A Path To Business Continuity During COVID-19

Crises are often moments of rapid change as companies apply existing technologies to new challenges. During the COVID-19 outbreak, leaders at Bass Pro Shops quickly employed location intelligence to oversee a broad portfolio of stores and properties, helping keep customers well supplied and employees safe.

Bass Pro Shops was founded in 1972 as a fishing tackle shop, operated by Johnny Morris on eight square feet in the back of his father’s liquor store in Springfield, Missouri. Today, it is ranked the third most reputable major retailer in America, with immersive retail destinations in 45 states across the US and eight provinces in Canada, attracting over 200 million visitors a year.

The business has grown to encompass the world’s leading boat manufacturer, fellow outdoor sporting brands like Cabela’s, and a hospitality arm that includes the award-winning Big Cedar Lodge resort.

The breadth and diversity of Bass Pro Shops’ business necessitated a sophisticated response to the COVID-19 crisis even as the pandemic began impacting the world and the global economy. While the company had response protocols in place, no one anticipated the level of disruption that has unfolded—what the UN secretary-general called the greatest test since World War II.