Source: Dick’s Sporting Goods PR
Dick’s Sporting Articles on Friday celebrates the grand opening of the largest store it has ever built.
Called the House of Sport, this new format has a lot of features. The retailer’s goal was to create a space where visitors would not only come to buy sneakers, but would spend an afternoon practicing sports and other physical activities.
The more than 100,000-square-foot space is located in Eastview Mall, in the Rochester suburb of Victor, New York. It includes an indoor climbing wall, golf driving bays, a green and a health and wellness store, as well as an outdoor track and turf field, all of which Dick’s is trying out for the first time.
Dozens of big brands, including Yeti and Vans, have dedicated store spaces to showcase new products. They sit next to the private labels of Dick DSG, Calia and VRST. Nike has the largest space of all, including an area near the mall entrance for the Jordan brand. It’s the most space Dick’s has given Nike within a store.
Dick’s is already planning to open its second sports house this year in Knoxville, Tennessee.
According to Ed Stack, chief executive, chief trader and former CEO, more stores will open in other states with this format in the coming years.
“The vision I raised for this concept was that we wanted to build the store, … the experience, that would put Dick’s sporting goods out of business,” Stack said in a recent interview.
“This is the biggest innovation we’ve ever made,” he said. “That’s the biggest leap forward of any concept we’ve done. And I think we’ve got it right.”
According to Stack and Dick CEO Lauren Hobart, some elements of House of Sport will be slowly incorporated into Dick’s current locations, depending on how well they are received. Mini health and wellness juice stores or space dedicated to staples, for example, could become features for dozens of other retail stores.
The company said it plans to allow local sports teams to use its field for meetings and has a conference room that can be booked for other types of meetings.
“Among the service model we introduce [House of Sport], the experiences, the games, the product … we really look at it because it’s almost like starting a new business, ”Stack said.
Here is an inside and outside view
Source: Dick’s Sporting Goods PR
Beyond the footwear department, there is a space dedicated to heels and it has over 380 pairs of shoes.
Source: Dick’s Sporting Goods PR
The climbing wall rises 30 feet and can be booked in advance online.
Source: Dick’s Sporting Goods PR
A mini health food store indoors sells local juice, snacks, vitamins, yoga items and other wellness products.
Source: Dick’s Sporting Goods PR
In the baseball department, Dick incorporated batting cages with an automatic throwing machine so customers could try out the products.
Source: Dick’s Sporting Goods PR
Next to the golf merchandise are three virtual driving bays, which can be booked for special occasions.
Source: Dick’s Sporting Goods PR
A 17,000-square-foot portion of the parking lot has been turned into a track and grass field. Dick’s plans to turn the area into an ice skating rink during the winter.
Source: Dick’s Sporting Goods PR