Sports Authority

Tennis fans, avoid this place like the plague.
Stringers look for fake reasons to get out of stringing your rackets. Dropped off racket on a Thursday, was promised it would be ready Tuesday.
It is not ready Tuesday, in fact they don’t STRING or LOOK at my racket UNTIL I CALL them Thursday.
It’s then that they tell me they can’t string my racket because allegedly my frame is too fragile. This is bullshit, the next day a friend invites me to his place and lets me use his own stringer.

Love this store! The managers and employees are all consistently warm, caring, customer service oriented individuals who work hard to create an amazing shopping experience for you. Always available to answer questions and to take all the necessary steps to help you get just what you want and it is apparent that there is a training program to equip all employees with the product knowledge necessary to help you make an educated decision about what shoe is best for your needs and lifestyle, in my case running shoes. A great place to shop!

I’m not sure if they have checked the prices anywhere else on the planet, but they seem to have the highest prices of Any sporting goods store out there.
I went in looking for tennis stuff. Their selection is about the same as academy but prices much higher. Even for tennis balls. A can of Penn were 2.69 here! Across the street at target they’re 1.89. No thanks.

Excellent warranty offered for bikes. I got the 3 year plan for $ 60. Great coverage and service. !

Felt very compelled to write a review about the amazing service we received this evening. We went in late-​ish (7−8pm) on a Tuesday evening just to grab a patellar band for my boyfriends knee. Had some time to kill so we walked around the store a bit and ended up in the shoe area where we had the pleasure of talking to one of the associates for awhile, Michael. Very knowledgeable guy, with lots of experience running cross-​country so he was a great resource when asking about running and shoes. My boyfriend is training for the Austin marathon in February for the first time and needed some shoes really meant for running because his nike frees just aren’t meant for that lol. Well he told Michael he’s been meaning to go to Luke’s Locker to get his gait analyzed, but as it turns out, Michael said he can do that there! So he had my bf walk/​run in the store while he watched very fixated on his feet, and told us that has a slight pronation to his gait. Crazy that we never knew that! And then he showed us several shoes with the structure to correct pronation. Not only that, but he suggested at least 5 – 6 other brands/​styles that could be found at Luke’s locker and quoted the price for each of them. Like I said, SUPER knowledgeable guy. And never did he pressure us about buying any of the shoes he showed us in the store. Very pleased with the customer service/​advice we received! And their rewards program is awesome too!

Mark, the team lead, is friendly and welcoming. The store is clean. ⁴⁄₅ stars is because I have had some unhelpful staff in the past and I can hardly ever find my size. Another reason is its hard to find someone to let me into the changing room. The company has decent coupons and deals. This is also the «go-​to» location for sport related activities. For the color run and the ROC race I volunteered for packet pick up at this south location. One thing that is bothersome is right when you walk in the door they have sales stuff too close together and to close to the door you can’t walk in. I understand you want to promote the sale racks, but push them back a little. I’ll continue to shop here.

Staff is nice. Welcomed at the door. Asked if needed any help. Were pleasant when checking out. Got $ 10 off $ 40 for checking in on Unilocal.Only downside is things are a bit pricey here. Not much on clearance either. But did have good stock of anything you’d need.

So I’m not sure why this store had such a low average score, but I had a great experience at the Sports Authority at Southpark Meadows. Luke helped me figure out training wheels for my son and was helpful finding a helmet. They spent extra time with us on a Sunday evening. I thought it was a clean and well stocked store, with tremendously friendly staff. Will be back.

«Excuse me, sir? I’m not sure how much you can help me, but I have this Northface that doesn’t fit. And I don’t have the receipt because it was a gift, but he’s already left the state. I haven’t touched it, tags are on, can I just exchange it for an XS?»
«Uuuuuuuuuuuh… I’ll have to get a manager.»
«Okay sure, I’ll wait.»
*Manager enters from left stage*
«Ma’am, have you called the number to generate a receipt?»
«Um… I wasn’t aware that was a possibility and I don’t have the number, so no.»
*We stare at each other for an awkwardly long time*
«Okay… well, would you like to give this number to me if I’m required to generate this receipt in order to make the exchange?»
«Sure. But have you even checked if we have your size? Otherwise, I don’t want to make you wait.»
«Good point.»
*Goes and finds XS in another color. Brings it to the front and stands at the register.*
…
…
…
…
…
No, that’s it.
They ignored me after that. For over 20 minutes. But asked the people behind me in line to come to the nearest register and be checked out. They ignored me long enough that I told the cashier to let his manager know he’s an asshole before storming out.
Cool story, bro.

