DICK’S House of Sport Is Coming to Palm Beach Gardens, and It Could Change the Way Local Athletes Shop, Train and Play

DICK’S House of Sport combines traditional sporting-goods retail with batting cages, golf simulators, equipment testing and other hands-on athletic experiences.

For families in Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens and northern Palm Beach County, buying serious sports equipment often comes down to two choices. One is ordering online and relying on reviews, specifications, comparison videos and return policies to figure out whether something will actually work once it is in an athlete’s hands. The other is making the drive south to a larger sporting-goods store, with the current DICK’S Sporting Goods at Southern Crossing located at 8821 Southern Boulevard in West Palm Beach. That store does offer useful services, including a batting cage, HitTrax and golf fittings, but for many families farther north it can still mean a drive of 30 minutes or more depending on traffic. The arrival of DICK’S House of Sport at The Gardens Mall would change that equation by bringing a much larger and more experience-driven sports destination directly into Palm Beach Gardens. (DICK'S Sporting Goods)

The project is no longer just an idea moving through city review. Palm Beach Gardens gave final approval on September 10, 2026, following a first City Council reading on August 6 and the second reading that finalized the redevelopment. The city now lists the project among its approved developments at 3103 PGA Boulevard, where the former Sears anchor space will be redeveloped for DICK’S House of Sport and an outdoor sports field. The plan calls for a 140,000-square-foot House of Sport along with an 18,500-square-foot outdoor athletic field and additional retail space as part of the larger mall redevelopment. For local athletes and families, that approval marks the point where House of Sport moved from a proposed concept to something that can realistically begin taking shape. (Palm Beach Gardens)

From an Empty Sears to a Sports Destination

The former Sears space at The Gardens Mall has been vacant since the department store closed in 2024, leaving one of the mall’s largest anchor locations empty. The approved redevelopment replaces that space with a two-story House of Sport designed to function as much more than a conventional sporting-goods store. City planning documents describe a 140,000-square-foot store with interactive sports experiences, specialized equipment services and a large outdoor field built into the overall project. The broader redevelopment will also add new mall shops, increasing the property’s total retail footprint while reworking the eastern anchor area around the new sports concept. In practical terms, one of the mall’s largest dormant spaces is being converted into a destination built around activity, training, equipment and community use rather than simply another department store. (Palm Beach Gardens)

That distinction is important because House of Sport is not just a bigger DICK’S Sporting Goods with more racks and more inventory. The company has built the format around what it calls an elevated customer experience, combining broad product selection with places where athletes can actually test equipment and participate in sports-related activities. Palm Beach Gardens planning documents specifically reference rock-climbing walls, HitTrax batting cages, TrackMan golf bays and other virtual-reality sports experiences as part of the House of Sport model. The concept also uses more specialized staffing, including department experts and equipment service technicians, which is intended to make the store more useful for customers making technical or expensive equipment decisions. That combination of retail, technology and hands-on sports experiences is what separates House of Sport from the traditional store most people already know. (Palm Beach Gardens)

What Exactly Is House of Sport?

The easiest way to understand House of Sport is to think of it as a sporting-goods store built around participation rather than simply shopping. Traditional stores are mostly designed around browsing shelves, trying on products and speaking with sales associates before making a purchase. House of Sport keeps all of that retail inventory but adds experiences that allow athletes to use equipment in settings that more closely resemble the sports they actually play. At existing locations, customers can reserve HitTrax batting cages, schedule bat fittings, use golf simulators, book golf lessons, climb indoor rock walls and participate in events or field programming. The idea is to make a trip to the store useful even when someone is not arriving with a specific purchase already in mind. (DICK'S Sporting Goods)

That model can be especially valuable when the equipment itself is expensive or highly personal. A baseball player choosing between several premium bats learns far more from taking real swings than from holding each bat for a few seconds in an aisle. A golfer can compare clubs while tracking actual shots rather than relying only on feel, and athletes buying footwear or other performance equipment can make decisions with more information than an online product page can provide. House of Sport locations also host activities that have nothing to do with making an immediate purchase, including clinics, birthday events, fitness programming and field rentals. The result is a store that is designed to keep athletes engaged with the space long after the transaction at the register would normally be over. (DICK'S Sporting Goods)

Why This Matters for Local Families

For sports families across Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens and the surrounding area, the convenience alone could be significant. Parents with children in travel baseball, competitive softball, soccer, football, golf and other sports already spend enormous amounts of time moving between practices, lessons, games, tournaments and equipment purchases. When a bat breaks, cleats suddenly stop fitting or an athlete needs something before a weekend tournament, adding another long drive to the schedule can become one more unnecessary complication. Right now, many families either order online and hope the equipment is right or head south to the West Palm Beach DICK’S location to get access to a broader sporting-goods selection and services. Putting a much larger House of Sport at The Gardens Mall would bring those options much closer to the communities that use them constantly. (DICK'S Sporting Goods)

The bigger advantage, however, is not simply saving drive time. Families involved in competitive sports know that equipment decisions become more specific as athletes get older and the cost of making the wrong choice gets higher. Two bats can have the same length and weight on paper while feeling completely different during an actual swing, and two gloves that appear similar online can fit very differently once a player puts them on. The same applies to golf clubs, cleats, protective equipment and other products where fit and feel matter as much as the specifications printed on the box. A store that allows athletes to test equipment before buying it gives families a better chance to make informed decisions instead of spending hundreds of dollars based largely on reviews and guesswork.

