After the success of its first three House of Sport locations, Dick’s Sporting Goods is accelerating its plans to add more than 75 to 100 of these concept stores nationwide by 2027.
On Friday, the retailer said it has held grand openings at nine new House of Sport locations over the past two months. These units are located in Katy, Texas at The Shops at Park West; Baybrook, Texas at Baybrook Mall; Davenport, Iowa, at Davenport Commons; Champaign, Ill. at Market Place Shopping Center; Chesapeake, Va. at Greenbrier Square; Fayetteville, N.C. at Freedom Town Center; Latham, N.Y. at Latham Farms; Johnson City, N.Y. at Oakdale Commons; and Scranton, Penn. at Viewmont Mall.
According to the retailer, its Johnson City House of Sport store is just minutes from the very first Dick’s store in Binghamton, N.Y., and is a brand-new location for the company. The remaining eight locations are existing Dick’s Sporting Goods stores that were closed for renovations and reopened as House of Sport stores, the company said.
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The House of Sport concept, which first launched in 2021, aims to “explore the future of retail” through multi-sport experiences inside and outside the store. Each House of Sport store is approximately 100,000+ square foot and provides customers with an assortment of products along with in-store experiences including a climbing wall, multiple golf bays with TrackMan simulators, and multi-sport cages that can be used for baseball, softball, lacrosse and soccer.
Some locations have a field attached to the store that can be used for open play, clinics, league space or as an ice rink in the winter. One of the initial stores features a 24,000-square-foot outdoor turf field and running track, a rock-climbing wall, a batting cage, golf hitting bays, a putting green and more.
The retailer, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, first announced its intentions to expand the concept in May after receiving “incredible responses” from athletes, vendors, and the local communities around the first three House of Sport stores in Victor, N.Y.; Knoxville, Tenn.; and Minnetonka, Minn.
On the company’s first quarter earnings call in May, Dick’s CEO Lauren Hobart told analysts that the company’s omnichannel customer experience is at the heart of its growth strategies, with enhancing its “highly engaging” in-store service model as a top priority.
“The very best expression of this is Dick’s House of Sport, which is redefining sports retail and over the long term will be a significant part of our growth story and the primary driver of our square footage growth,” the CEO said at the time. “House of Sport is fostering very strong engagement with both our athletes and our brand partners all while delivering much higher sales and profit.”
In 2024, Dick’s said it will open several additional House of Sport locations, including stores in Boston, Mass. at the Prudential Center; Pittsburgh, Penn. at Ross Park Mall; and Salem, N.H. at the Mall at Rockingham Park.
Dick’s will release its second quarter results next week on Aug. 22.
