Corpus Christi is about to offer its residents a whole lot more to do with their free time. That’s because Dick’s Sporting Goods is set to bring one of its new “experiential retail concept” stores to the Coastal Bend.
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A vacant Macy’s store at La Palmera Mall in Corpus Christi is set to become a massive new Dick’s House of Sport, an experiential retail concept featuring traditional sporting goods, batting cages, golf simulators, a climbing wall and an outdoor sports field.
On Tuesday, September 15, the Corpus Christi City Council approved an extension of an economic incentive agreement with La Palmera Mall. The move paved the way for the popular sporting goods retailer to build one its new concepts, called Dick’s House of Sport, at the site of a now-vacant Macy’s department store at La Palmera Mall. City leaders said finding a new tenant to replace Macy’s, which shuttered at the end of April, will help keep “the last, only mall we’ve got” vibrant and thriving as the retail industry continues to shift.
“I think the last thing that we need is an empty space like Macy’s there because I do believe it has an overall effect on other retailers,” District 1 Councilman Everett Roy said just before the council unanimously approved extending the economic incentive agreement, which funnels a portion of the city’s sales tax revenues back to the mall.
What is Dick’s House of Sport?
Dick’s House of Sport is a relatively new concept from Dick’s Sporting Goods that combines retail shopping with indoor and outdoor sporting activities. House of Sport shoppers will find traditional retail floor space with sporting apparel and athletic shoes, as well as sports equipment, like golf clubs, baseball bats and gloves, and fitness equipment, like treadmills and stationary bikes. But House of Sport also offers things to do with amenities like batting cages, an indoor rock climbing wall, and golf simulators.
The company launched the first House of Sport location in Victor, New York, in 2021. Since then, Dick’s has opened more than three dozen other House of Sport locations across the country, including Arlington, Baybrook, Dallas, Katy and San Antonio. Dick’s is planning on adding four more Texas locations by 2028, according to Corpus Christ’s Planning & Economic Development Department.
An architectural drawing shows how a space at La Palmera Mall in Corpus Christi which was once home to a Macy’s department store will be demolished and turned into a Dick’s House of Sport. The regions highlighted in orange at the bottom of the photograph will be dedicated to new stores from other retailers. (Courtesy city of Corpus Christi)
What would Dick’s House of Sport look like in Corpus Christi?
Corpus Christi planners say the La Palmera House of Sport would include “all aspects of this new concept,” including the climbing wall, a clubhouse and an outdoor multi-purpose sports field.
The La Palmera House of Sport would also occupy a larger footprint than the former Macy’s store. As a result, the mall would invest about $9 million to demolish the vacant store and replace it with a 100,000- to 120,000-square-foot space. La Palmera would then sell the space to Dick’s Sporting Goods, which is expected to invest another $21 million to build out the House of Sport, with a projected completion date of late-2028.
What other changes are coming to La Palmera Mall?
Meanwhile, a separate 14,000-square-foot section of the original Macy’s store, which ties into the interior entrance to the rest of the mall, will remain owned by La Palmera Mall and will house other retailers. Overall, La Palmera expects to add “at least 10 new to market tenants” to the mall soon.
While city leaders expressed optimism at the new venture, some also expressed concern. Councilman Roy, in particular, cited other activity centers that have failed or stalled in recent years.
“We had Cinergy… that hasn’t really kicked off. And we had talked about Bass Pro Shops. … I know that it doesn’t appear that we moved forward on that yet. It may come,” Roy said.
This article originally published at This Texas city is getting a major new attraction inside a former Macy’s.