Academy Sports is one of the fastest growing retailers with big plans to expand their geography and fill out their current geographies. They recently expanded north to Ohio, and now they have nine new store openings slated for this fall.
Academy Sports
Eric Friederich, Senior VP of Retail Operations at Academy Sports
 + Outdoors is excited to continue our company growth with nine new stores this fall, making shopping with us more convenient than ever in existing markets and providing new customers with the best localized assortment of sports apparel, footwear, equipment and outdoor gear. Academy is looking forward to helping more active families have fun out there and become the new go-to destination for customers looking for the top brands at the lowest prices.
 + Outdoors
The new store openings add more coverage for the nineteen states that Academy is currently in. They have a goal of opening 120 to 140 stores by the end of 2027. The openings this fall are in the following areas.
- Beckley, West Virginia
- Kingsport, Tennessee
- Bloomington, Indiana
- Selma, North Carolina
- Ft. Myers, Florida
- Birmingham, Alabama
- Springfield, Ohio
- Bradenton, Florida
- Bulverde, Texas
Academy reports Q2 earnings on September 10th, so we’ll get an update on how well they performed in the height of grilling season. They had a marketing plan to take more share of the outdoor cooking space this summer.
They stock many different grills and smokers, but also accompany them with a large selection of rubs and sauces to drive repeat business. Outdoor cooking and lifestyle has been a bright spot of their business over the past year.