Dick's Sporting Goods, Golf Galaxy open in former Sears spot at Southridge Mall
Dick’s Sporting Goods and Golf Galaxy have opened a combined store at Southridge Mall in Greendale, bringing new life to a former Sears anchor spot.
The athletic equipment and apparel retailers, which had a "soft opening" Wednesday, plan to host a three-day grand opening event at their newest metro Milwaukee area store, 5200 S. 76th St. in Greendale, starting Friday morning.
The grand opening will feature product giveaways and a Friday evening appearance by former Wisconsin Badger and Green Bay Packer and current radio broadcaster Mark Tauscher.
Struggling retailer Sears closed its Southridge store in fall 2017, setting the stage for Dick’s to open a store at the location, along with bowling and amusement center operator Round 1. The timetable for Round 1’s opening wasn’t available Wednesday, but the company’s website says the Southridge location is coming in 2019.
For the grand opening, doors will open Friday and Saturday at 8 a.m. Those in line early will get a chance to open the Dick’s Sporting Goods “gift locker” and Golf Galaxy “clubhouse locker” at 7:45 a.m., the company said. The doors will open at 9 a.m. Sunday, with a chance to open the lockers at 8:45 a.m., the retailer said.
The first 100 people in line each day at Dick’s will be eligible for a free gift card ranging in value from $10 to $500 on Saturday and Sunday, Dick’s said in a news release. To keep the event orderly, the company said it will distribute a limited number of wristbands on a first-come, first-served basis.
Tauscher is set to appear Friday from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
More information on the grand opening is available at dicks.com/Greendale.
The opening of the combined Dick’s and Golf Galaxy location, along with bowling and entertainment company Round 1, should revive the north end of Southridge, where Sears stood for decades until parent company Sears Holdings Corp. shut it down while coping with declining sales and the national trend of fewer consumer visits to malls. Sears closed it last full-line department store in metro Milwaukee — the store at Brookfield Square — in March.
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Southridge, operated by Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group, recently lost two other large anchor stores — Kohl’s, which moved to the nearby 84 South retail development, and the Boston Store, which went out of business in August. Macy's and J.C. Penney remain anchor stores at Southridge.