerials show that the park space south of the Morrison bridge looks particularly worn as if by intense use (I assume this would be from the market they noted in an earlier post). Similarly, other great parks host large scale open air events and either withstand the abuse or are able to recover. These include Central Park where the average daily use is extremely high during the warm weather months- particularly on weekends- in the vast open spaces of the Great Lawn. The same space also serves as the setting for the occasional outdoor concert. Grant/ Millennium Park serve as the backdrop for large festivals and events without sacrificing the aspects of design that make them enjoyable throughout the year (or at least 6 months).
Personally I would like to see the much discussed pedestrian bridge between the riverfront and Mud Island become a reality- preferably at grade with Riverside Drive and running roughly from near the southern tip of Mud Island to a point between the BSL and the cobblestones. It would allow for far easier access to Mud Island and in essence make it an extension of Tom Lee. It would also allow for a natural expansion of event space from Tom Lee across the Harbor to the large underutilized spaces found at the Mud Island river park. Image being able to pull the Mud Island amphitheater into play as part of the Music Fest. Additional tent areas between the large pool and the island’s southern tip during bar-b-fest to allow for more open space and flexibility at Tom Lee akin to the experience at Tiger Lane this past year. Imagine the ease in which residents and tourists alike would be able to experience the entire riverfront- visiting the museum on Mud Island and being able to cross directly to the historic cobblestones with the American Queen docked a few yards away. Bike and trail opportunities would be able to bridge the harbor at a far more convenient and picturesque location enabling a complete connection between the Wolf River Trail the bucolic Mississippi Greenbelt and the Harahan that would not involve the Auction Street bridge. Enormous potential can be found along those banks.
Portland Waterfront park gets destroyed multiple times a year from festivals. Cinco De Mayo, Rose Festival, Blues Festival, Bone & Brew, Beer Festival, etc etc. They have put in a “special” kind of dirt which takes grass seed much faster, allows better water drainage, and doesn’t get as soupy muddy. They also re-sod or repair it regularly (paid for by the festivals).
The Saturday Market does not exist on the grassy part of the park, the market has a permanant “square” type area with fountains and some cover from the elements.
Port,
Thank you for the valuable information. No doubt at least some of Tom Lee’s notorious mud issues are due in part to its billiard table flat quality and the soil types of which it is composed. Both characteristics are due is part to the parks creation from dredge material from the Mississippi River.
During the discussions about what to do with Mud Island years ago, the pedestrian bridge was a popular choice but it has to be steep enough to allow boat traffic through per federal regs. Which sucks.
There are a lot of good to great additions to Tom Lee Park over the years — the Bluffwalk, the Tom Lee Memorial expansion, the bluff staircases — that point the way to an increasingly greater park. Continue to iterate through Small quality projects like these and the Harahan Bridge project — always adding trees for form and shade!!! — and it will become the great park we want.
Anon-
It’s definitely an issue, but one that could be overcome in a fairly economic manner. I have read of several examples of movable pedestrian bridges ranging from simple swing types to more “interesting” varieties such as those of the curling or tilt type. As we move forward towards improving our riverfront, I agree with Gates that the small steps must come first such as the planting of more trees and improved lighting to make the park more attractive and useful in its own right before embarking on a larger investment such as a new pedestrian bridge across the harbor.
But of course, before the trees are planted I would love to see a project implemented that would undertake regarding of the park and a drainage plan in order to provide the slight slopes and runoff necessary to prevent Tom Lee from remaining a soggy swamp after periods of wet weather.
I apoligize, I meant to write “re-grading”, not “regarding” in the second paragraph.
does everyone know how long that downtown park has been a dump ?? decades !!
my question is that since the majority population of the residents don’t actually reside anywhere near the location, who and how many will actually use, thereby benefit from such an expensive overhaul ? no one that I know who lives in east Mem, gtown, collierville, HH, bartlett , olive branch and beyond are going to travel downtown frequently to have a constant flow of use during the operational daylight hours, and probably a very small contingent of workers who have offices in downtown memphis are going to stroll around any park all the way down on the river, during, say, lunch more than maybe once a week, and probably less than that during sweltering heat/rain/humidity of late May, June, July, August and September, if they have a choice to be more comfortable. The humidity on the river during about half of the year is not like having a sea-breeze on the Atlantic, the Gulf, or the Pacific ocean- besides that, a case could be made to say the mississippi river (at this location) is pretty ugly in the first place- i think the arkansas river running through LR and NLR is even more visually appealing. This area of memphis would need LOTS of remedial work to become truly functional and aesthetic – and that would take enormous amounts of public money, and perhaps take resources away from far more important needs (potholes, sidewalks for safety reasons, police/fire/emt, public transportation)
It’s a regional park just like Overton park and Shelby Farms Park, and because it’s the city’s front door and every visitor to Memphis visits the riverfront, it goes far beyond being a typical park. And you should go listen to comments of the people seeing the river for the first time – they say nothing about it being ugly.