Gracious and pleasant employees. A truly valuable trait in the times we live in.
A lot more knowledgeable and helpful than the folks at Academy.
Very good merchandise selection too.

Awesome store. Way cleaner than Academy! People were very knowledgable about footwear for running shoes. They even sized me and helped me pick out my perfect shoe. I was signed up for their discount card and it was so easy. I can’t wait till I get my birthday certificate just for signing up! :)

They actually sell HEAVY slam balls, medicine balls, and kettle bells. They carry American made stuff too, which is awesome. Zero selection for heavy bag mounts.

Telling me one thing for me to later find out it is a lie will not get this establishment far. To save 5%, I have to make my purchase in-​store? Then why am I on your website ordering your merchandise? I could have done that at home. Called the customer support to cancell my order and the rep said it is done. The following day, I get an email stating that my order is complete and my item is being shipped. Just… wow.
If I can add negatives to the stars, I would. C’mon Sports Authority. You lost this sale due to lies. I didn’t mind the higher price since I had a semi knowledgable individual helping me out. But lying to me is one thing. Me catching that lie is another.

If you’re smart and I’m sure you are – you’ll read close and do as I say…
Lesson # 1:
–Bargain shop, if you don’t – what the hell is wrong with you.
Lesson # 2:
–Shop here for sporty apparel, they have a wide range.
Lesson # 3:
-$ 5.99 for an Under Armour shirt normally $ 26.99, is a (say it with me) «SSS-​TT-​EEE-​AAA-​LLL» (btw– it was purchased here).
Lesson # 4:
–Their shoe selection sucks – shockingly overpriced at that; though the occasional MASS sale occurs here.
Lesson # 5:
–Don’t make a mess, what you put in the basket you better purchase; this place is organized – clean and I think they would like to keep it that way.
Lesson # 6:
–It’s like you need a treasure map to locate a sales associate in this joint, if you need help – best bet go to the front, don’t wait around for it.
Now – as much as I don’t want to advise you to shop here for fear you’ll snag all the deals before I get there – you should, but only if you follow the lessons you were taught.

I’d been in possession of an unused Sports Authority gift card for a long while, so I figured I’d finally go in and use it to get my tennis racket restrung. Definitely wouldn’t have gone there otherwise.
The tennis section is pitifully small, which I know is often the case in sports stores like these, but really, it’s sad how few choices there were. The guy working that section seemed really nice and knowledgeable, but since I already knew what I was doing, I’d actually have rather traded helpful department dude for more choice of goods =X I ended up with gut I was fairly happy with and a replacement grip that I don’t like at all but is better than the nonexistent pulp I was working my current grip down to. It *is* nice that they’ll string your racket for free if you buy the strings from them, but I think that’s pretty standard (and if it’s not, then it should be… good string is freaking expensive.)
The workers up front were less helpful. The girl that processed our work orders is either brand new or just absent-​minded. Don’t feel like going through all the mundane ways that service was off, but just trust all the previous reviewers who say that the workers here would benefit from more service training.
I also asked if they could put string savers (tiny bead thingies that sit between the strings) that I previously purchased on my racket during the restringing process. I was fine if there was an extra charge because I didn’t buy the string savers from them, or if it wasn’t something they could do for me, that was fine, too. But they’d done it for me at a Sports Authority location in Dallas before, so I figured I’d ask. The girl at the counter both radioed the question to I guess the manager or whoever is in charge of these things as well as someone coming up to confirm the item and if they could do it, and in the end they told me that yes, they could do it. When they called me to tell me my racket was done, the guy who called told me that they couldn’t do it because «it was too time consuming and there were other orders that had to be filled so they’re not allowing it.»
Umm, …okay? It’s cool, I’m totally capable of doing it myself (actually, just finished doing it before starting this review), but I just wish they’d told me that up front, especially when I made it clear that I would understand if it weren’t possible.
Oh, well. At least I have a working racket again. Tennis anyone?

