Picture a great big log cabin turned inside out, in the middle of the woods, and you've got an image of Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World.

        Rods, reels, ponds, rifles, trees, boats, birds. The king-size sportsman's delight opens its 10th store at Forest Fair Mall on Thursday to four days of manly celebration. Be warned, it is an attraction expected to draw from well-beyond Greater Cincinnati's boundaries.

        “Most of them are tourist attractions,” said Larry Whiteley, manager of corporate relations for Bass Pro, explaining that 50 percent of the retailer's business is generated from out-of-state customers.

        “They always look at the traffic flow and the centralization of it” when picking a location, he said. “And the number of hunting and fishing licenses sold.”

        Ohio ranked seventh in the nation in 1999 for the number of hunting licenses, permits, tags and stamps issued, said Steve Farrell, grant manager at the the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. It ranked 10th in the nation for fishing. Combined, almost 2.4 million state permits, licenses, tags and stamps were issued in 1999.

        Mr. Whiteley said 79,000 of those hunting and fishing permits were issued within a 50-mile radius of Forest Fair Mall.

        The store, like other Bass Pros, “brings the outdoors indoors,” as a company slogan goes. The centerpiece of the store is a massive cliff face with running water that feeds into a 24,000 gallon fresh-water fish tank. Replica trees reach from the first to second story, and taxidermy — geese, racoons, beavers, bobcats and owls — seem to lurk from every corner.

        On one end of the store, a small aircraft hangs from the ceiling.

        And there's wood. Miles of it.

        In terms of product, Bass Pro is going for outdoor-enthusiast's wish list. Plenty of boats, guns, arrows, rods and reels, golf clubs, and camping equipment. For recreation, there's a climbing wall, an indoor archery range, a golf putting green and a children's laser arcade.

        Bass Pro expects the store to draw shoppers from Pennsylvania, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia and parts of Michigan.

        “They're weekend regional draw in incredible, 50-miles plus,” said Stan Eichelbaum, president of local retail consulting firm Marketing Developments Inc.

        It is all in keeping with founder John Morris's image. The fisherman and conservationist founded Bass Pro Shops catalog business in 1974, after three years of selling fishing equipment in his father's liquor store. The concept took hold and grew, and over the years expanded to include specialty stores, Tracker Marine boat manufacturing, two Big Cedar Lodges, and the expanding line of Outdoor World superstores.

        It is still privately owned.

        Bass Pro conducts educational seminars and sporting events, such as a fall hunting classic and camping week.

        The 144,000-square-foot store will occupy two levels in the former Parisian store. It will employ about 325 people.

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