The Original House of Sport

 

     Dick's Sporting Goods first started the House of Sport format in the Rochester, NY suburb of Victor.As of this writing, there are now 12 House of Sport format locations open or in various stages of development. With Victor being the first location for this prototype, I naturally had to visit and check things out. What makes House of Sport so differently? Like their website says; "It's more than a store. It's an experience." 

    In other words, the store highlights products through interactive experiences. Such experiences include a rock climbing wall, virtual golf bays, a batting cage, an outdoor track field used for events and more. It is also worth noting that this format is at least twice the size of a normal Dick's Sporting Goods- making it an ideal mall anchor. As an example, the Victor location makes use of a former Sears- occupying about 3/4 of the space. While no doubt the normal format will continue to be used as well, it becomes rather obvious why Dick's future plans are heavily reliant on this format. 

Former Kmart #9462

 NOTE: This post comes from outside the blog's coverage area.

    As one of the final Kmart stores to open prior to the 2002 bankruptcy, the New Windsor/Vails Gate location opened in a former Caldor location. That alone makes the store unique; however, there is more to the story. Since this location was new, it was a rare non-supercenter location to feature belt-driven checkout lanes and operate with some post-2000 wall signage. Other signs- such as the ATM and elevator signs- were not very common for the Big K era. Although the store was all one level, it featured an elevator and staircase to access the attached parking garage. The store had a pharmacy, and what appears to have been a restaurant called Eddie's at the front. In an unusual move, this location had no proper separate garden shop, but had garden supplies within an aisle. To my knowledge, this store remains vacant.