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.
