Dick’s grand opening on Saturday

Dick’s Sporting Goods, which has been enjoying a well-received “soft opening” the past couple of weeks, will officially have its grand opening on Saturday.

Special deals are on tap – but you’ll have to see the ad in Saturday’s Daily Journal to see what they are. We can’t even get a peek at it. Well, actually, we can, but we can’t tell you yet.

On a separate note, I’ll give the store mixed reviews as a customer during this early going. Here’s the story:

I (the Dennis half of biz buzz) like the store; however, customer service could be a little better. The first time I visited, I was never asked if I could be helped. And I was there a good 10 minutes. Not that I needed acknowledgment by an employee, but you would figure SOMEBODY might see how you’re doing, if you need help finding something, etc.

The second time was last Saturday when my wife and 6-year old went shopping for a basketball goal. Had to track down somebody to send help. Two employees walked by, but one of them apologized and came back a few minutes later.

Granted, the place was full of folks, including baseball teams that were in town for the tournament.

Anyway, we had our eyes set on a goal and backboard that was competitively priced. More expensive than Wal-Mart, but in our eyes, better quality. However, no where was there a sign that said the price was for the backboard only, and that the pole and stand were not included. That’s not good.

At least the employee was very apologetic about the “mixup.” Still, had we been hard bargainers like some people are, we could have argued that we should get the whole package for that price that was listed. Having been in retail, I know what it’s like, and I felt a little – a little – sorry for them. So we went elsewhere, I’m afraid.

Sorry, Dick’s!

But we’ll be back for fishing gear, camping gear, and probably some golfing stuff.

We’ll just have to look at the prices VERY carefully and make sure what we’re getting.

Call it growing pains for a new store. It happens to everybody.

14 Responses to “Dick’s grand opening on Saturday”


  1. 1 bigwoolymammoth May 15, 2008 at 10:57 am

    sounds like the place is appropriatly named……

  2. 2 jaybirdms May 15, 2008 at 10:58 am

    I was in there a couple of weeks ago and also noticed that no one offered to help. All the employees would smile and speak as they walked past, though. Maybe some of them are just nervous about their new jobs.

    No complaints, though. I was just scoping things out anyway.

  3. 3 tupelobizbuzz May 15, 2008 at 11:24 am

    It could also probably stand to be a bigger store, IMO. But I don’t think they’ll have any trouble at all in luring customers. They don’t seem to have a problem with that yet anyway.

    And I think the local sporting goods stores will do just fine, too, with their customer service.

  4. 4 Jason May 15, 2008 at 3:02 pm

    i was asked if i needed help the other day i was in there looking at tennis stuff. i went on latter to look at shoes but no one asked me for help there.

  5. 5 fulltiltgolfer May 15, 2008 at 3:35 pm

    I hear other Dick’s have a much better selection than this one. My friends that fish were SEVERELY disappointed, even though they frequent Dick’s when they are out of town. That seems ridiculous in NE Mississippi.

  6. 6 tupelobizbuzz May 15, 2008 at 5:13 pm

    Maybe they’ll add fishing stuff. The camping area isn’t that great, and I don’t know how popular it might be around here. Maybe use some of the room there, or expand into the clothing area.

  7. 7 Greg "The Brick Man" May 16, 2008 at 5:45 am

    I liked the store itself, but found that they have a lot of small departments. They should have used the whole building, in my opinion.

  8. 8 bookdawg May 16, 2008 at 9:15 am

    Can anyone tell me if they have indoor exercise equipment? I’m in the market to purchase a “Gazelle” or other elliptical trainer.

  9. 9 tupelobizbuzz May 16, 2008 at 9:17 am

    Ah, Dennis, I liked the camping area. Granted, it is much smaller than Academy’s, but I would hate to see it get scaled down.

    Dick’s also had a large selection of water bottles - something I think is popular here.

  10. 10 jaybirdms May 16, 2008 at 10:00 am

    I think so, book. A lot of exercise stuff on the back wall, opposite from the outside entrance. I rembeber Treadmills, hand weights, etc…

  11. 11 tupelobizbuzz May 16, 2008 at 12:11 pm

    By the way, if you got a copy of today’s Daily Journal, there’s an ad insert for Dick’s for its grand opening celebration.

  12. 12 Miranda May 16, 2008 at 3:35 pm

    Bookdawg…….there are a ton of ellipticals, at least 6 or 7 different kinds I think. I don’t remember anything exactly like a Gazelle, but there are a couple that a the stairstepper/ski machine combos.

  13. 13 tupelobizbuzz May 16, 2008 at 3:48 pm

    And, in today’s paper, the insert advertises an elliptical that’s $300 off the original price. Another one is discounted $1,000.

  14. 14 tupelobizbuzz May 16, 2008 at 3:49 pm

    P.S. There’s a coupon in the insert for $10 off any purchase of $25 or more.

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