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Academy Sports opening Gardendale store, bringing about 60 new jobs. Academy Sports + Outdoors is expected to bring about 60 new jobs to Gardendale when the sporting goods retailer opens its first store in the city next month.The |!| Birmingham Gard...

New sporting goods store opens near airport. The newest Academy Sports and Outdoors location in Roanoke's Towne Square shopping center came together in just a few months. The company began hiring its 60-plus new employees June 1, though construction for the store near the Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport started months before that. Once Academy Sports and Outdoors assembled its crew, the hires spent three weeks loading inventory off trucks and into the building. Now, the store at 1357 Towne Square Blvd. N.W. boasts equipment, apparel and other necessities in its new space, whose soft opening began Sept. 26. "It was a super fun process," said Blaine Grice, the store operations manager. "All the way from week one to getting all the trucks unloaded to where it is now, it was a really big family feeling. We've celebrated all the wins where we could, and just had fun along the process and celebrated all of our accomplishments with setting everything up." People are also reading... Walking through the automatic sliding doors that marked the main entrance, customers will find women's apparel on the left and men's on the right. Fishing equipment is toward the front of the store, and a separate hunting lodge is in the back right, for firearms and outdoors equipment. The camping section sat on the far right back corner, with various footwear lining the back wall. Team sports equipment filled the back left section of the store, for people purchasing gear for football, baseball, basketball, lacrosse and many other sports. "We sell vital things for the community with our camping goods, our sporting goods, our hunting goods, the apparel and footwear," said Calvin Alexander, the sales manager. Academy Sports and Outdoors has a location in Christiansburg, but otherwise, its closest franchises are in West Virginia and North Carolina. The publicly traded chain has 320 locations around the country, and Alexander said it is looking to continue to expand across the United States. Alexander has worked for the company for seven years, at previous locations in Kingsport, Tennessee, and Mooresville, North Carolina. He said each store is similar by design; customers know what to expect at an Academy Sports and Outdoors location, no matter where they are. He noted red signs around the store indicating items that are placed on sale every day. "We try to lead with value," Alexander said. After months of unloading trucks and tackling various tasks to ensure the store is ready for the three-day grand opening event from Oct. 2-4, Grice said the store is still a work in progress. He said he is excited about it opening, though. "We are just now getting started, and (I) can't wait to hit the ground running with what we have in this area," Grice said. Sam Mostow (540) 981-3251

Statesboro economy sees latest addition to retail landscape. Posted: Sep 24, 2026 / 04:45 PM EDT Updated: Sep 24, 2026 / 06:13 PM EDT STATESBORO, Ga. (WSAV) - The city of Statesboro continues to see economic growth and its latest addition is just days away from opening up. On Thursday, WSAV got a sneak peek at the newest Academy Sports + Outdoors location, located at 581 Northside Drive East, Suite 106. Store director Paul Butler told WSAV the reason Academy expanded to Bulloch County was due to familial connection. "One of our higher ups has family in the area and so we thought this would be a great location to build this Academy here and support our local needs," Butler said. Statesboro will be the second store Butler has served as director. He previously held the position at the Yulee, Florida location. It took a little more than just family ties in the region to secure the deal. Alan Gross now works for the Development Authority of Bulloch County as the Director of Retail & Amenities Development. He said the newest location came to the region thanks in part to another recent addition: HomeGoods. "TJX [parent company of HomeGoods] was looking to expand in our area," Gross said. "They had hired a site selector to look at a possible location for HomeGoods. At the same time, that site selector was also working with Academy Sports so as we were trying to sell the community on the TJX Expanding, we also lucked in that Academy kind of saw our market as a good landing spot for them as well." This is nothing new for Gross who provided background on his job to WSAV Thursday. "This position started as the brainchild of Charles Penny, [Statesboro] city manager," he said. "They brought me on to try to go out in the world and get those larger retailers to come here. Sometimes getting contact with the right people is easier said than done, but it's a small group and not a lot of people are doing that." Gross adds he continues to find new businesses to come to the city in an effort to retain local talent. "Every