SHOPPING LIFE

Consumer spending is down, and gas prices are up. That’s bad math for the scores of destination retailers across the country that want customers to fill up the tank for a gas-guzzling day of retail therapy.

So to cajole shoppers into stores, some of the nation’s chains are changing marketing strategies, launching in-store classes and drumming up other special events aimed at getting road-tripping shoppers to pump up sales.

Customers at Bass Pro Shops drive an average of 100 miles to reach the company’s 50 locations and many are known to drive up to 300 miles each way to spend time at the massive outdoor supercenters.

But with the average price of a gallon of regular gas above $4, getting even the most devoted customer to make the trip is becoming difficult.

That’s why the Springfield, Mo.-based chain is launching a slate of events this weekend, offering outdoor skills workshops, s’mores-making, scavenger hunts and foam shooting competitions for shoppers.

Bass Pro Shops spokesman Larry Whiteley says foot traffic in stores is falling, but the company hopes this weekend’s events give customers more than just one reason to make the drive. “We’re teaching them how, for less than $100, they can have their own camping outfit and they can go to a lake or a campground or they can use it in their own backyard,” he said.

WSL Strategic Retail President Candace Corlett worries about what kind of long-term effect the changing shopping patterns could have on the nation’s retailers – particularly those whose bricks-and-mortar business models require shoppers to spend hours in their vehicles.

“Not only is it far away, so it’s a gas-guzzling trip, they’re selling merchandise that’s a purchase that can be postponed, and they’re the type of retailers where there’s too much temptation,” Corlett said.

Associated Press