After suffering through several closures this past year, including losing Sears in March, there is some really good news for the Meadowbrook Mall. Officials with the facility announces that a nationally known sports retailer is coming to Bridgeport.

 

According to Joe Bell, the director of corporate communications for the Ohio-based Cafaro Corporation that owns the retail hub, Hibbett Sports will open a new store at the Mall in November. The new store will cover 5,040 square feet.

 

“Obviously it’s always a good thing to see a new tenant come aboard, particularly a national brand such as Hibbett Sports,” said Meadowbrook Mall Property Manager Marcello Lalama. “This will fill up the rest of the space that was once occupied by the Gap and we’re extremely pleased to have that space filled.”

 

Maurice’s re-opened recently at the Meadowbrook Mall in the rest of the space that was once occupied by Gap. Hibbett will be located between Maurice’s and Justice.

 

There’s one other bonus with the announcement. And that is that the store will be open in time for the holiday season sometime in November as mentioned above.

 

“Having them in place before the holiday is an added bonus. Anytime you can add a quality retailer prior to the Christmas season is a good thing,” said Lalama.

 

Lalama said the process involved with landing Hibbett Sports was standard. Standard, however, usually doesn’t mean quick.

 

“This, probably, has been going on for about a year,” said Lalama when asked about the negotiations. “Between the very first conversation to getting all the work that needed to be done between that time and the announcement, you’re looking at about a year.”

 

According to information provided by Bell, Hibbett offers a broad assortment of quality branded athletic footwear, apparel and equipment; along with superior customer service.  The sporting-goods retailer was founded in Birmingham, Alabama in 1945. Today, it has grown to a chain of more than 1,000 stores in 33 states.

 

A store search on their Web site shows two of those 1,000 stores are located in West Virginia. The company has a location in Buckhannon and also Summersville.