semester we graduate young people, the vast majority of which go somewhere else," he said. "I really don't want to lose those people. I would like them to stay here and if we give them more amenities, a better quality of life, we have a better chance of keeping those people. They would be excellent neighbors, excellent employees, and some of them would eventually open their own businesses. I would rather them do that in Statesboro as opposed to somewhere else." Butler explained why his store is worth the visit by those students and other locals. "Our prices and customer service," Butler listed when asked what reasons set his store apart. "We harp on prices. If you find anything cheaper than us, we'll match it and then beat it by 5%." He added, "We love the community, love giving back. We love to support our local needs here in Statesboro." Academy officials say that 82 workers are currently preparing the store for launch but there is an expectation of approximately 60 permanent jobs for the community. Adding another business is not only a win for consumers but also for Gross. "That gives us instant credibility," Gross said about Academy or other large retailers expanding to the region. "It makes my job of going out and trying to sell those other retailers [easier]." He said, "'Hey, you don't have to take my word for it.' A company as large as TJX and Academy Sports, they think that they can come here and make money. We have people and those people have money to spend." Academy will hold its grand opening the weekend of Oct. 2-4. "Friday through Sunday, if you lineup and you're one of the first 150 people here, you get a chance to win a gift card ranging from $20 to $500," Butler said. "It's a mystery gift card." This deal only applies to customers 18 years or older. The grand opening will also feature deals on merchandise, including: * 25% Off Magellan Outdoors apparel * 25% Off all shoes & socks * 25% Off rods, reels & combos On Thursday before the weekend activities, Academy will be giving back. "Academy Sports + Outdoors is celebrating the grand opening of its Statesboro store by donating a total of $5,000 to the community," a company news release said. "Twenty local kids identified by Bulloch County Recreation & Parks (BCRP) will each receive an Academy gift card to shop the store ahead of the grand opening for new apparel, shoes, sports equipment, and items to support the program." If you want to get in the doors quicker than next week, Academy will hold a soft opening beginning this Saturday, Sept. 25. Doors will open at 10 a.m. Gross will monitor the success of the new store and use those statistics to recruit other retailers. "Academy Sports might average sales of about 19 and a half million, according to reports we get," he said. "Whether or not our Academy does that same number, I hope that it's above that number, but we won't get those official numbers from them." Gross now turns to the future. "I still have a list of businesses that I think would do well here and that I think our citizens would enjoy having here," he said. "I'll go down that list about once a quarter, reach out to those folks. Examples being Home Depots, the Targets of the world and let them know, 'You don't have to take my word for it.' Look at these other companies that are coming into the community." Gross added, "I can't do that without the support of City Hall and a mayor and a city council that's very progressive thinking and wants to expand that growth in our area." He expanded more on the possibility of a Target. "I get at least one comment a week: 'When are we getting a target?'" Gross said. "I can say that we're actively recruiting those folks right now, but they are very tight-lipped and these processes take a long time. It took two years to get HomeGoods and that's when we had an existing location that they liked. If Target decided they were coming to Statesboro today, it would probably still take three or four years before they had a grand opening. They're very tight-lipped. I can tell you we are actively being looked at by some very large retailers; I just can't talk about it." Gross also provided information on where future developments may be located. "The old Kmart that was vacant since 2018, that's where HomeGoods is," he said. "They took half the old Kmart so there's still some availability there. We've got the old JCPenney that's still available. That's about 38,000 square feet. I've certainly made a priority of trying to backfill those empty spots. We still have a little bit left, not nearly as much as when we started, I'm happy to say, but that takes that vacant property off the rolls and it aesthetically makes it more pleasing when those other companies come to town to have those tours." He added that growth will also bring more than just retail franchises. "I think that as we start getting those amenities, as we start keeping more of the people that are graduating, I think we will eventually be a target for regional headquarters for larger corporations," Gross said. "I certainly think that's possible for us and I think that's a worthy goal for us to try to go after."