I have been to Memphis several times, and down to the river each time. Our friends in East Memphis do in fact frequent downtown.
Certainly, the lower Mississippi is not as scenic as many rivers in many locations (especially not our rivers here in the Northwest – if I may show my bias) – but it is scenic in it’s own right. It is enjoyable, and can be calming and peaceful to watch the slow moving water.
Not doing something nice because you can’t think of people who would come and use it is missing the point. The more nice things you pile up downtown – the more people will come to use them. The more people come to use them the more nice things you can pile up downtown.
If they ever get that pedestrian bridge over the Mississippi on the old rail bridges (someone mentioned above) – that would be great as it would allow spectacular views of the river and downtown Memphis. I have wondered (and studued Google maps) if it was possible to get anywhere on the Arkansas side to see Memphis from across the river. I know that over there is low lying and flood prone, but can be accesible much of the year…
Over in the Ozarks there is a small shop which overlooks the Buffalo River Canyon somewhere on highway 7. They were able to build a tall tower there for people to climb and look around at the views – I would imagine that something similar could be built on the Arkansas side of the Mississippi for people to go across and gaze back at Memphis…
One of the things that I appreciate about the Pacific Northwest is that almost** no-one complains here when someone wants to spend money on a park or a scenic area – the people here have recognized the value that these places bring to society. Some are heavily used (Like Multnomah Falls and Crown Point) and some are “secret” or rarely used. But all are valuable and wonderful. It sounds like more folks in the Memphis area need to appreciate their surroundings more.
**There is always _someone_ who complains, it is unavoidable. Get off my lawn!!!
The people who reside in the northwest are NOT the people that live in West Tennessee for heaven’s sake. It is soooooooo inappropriate to use places like Portland, Seattle, etc as some sort of measuring rod for the City of Memphis or anywhere else in the midsouth. The two regions have nothing in common really, and playing like it does defies intelligence.
I don’t see the residents of Memphis flocking to go to a downtown park more than a handful of times at best.
That’s like suggesting that the majority population of Memphis is going to frequent and shop/spend money at BASS PRO SHOP. It’s not happening. Just read about who is the typical customer walking in a BASS PRO SHOP ! It’s certainly not a typical Memphis resident, and it’s crazy to suggest the demographic is the same as the domographic of a lousy BASS PRO SHOP. The typical majority population within Memphis aren’t BASS fisherman, hunters, campers, outdoor enthusiasts, or interested in their sponsorship of a NASCAR driver.
Maybe the park needs to include nightime basketball courts or “streetball” leagues ! then I bet you might have guaranteed community visits and “participation” in the re-vamped new PARK on the “riva”.
Anonymous: This is ignorant on so many levels, we won’t even try to respond. If you have the market studies to back up your racially-tinged angst about Bass Pro Shop, please share.
Thanks, Portland, Urbanut, and Gates for an outstanding discussion about this.
Raciall tinged angst ?? okay this is what Danny Adair, President of the African American Hunting Association
stated :
“I have been asking for years. “Why don’t African Americans participate very much in outdoor sports, especially hunting?
According to the most recent U.S Census estimates on the distribution of the U.S. population by race/ethnicity (2007) there are 37 million African Americans or about 12 percent of the total population. According to the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife data for the same year, only 1 percent of those who hunt are African Americans “.
You don’t have to accept a poster’s opinion here on your blog, you can go call Mr. Adair at the Association.
A National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation issued by the U. S. Department of the Interior, African-Americans are listed as representing 10 percent of the total U.S. population. Yet when you look at the number of hunters and fishermen who are black, they comprise far less than 10 percent. Five percent of hunters and fishermen are African-American. If you look at just fishing the number rises slightly, to 6 percent; but when you look at hunting alone, the number of hunters who are black drops to 2 percent. More recent statistics are similar in disparity.
With other minorities, the numbers are somewhat similar. Other minorities make up 5 percent of the general population, 3 percent of the overall hunting and fishing population, 3 percent of fishermen, and 2 percent of hunters. So why the discrepancy between the overall population and hunters and fishermen?
One perception has been that, because African-Americans in general earn less than whites, they have less discretionary income. Another theory is that blacks are less interested in the outdoors than whites. Everyone has a perception, but the facts are not ‘racially tinged’ at all.
The fact is that Bass Pro Shop is heavily into marketing and sales in outdoor sports, two majors of which are hunting and fishing.
Any fool can see the dearth of participation and perhaps even interest in spending their after-tax dollars on deer stands, camo-suits, high-powered rifles, fishing poles, climing gear, snow suits, snowmobiles, spearguns, and scuba gear.
