“This is huge, especially in these economic times,” Duebber said. “It shows there’s a lot of life left in the Dayton Mall, and it will help us attract other tenants that might have been on the fence.”
The Dayton area’s three largest shopping malls — The Greene, the Mall at Fairfield Commons, and the Dayton Mall — sometimes compete for the same retailers.
A fourth large-scale development is under construction at the Austin Landing development that will add additional retail space to the region.
Initial work on the Dick’s Sporting Goods project has begun, and mall officials anticipate a late 2012 or an early 2013 opening, Duebber said.
A spokesman for Dick’s Sporting Goods confirmed that the Springboro Pike store will be relocating to the mall and projected an opening date of the fall of 2012. He declined to answer other questions about the move, including its impact on the store’s employees.
Dick’s Sporting Goods will move into about 31,000 square feet of space on the north side of the Dayton Mall between Sears and JC Penney that had been vacated by a DSW shoe store — which moved to the adjacent Village at Dayton Mall — and space vacated by FYE, a music and video store that closed, Duebber said. The mall will build another 19,000 square feet of new space, so the sporting goods store will encompass more than 50,000 square feet, he said. Utility work and other preliminary modifications will occur during the next few months before the new construction begins.
Chris Snyder, assistant planning director for Miami Twp., where the Dayton Mall is located, said the relocation “is a positive indicator of the mall’s vitality,” and he said the relocation also will benefit consumers.
“Having that store inside the mall makes it convenient for shoppers to compare prices and determine where they can get the best deal,” Snyder said.
Chris Fine — development director for the city of Miamisburg, where the current Dick’s store is located — said Miami Twp. officials notified him of the upcoming move a few weeks ago. Fine said the move is similar to one that Dick’s Sporting Goods officials made with their Beavercreek store, moving it inside the Mall at Fairfield Commons in 2005. Fine said he’ll contact the listing agent for the building that Dick’s will be vacating “to see if we can be of any assistance” and will pass along any leads of prospective tenants.
Dick’s Sporting Goods has reported strong financial performances of late. Its fourth-quarter 2011 adjusted earnings jumped 16 percent to 88 cents a share from the year-ago level of 76 cents a share, and for fiscal 2011, the company reported adjusted earnings of $2.02 per share, up 24 percent from the previous year. The company’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol DKS.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2258 or mfisher@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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