This place is to sporting goods like Gamble & Huff was to the Jacksons. Sure, it’s a formula approach to hawking sporting goods, but boring and unsatisfying in the final analysis – like the extended play version of «Enjoy Yourself» on continuous loop. You might as well be at Target or MalWart when it comes right down to it. In fact, you’d probably be better off.
I went in mid-​afternoon on a Monday a couple of weeks ago in search of some exercise items for my dad and the place was dead. There was no one in the weight department, nor the two adjacent departments, nor at the main checkout in the front of the store. I think I saw an employee in the back of the store, but it was probably a cardboard stand-​up. Note that I was in the store a good 10 minutes and this never changed.
As others have pointed out, this place is deep and wide when it comes to inventory, but narrow and shallow when it comes to customer service. Items are indeed well organized – but they need to be because finding someone to assist is virtually impossible. I couldn’t assess the employees’ ability to provide customer service, because no one was around to offer assistance – even at the central checkout!
I probably could have walked my purchase had I not wanted to start a mid-​life rap sheet. Ultimately, someone showed up to check me out. That was a relief, because I really didn’t want to think about abandoning the purchase at the register and heading off to Academy to re-​select.
I’ll come in here if I know they have what I want, but, if I need any advice at all, I’ll go to a different store.

Good athletic wear place with good prices, they don’t have the best selection though and their hat selection is lacking. If you need locally branded sportswear though, then you’ve come to the right place. It has a large variety of clothing too and there aren’t many other places in the area to choose from.

I guess if you need athletic clothes this place is ok. Other than that they are overpriced and don’t carry much. Not sure how these places stay in business in any city with Academy. No hunting gear or guns, next to no fishing stuff, and a very limited selection of overpriced products for most other sports. Every time I think I need something simple and am near here I end up having to drive to Academy because Sports Authority doesn’t have what I need. Not a fan.

Sports Authority: Academy: Target: Wal-​Mart
Just having an alternative to the chaos that is Academy makes me happy. And although I was hesitant to step into Sports Authority because I pictured it as just another jock hangout like Champs at the mall, I was pleasantly surprised with my experience.
The store is very well organized, the lay out was not overwhelming, and there are tons of items available for many different types of sports enthusiasts. An employee came up to ask if I needed help locating anything, I did not, but I appreciated not being completely ignored. The items I did purchase seemed to be of good quality and the price was right.
Yay for a sports store that fits everyone, even non-​meatheads like me!

I liked the store. Just the store. There’s tons to choose from. The customer service on the other hand? Not so good.
I needed new shoes and headed off to the shoe department. The worker there was the most helpful. She was able to offer suggestions, but did not do much more than tell me where shoes were and which she liked because she «already had, like, 10 pairs.»
Mom wanted a certain kind of shirt (the kind with the pocket for an iPod). I asked someone who appeared to work there, but really had no clue what I was talking about. She also said they did not have any pants (only shorts) that had pocket in them. She vaguely pointed to where some may be.
Children screamed and ran around inside. Not sure if parents were even around. They may have been at the barbeque outside… The ceilings are high, the yelling echoed.
Briefly looked for workout DVDs, but did not see any. Asked a worker. She said, «Umm… I don’t know. I’ll go ask.» (why does that necessitate a giggle?) She came back quickly only to tell me that they «don’t have them here.» I said that it was okay and headed up to the counter.
Four or five employees crowded around the one open cash register. They moved when I approached, but it looked like a big gossip fest. As I was paying, my mom called to me from a few feet away, «Hey, Jess… here are a bunch of DVDs» and she held one up.
The checker did tell me that I got a good pair of shoes. And when I went to look at the DVDs (that they didn’t have), I decided none were worth the money.
I really like the store. It’s laid out well. I just hope they get some training for their employees.