You are smoking ‘wacky weed’ if you think that blacks, indigenous to Memphis, or highly professional black transferees/families are likely to be even 10% of Bass Pro Shop Memphis’ average customer base
Are you nuts ?
40% of the space in the Pyramid are non-retail — including aquariums, exhibits, bowling alleys, etc. This isn’t just about fishing and hunting. That’s where you’re making the mistake. We visited one Bass Pro Store in our life and we were shocked by the diversity.
if you are interested to know the real truth, go contact Bass Pro Shops directly, and they will give you the profile of 95% of their customer base
they have a super minority of black customers
but you don’t which to advance this truth – the Memphis market is not full of buyers coming from the minority community whether BLACK, HISPANIC, or ASIAN –
It’s not also coming from the academic community, the hospital or research community, or teachers, administrators, etc
Anon-
To save time a simple copy paste will do- “40% of the space in the Pyramid are non-retail — including aquariums, exhibits, bowling alleys, etc. This isn’t just about fishing and hunting. That’s where you’re making the mistake”.
Bass Pro Stores, as we now know, is cautious and supremely careful about where to open stores and make nine-figure investments, and if its market study showed that no black people would visit the store – even if only to bring their kids to see the exhibits and aquarium — it would be hard to imagine that they would go ahead with the project here.
Bass Pro Stores is not the only retail firm to make huge mistakes in evaluating investments and locations. Bigger stores have also lost their butts…such as :
Borders Office Max
Footlocker Aaron’s
BLOCKBUSTER Food Lion
Gap Stores Albertson’s
The Limited Bi-Lo
super D Drugs Express Stores
Footlocker Saks
Rite Aid Dress Barn
Abercrombie and Fitch
Ann Taylor
Ace Hardware
Williams Sonoma
Yeah, I’m sure the folks at Bass Pro Shops are smarter retailers and are immune to making pisspoor decisions
They will figure out they will have a lot of “looky-loos” milling around the store for a couple of times, not buying anything, and won’t return to buy anything either.
The novelty will attract “an element” for sure…and if it becomes a “hang-out” for hoodlums, teenagers etc within the complex, it will destined to become another mini-Mall of Memphis, or Hickory Ridge Mall, where real shoppers will not frequent.
Just watch, and see for yourself.
These people WILL regret being “sold” on the concept and will find out for themselves. Any reasonably intelligent banker with longterm experience in Memphis retail will tell them the same thing…..”confidentially” of course.
You can make that list for any city.
We will watch and we can’t wait to tell you we told you so.
PS: Bass Pro has conducted the most extensive market research on Memphis of any firm in history. That’s why they were called by Fortune as the most successful destination retailer in the country.
you want successful retailer predictors of future planned growth in the ex-urban area of the memphis msa ?
go talk to the real estate divison of Wal Mart and TJX , moreover go see on the county’s role (e.g. Fayette, Shelby, Tipton and DeSoto/Marshall)
go read who is buying up the property (under aegis of others of course..lol)
no truly smart destination retailer would pick a rather hard to get to/negotiate area like where the Pyramid is…not really…if all things are equal
Places like Cabela’s could locate way outside any known DT trade area and still do well
I happen to think that Bass Pro could have done the samer thing.
If people want to shop at IKEA, they will go to it.Most successful retailers have target, repeat customers that shop regularly.
The demographic of a Bass Pro customer is not typical to the representative residents of the citizens of The City of Memphis.
Frankly, they might do better even in an area like Hernando, Millington, Covington, Olive Branch or a Jackson even….BRS is a destination retailer, NOT an urban, central city retailer, anchor store, or a convenience retailer. Their trade area might encompass the entire market, therefore it might not have made that much difference if they chose a larger, cheaper, broad piece of land on the outskirts of a Memphis market….not on an isolated, flood prone DT memphis location.
That’s my opinion only. I won’t be shopping at Bass Pro, or Cabels’s anyway.
If gas prices continue to fall or stabilize in the near future, destination retailers might feel less of a loss.
I just think BPS could have picked a far better, far more accessible location than anywhere near DT Memphis
The best predictor is past success and careful site selection. No one has ever been more thorough than BPS. If all of those other places had been better and more profitable, the question, is why would they decide to make more than $100M investment downtown. I think they know something you don’t.
We’d love to get back to the real subject of this post.
I agree to get back to the subject but before you do that you should know that BASS PRO SHOPS is getting sued for documented racist hiring/discriminatory hiring practices as described in a big article in the Wall Street journal this morning, 09/22/2011
This charge is not new to me. I’ve heard about their racist hring practices from an associate who used to work for a supplier for them in Texas several years earllier.
