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Dive Brief:
- Wilson Sporting Goods Co. has opened a 2,600-square-foot specialty store at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, per a press release sent to Retail Dive.
- The opening marks the sporting goods and apparel brand’s eighth brick-and-mortar location in the U.S. and its first in this particular region of the country. Wilson has stores in Chicago, Illinois; Santa Monica, California, Houston, Texas; Central Valley, New York, and New York, New York, where it has three.
- The new Bloomington location carries the brand’s full complement of sporting goods and related athletic-inspired apparel and footwear for basketball, baseball, tennis, football, as well as technical sportswear for other activities.
Dive Insight:
Wilson Sporting Goods was in business for 108 years before opening its first retail store in 2021 in the brand’s hometown of Chicago. The opening followed the brand’s first ever Wilson Sportswear line which launched earlier that same year.
The Mall of America store offers customers premier racket stringing and an “Equipment Room,” where Wilson shoppers can rent select products to playtest on their own before purchasing. Customers can rent rackets for tennis, pickleball, and padel, at a fee of $5 to $10 per day which is taken off the final price if the product is purchased.
“We’re incredibly excited about Wilson’s expansion into such an iconic location like Mall of America,” said Gordon Devin, president and general manager, soft goods and retail at Wilson, in a statement. “The local communities around Minnesota have such a strong connection to sports and Wilson is proud to bring a dynamic retail space to the Twin Cities.
“Each of our retail locations are an in-person expression of our brand, and our storefront in the Mall of America is no different. This store exemplifies Wilson’s continued commitment to engaging the communities in which we live and evolve through our continued commitment to sport,” Devin said.
Customers to Wilson Sporting Goods at the Mall of America will find a range of products including the official basketballs of the NBA and WNBA, leading tennis rackets like the Pro Staff and Shift, as well as other Wilson products. Wilson’s newest styles from their technical sportswear collection will be available for both men and women. The store features Wilson’s latest drop of 2023 “City Edition” basketballs, highlighting Minnesota’s home team, the Timberwolves.
Wilson is a subsidiary of Amer Sports, which also owns Arc'teryx, Salomon, Atomic and Peak Performance.
via https://www.aiupnow.com
Howard Ruben, Khareem Sudlow
