A first glimpse at Academy Sports + Outdoors’ new Albany location
The Albany community has watched the walls go up on the Dawson Road location for more than six months, and on Oct. 24, the whole community will finally be able to browse the aisles and shop during the grand opening.
ALBANY – The team at Academy Sports + Outdoors is putting the finishing touches on stocked-to-the-brim aisles of the new store location here.
They’re buffing the floors to shiny perfection, hanging sports apparel on packed racks and perfecting shoe displays to prepare to open the store’s doors. The Albany community has watched the walls go up on the Dawson Road location for more than six months, and on Oct. 24, the whole community will finally be able to browse the aisles and shop during the grand opening.
“What we’re bringing to Albany is something new, something fresh, something to help support the city,” Clevon Bowens, the store director, said. “I’m excited to bring smiles to all of our customers.”
Academy Sports + Outdoors has a bit of something for a wide array of interests with large sections dedicated to hunting, grilling, camping, sports, fishing, fitness and shoes. The Albany location features a newer store set-up, with a large center presentation of a Nike display and an organized flow. Bowens said, unique from other locations, Albany staff paired merchandise sections like workwear across from the work boots and athletic wear across from the sneaker section.
“It makes it more accessible for the customer shopping experience,” he said.
Bowens said Academy Sports + Outdoors also prides itself on offering affordable prices that meet customer needs. It operates on a “good, better, best” price model, offering a range of products from store-name brands to more name-brands like Nike and Columbia.
“We meet our customers’ needs across the board,” he said.
The store’s MVP night is Sunday, which will invite some community members for early access to deals. These deals will run until Wednesday. Oct. 23 is “give-back day,” where 20 youths from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Albany will receive $200 gift cards to shop for whatever they want at the store. An additional $1,000 gift card will be donated to the organization to buy other equipment and needs.
Brooke Murski, Academy Sports’ senior public relations specialist, said with each store opening, the store chooses a local organization to give back to. She said more opportunities will happen throughout the year to impact the community’s youths. During the Christmas season, the store raises money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, raising around $3 million over the course of about five years.
She said the store chain is excited to be in Albany, filling a need.
“The closest Academies to Albany are pretty far away,” Murski said. “So we’re filling that need in the community for people who love sports and outdoors.”
The store employs about 60 team members and is still hiring. Open roles are listed on the career site: https://careers.academy.com/us/en
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