Talk about “racist tinged” ?? these people at BASS PRO have long been accused of racial discrimination. Most everybody in the legal community has already heard many accounts of institutionalized racism in the hiring process of BPS. But they will have their time in court because this is the USA.
They have also been accused of discriminatory conduct in the treatment of hispanic customers in their stores and attractions.
That’s their culture and has been for years. They will be right at home in Memphis
What is it that motivates you to get out of bed every day with the goal in life of degrading anything that happens in Memphis?
We don’t defend anyone found guilty of discriminatory practices. At this point, it’s a complaint so we don’t reach conclusions until we hear all the evidence. Both sides.
I agree both sides should be heard…that’s what courts are for !
I am not a court. I was simply reporting and repeating an very significant claim which might affect the company and its viability in Memphis and throughout the US in the very near future.
Additionally, I stated my own experience of being told personally from a supplier to BPS how they regard, treat, and deal with minority applicants in Texas.
I’m not making this stuff up, pal.
The action is The United States of America v. Bass Pro Shops Inc.
I don’t HAVE a dog in this fight…but it’s going to be a nasty public fight. The Justice Department is not generally known for bringing frivolous lawsuits in claims affecting racial bias and hiring discrimination, pal.
The only conclusion I have is that through my OWN experience and relationships, there is a huge basis for a claim such as this.
I hope they are found not guilty…but a not guilty verdict is not an ‘innocent’ verdict either. Of course we all shall see, but the publicity will kill them in Memphis.
Watch and see.
Contact: Larry Whiteley
Phone number: 417/873-5022
Email address: lwhiteley@basspro.com
Bass Pro Shops denies EEOC allegations
Conservation and outdoor leader is committed to equal opportunity
SPRINGFIELD, MO (September 21, 2011) – Bass Pro Shops denied allegations by the U.S.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that the company discriminated against
African American and Hispanic applicants in its employment practices and that it retaliated
against any employees.
“The EEOC’s allegations are contrary to our profound respect for and commitment to our team
of experienced and knowledgeable associates, and we are determined to prove them wrong,” said
Mike Rowland, Vice President-Human Resources. Respect for our associates and our customers
is central to the mission of our company, and it has been a key contributor to our success.
Issues regarding discrimination and retaliation are taken very seriously by the company. Bass Pro
has long been committed to full compliance with laws against employment discrimination and
retaliation, and has policies and procedures to assure compliance with those laws. When
violations are discovered, as is inevitable in any large organization with thousands of employees,
they are promptly and firmly addressed.
Bass Pro said it is extremely disappointed by the EEOC’s decision to take action. “The company
has cooperated with the EEOC throughout its investigation, providing extensive documentation
and numerous witnesses,” said Mr. Rowland. Bass Pro vigorously denies the EEOC’s
allegations that the Company engaged in unlawful document destruction. It is our policy to
retain all documents required by law. “We provided more than 250,000 pages of documents to
the EEOC,” Mr. Rowland said.
“Despite our cooperation, the EEOC made unrealistic demands during conciliation. The EEOC
cannot or will not tell us the basis for the analysis they claim to have conducted,” he said.
“Fundamental fairness and good faith should require that the EEOC reveal the evidence on
which its claims are based before filing a lawsuit that will be long, expensive and disruptive.”
“This investigation and the EEOC’s conduct demonstrate a troubling tendency by the EEOC to
stereotype those who love outdoor sports and support conservation as people who unlawfully
discriminate or oppose equal opportunity for all,” Mr. Rowland said. For example, EEOC staff
investigators have suggested on several occasions that because Bass Pro sponsors a NASCAR
race team the company is more likely to discriminate against minorities.
In addition, the EEOC staff raised questions about Bass Pro’s policy against hiring convicted
felons, claiming it discriminates against certain minority groups, even though federal regulations
prohibit convicted felons from handling firearms, and Bass Pro sells firearms, ammunition and
explosives.
“Bass Pro has long been a significant supporter of numerous youth development and
conservation programs that give outdoor opportunities to inner-city diverse youth. As we
challenge these unfair and unfounded charges, we want to assure the millions of people from all
walks of life who visit our stores annually that Bass Pro will continue to provide the one-of-akind
experience they have come to expect,’’ Mr. Rowland said. “And we will do so while fully
complying with the law.”
#####
Anonymous: Strange that you would say you’re not making this stuff up, because it sure sounds like you are with a lot of what you say.
what do you expect a defendant to state ?? they’re GUILTY ?? LOL
Let the system work ! It’s just newsworthy and comment worthy in relation to Memphis and the new project
Get a frggen grip ! it’s NEWS and my opinion, pal
The company has long had a redneck culture by the way, that’s not new
And you know because you were once in charge of regional sales for a major retail chain, right? You always seem to dream up some imaginary credentials.
yep, try federated
yeah, right.