Academy Sports + Outdoors to Enter Triangle Market
The Texas based sporting goods retailer, Academy Sports + Outdoors has decided to give Triangle residents options when it comes to buying new bats, basketballs, workout clothes, shoes, that new driver, or that treadmill you have been meaning to buy. The burgeoning towns of Wake Forest and Apex are the targets for the fast growing retailer.
For you Apex residents how does a 64,000+ square foot building sound? This is planned to be next to Costco Wholesale (new) on US 64 at Nichols Plaza. Our friends on the north side of the county in Wake Forest may recall the possible future development of the former Parker-Hannifin manufacturing site. This is located near the Wake Forest Plaza off of Wake Union Church Road. While the former plans came to halt it appears that a new plan is in place and Academy wants to be an anchor there. That part of Wake Forest continues to peak the interest of major retailers and there are rumblings of other major news to be released in 2017 possibly. Exciting times for commercial real estate development in Wake Forest NC for sure.
Academy Sports + Outdoors, while new to the Triangle market is not new to North Carolina. Having six stores there already and looking for expansion opportunities now the footprint will continue to grow. Apex officials report, via the Triangle Business Journal, that the proposed Nichols Plaza store is moving along through the process of approvals. Final construction drawings have been submitted and it is anticipated that construction should begin soon.
Impact? What impact will the new stores have? Let’s start with the fact that it will bring approximately an additional 100 jobs to each store. It should alleviate traffic. How? Well in the case of the Wake Forest store it should take many of those drivers heading to Dick’s Sporting Goods in Raleigh off of Capital Boulevard southbound. Nichols Plaza continues to draw residents in Apex and is quickly becoming a destination.
Competing directly with the large sporting goods retailer, Dick’s Sporting Goods … Academy Sports + Outdoors currently operates approximately 225 stores and is growing quickly. Dick’s has over 600 stores currently open and also is continuing to grow both it’s brick and mortar footprint in addition to it’s online sales exposure. It will be interesting to see where the residents of the greater Apex area chose to spend their money…at Nichols Plaza or the established Beaver Creek Commons? The same could be said of the Wake Forest population…will they continue to flock to the Triangle Town Center store or will the new Academy Sports + Outdoors attract them to stay in Wake Forest?
On a side note, the new Panera Bread Company location in Wake Forest is open for business. Word is that it is being well received as the coffee is flowing, the soups are bubbling and the pastries continue to be an attraction. Located in the same location as the ever popular Carolina Ale House, Panera is filling the parking lot for breakfast and lunch while the lunch, evening and weekend crowds at the Ale House continue to make find a good parking spot a challenge!
Kima Commercial, Llc of Keller Williams Commercial is a locally owned and operated commercial real estate firm with offices in Raleigh and Wake Forest. Our team is prepared to assist you with all of your real estate needs. Please do not hesitate to call or contact our team, Lisa Thomas, Paul Eitel, Jonathan Williams, and Peter Kima. www.KimaCommercial.com