Bass Pro Shops is bringing its first Long Island location to a former Sears Auto Center site in Hicksville, New York, but construction likely won't start until late 2027 at the earliest.
The outdoor retail giant plans to build an approximately 130,000-square-foot Outdoor World superstore directly across from Broadway Commons, the 70-year-old mall anchored by IKEA and Target. The Nassau County Industrial Development Agency granted preliminary approval for the project in May, but the store still needs final zoning and building approvals from the Town of Oyster Bay before a single shovel hits dirt.
No construction timeline is locked in. Estimates put the earliest start at late 2027 or 2028, meaning Long Island shoppers won't be browsing fishing rods and camouflage on this site anytime soon. The Sun first reported on the planned location, citing details originally broken by Greater Long Island.
The Hicksville project is part of a broader push by Bass Pro Shops into the New York metro area. About an hour and forty minutes west, in Sayreville, New Jersey, the company is preparing to open what it calls its largest single-level U.S. location, a 200,000-square-foot store inside the Riverton complex off the Garden State Parkway, near the intersection of Interstates 95 and 287. That store is scheduled to open in early October.
The Sayreville location will employ more than 300 people. Its features read more like a theme park brochure than a retail floor plan: a 65,000-gallon Shipwreck Aquarium, a 12,000-gallon stingray touch pool, live jellyfish displays, and an interactive Sketch Aquarium, all designed to pull families through the doors.
Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris framed the Sayreville opening in conservation terms. In a company statement, Morris said:
"We are honored to help create an unforgettable experience for families throughout the Tri-State Region. This location and concept will be unlike anything ever seen in the outdoor retail industry and truly opens a new chapter in the Bass Pro Shops story."
Morris added that the chance to "showcase the importance of conservation and help inspire passion for the outdoors with so many families is downright exciting."
Morris started Bass Pro Shops in 1972, selling fishing tackle out of his father's liquor store in Springfield, Missouri. He ran that single location for 13 years before expanding. Today the company operates more than 200 retail locations across North America.
The Hicksville store, at roughly 130,000 square feet, would be sizable but still well short of the Sayreville flagship. A rival outdoor retailer, unnamed in the reporting, recently opened a 155,000-square-foot flagship store featuring an indoor trout pond, signaling that the competition for outdoors-minded consumers in the Northeast is intensifying.
For now, the Hicksville project remains in a holding pattern. The Nassau County IDA's preliminary approval was a necessary step, but the Town of Oyster Bay controls the final zoning and building permits. No public timeline from Oyster Bay officials has surfaced indicating when, or whether, those approvals will come through.
The site sits on a stretch of commercial real estate that lost its previous tenant when Sears shuttered the auto center. Whether the building still stands or has already been demolished is unclear from available details. What is clear is that the lot has sat idle long enough for a 130,000-square-foot superstore plan to take its place in the pipeline.
Replacing a dead Sears with a thriving retail destination is the kind of private-sector reinvestment that builds a tax base without a government check. If Oyster Bay's approvals come through, Long Island gets jobs, foot traffic, and a reason for that empty lot to matter again.