Hibbett Inc., with 10 Hibbett Sports and two City Gear stores in Northeast Florida, intends to open a sports storefront in the Edgewood Square Shopping Center, where Aldi is converting a Harveys Supermarkets store into its discount format in Northwest Jacksonville.
Hibbett Retail Inc., based in Birmingham, Alabama, is building-out a 6,000-square-foot storefront at 2261 Edgewood Ave. W., Unit 3. Core States Group of Tampa is the contractor for the $321,280 project. The city issued a permit Aug. 21.
Hibbett Inc., which describes itself as an athletic-inspired fashion retailer, announced July 25 the completion of its acquisition by global British company JD Sports Fashion plc as of July 25.
Hibbett had 1,169 Hibbett, City Gear and Sports Additions specialty stores in 36 states as of May 4. There are 76 in Florida, including the 12 in Northeast Florida.
They sell footwear, apparel and equipment from brands like Nike, Jordan and Adidas.
“Above all, we will continue to provide an outstanding consumer experience in underserved communities by offering a unique and compelling product mix that appeals to our fashion-conscious shoppers,” Hibbett said in the July release.
Hibbett Sports is more than doubling in size in the Brentwood area as it relocates into an 11,610-square-foot store at Gateway Town Center near Downtown.
JD Sports Fashion Plc, said in April that the Hibbett Sports acquisition is in line with the company’s priorities and is “very important” for its strategic and financial development. JD had 3,300 stores worldwide.
E-commerce media site Digitalcommerce360.com said in April that JD Sports cited Hibbett’s fiscal 2024 revenue in its presentation on the merger to investors. In addition, it noted “strong brand positioning” and “significant store presence” as ways Hibbett will benefit JD Sports.
Specifically, Hibbett will give JD Sports a foothold in the Southeast and Midwest U.S. That’s “highly complementary” to JD Sports’ other brands with established presences on the East and West coasts, it said.
At Edgewood Square, Germany-based grocery discount store Aldi is converting its first Southeastern Grocers Northeast Florida store to its namesake brand.
The city is reviewing building plans to convert the Harveys at 2261 Edgewood Ave. W. into a 21,839-square-foot Aldi store at an estimated project cost of $1.7 million.
Harveys operated in a 46,189-square-foot space. Aldi stores are smaller than Southeastern Grocers’ Harveys and Winn-Dixie supermarkets.
Aldi, whose U.S. headquarters are in Batavia, Illinois, said March 7 it completed the acquisition of Jacksonville-based Southeastern Grocers and would convert some of the 400 stores beginning in the second half of 2024.
Two identified Northeast Florida stores are the Harveys in Edgewood Square and the Winn-Dixie in Fleming Island in Clay County.