Dick’s Sporting Goods ‘House of Sport’ Coming To Tampa International Plaza

If you’ve been to Tampa International Plaza recently, you’ve probably noticed all of the construction going on. What once was a Lifetime Fitness is now a gutted facility with construction equipment going in and out. The brand new Dick’s House of Sport is coming to Tampa Bay.

Back in April, the Tampa Bay Business Journal had reported that Dick’s Sporting Goods was in talks with Tampa International Plaza’s owners to relocate the Dick’s at Westshore Plaza. With recent documentation of building permits under the House of Sport label, this new concept is making its way to Tampa Bay.

After the Lifetime fitness had moved to its new location at the former Harbour Island Athletic Club, Dick’s saw an opportunity to expand and bring to life the new concept at the Tampa International Plaza. The new House of Sport concept is a whopping 50,000 square foot store and the company plans on opening 75 to 100 house of Sport stores by the year 2027. 

The owners of WestShore Plaza have yet to make any comments about the possible departure of the major sporting retailer. With redevelopment plans for WPG, the owner of Westshore Plaza, this could present a sticky situation.

Ed Stack, Dick’s Sporting Goods executive chairman said after the quarterly earnings reports came in August, “We haven’t seen growth opportunities like these since we went public in the early 2000s.”

When you walk into this new concept store, you’ll experience the difference right away. You’ll see the traditional Dick’s selection of merchandise and goods, but with a more hands on experience. House of Sport concepts have batting cages, golfing simulators, rock walls and more. As big retailers are seeing a decline in in store traffic with the rise of internet shopping, this could bring consumers back into the stores to experience the good first hand.

Checkout this video from Dick’s YouTube channel to give an inside look at what the new House of Sport concept is bringing to the table.

It's no secret that we have some of the best dining options in the Tampa Bay area. And it seems like more and more companies are expanding to the southeast/Florida in general. But there are a handful of really great restaurants that are missing in our area. Whether it's fast food or a sit-down restaurant, we think these restaurants need to make their way to Tampa.

One honorary mention that we left off the list is Del Taco. There's a location in Orlando that we always stop at whenever we go to the theme parks or a concert. Earlier this year the news broke that the Tampa Bay area could possibly be getting several Del Taco locations. But things have been quiet since a press release went out earlier this year. Other big chains that have made their way to Tampa include Dave's Hot Chicken, Dutch Bros (coming soon), Raising Cane's, and a few others.

When you travel to other states do you try to stick with restaurants you know? Or are you willing to try something new? We've tried all the places on our list and have wished we would see a Tampa location open ever since. Even though we always try to eat at local restaurants in Tampa, sometimes it's easier to order takeout or visit a drive-thru. One of the biggest requests in the Tampa area is In-N-Out. Although some may see the burger chain as over-hyped, we think a Tampa location would do really well. Any places we missed on our list? Feel free to shout it out on social media and maybe we'll add it! We got our inspiration from Creative Loafing after we noticed a few places on their list have made it to Tampa.

Obviously the first on our list is In-N-Out. Everyone has their own opinion on the west coast burger chain. Some think it's overrated, and some think it's the best fast-food burger out there.

We're surprised that one of the biggest fast-food chains in the south hasn't made it's way to Florida AT ALL! Cook Out has a stacked menu of everything you could want with those old school fast food prices. Plus they have over 30 milkshake flavors. Can we start a petition to bring Cook Out to Tampa?

This is for all the deep dish pizza lovers. Although there are some great local spots that make an awesome deep dish pie, nothing beats Giordano’s. They do ship frozen pizzas across the country but we need a Tampa location!

We get that we have Chick-Fil-A, Popeye's, Zaxby's, Raising Canes, etc. But would one more chicken restaurant really hurt? There are already a handful of locations in Florida, but the closest one to Tampa is in Sanford, just a little north of Orlando.

This breakfast place is SO good! We are BEGGING for a Florida location, even if it means we have take a drive from Tampa. Snooze Eatery is spread across the southern half of the U.S. with locations in Colorado, Texas, Arizona, California, and even Georgia.