Baseball and Softball Could Be a Major Part of the Appeal

Baseball and softball are obvious examples of where the House of Sport model could be especially useful in this part of Palm Beach County. Travel baseball players often move through several equipment transitions within only a few years, starting with lighter USSSA bats before eventually moving into drop 5 and then BBCOR as they approach high-school baseball. Along the way, players may change bat length, barrel construction, swing weight and even the type of feel they prefer as they get stronger and their mechanics develop. Premium bats can cost several hundred dollars, yet many families still make those purchases after reading reviews, watching videos or taking only a few dry swings in a store. House of Sport’s existing HitTrax cage rentals and bat-fitting services create a much better environment for comparing those choices before committing to one. (DICK'S Sporting Goods)

Competitive softball families face many of the same challenges. Fastpitch players can be extremely particular about bat balance, barrel feel, grip, length and swing weight, while glove selection changes depending on position, hand size and personal preference. Being able to compare equipment in person and actually use it before buying gives players a better chance to determine what feels right rather than relying entirely on descriptions and specifications. That does not replace private lessons, team practices or dedicated batting facilities, and it is not supposed to. What it can do is create a useful bridge between shopping, testing and training, especially for athletes who want to make smarter equipment decisions before bringing that gear into their normal practice environment.

The Outdoor Field May Be Just as Important

One of the most interesting parts of the Palm Beach Gardens project is the planned 18,500-square-foot outdoor sports field. City development materials describe the field as an integral part of the House of Sport concept rather than a decorative feature attached to the store. At other House of Sport locations, outdoor fields are used for equipment testing, sports clinics, community games, birthday parties, camps, fitness classes, parents’ nights out and private events. Existing locations also offer field rentals and organized programming that give families a reason to visit even when they are not shopping. That changes the role of the property from a retail destination into something closer to a small community sports venue. (Palm Beach Gardens)

For Palm Beach Gardens, that outdoor component could become especially valuable because youth sports are already such a large part of the local community. A field connected directly to a major sporting-goods destination creates opportunities for clinics, demonstrations, youth events and brand-sponsored experiences that would be difficult to host inside a traditional store. It also gives athletes a place to test certain products in an environment that more closely resembles real competition or training. Families could arrive for an event, spend time on the field, use one of the indoor experiences and then shop without the visit feeling like a normal mall trip. That mix of retail and recreation is a major reason House of Sport feels different from simply putting another large store into the old Sears space.

It Goes Well Beyond Baseball

Baseball and softball may stand out because of the batting cages and bat-fitting services, but House of Sport is designed for a much broader range of athletes. Existing locations offer golf club fittings, simulator rentals, lessons with golf professionals, climbing-wall experiences, running services and other sport-specific programming. Some stores also host fitness events, youth clinics, open-play sessions and community activities that bring in customers who may not be shopping for equipment at all. The format allows different sports to exist under one roof while still giving each category more specialized attention than it might receive in a conventional big-box store. For families with children involved in multiple sports, that could make one trip useful for several different needs instead of requiring separate stops around the county. (DICK'S Sporting Goods)

Golf could be particularly significant in Palm Beach Gardens, where the sport is already deeply embedded in the local community. House of Sport locations use simulator bays and club-fitting services to let golfers compare equipment while seeing measurable results rather than relying on feel alone. Running and training customers can also take advantage of specialized staff and events, while the climbing wall gives younger visitors an experience that has little to do with traditional retail. Even someone who has no immediate need for equipment may have a reason to visit because the store functions partly as an activity destination. That broader appeal is important because the success of House of Sport depends on people wanting to return for experiences, not simply waiting until they need another pair of shoes.

A Different Kind of Mall Anchor

The House of Sport project also says something about how malls are changing. Large department-store anchors were once built around the assumption that shoppers would spend hours moving through clothing, home goods and traditional retail departments, but that model has weakened considerably over the past two decades. When a major anchor like Sears closes, replacing it with another conventional department store is no longer the obvious solution. House of Sport offers a different approach by filling that same large footprint with shopping, activities, technology and events that cannot be replicated as easily by online retail. Instead of asking customers to visit only when they need to buy something, the concept gives them multiple reasons to return throughout the year.

That could benefit The Gardens Mall as much as it benefits DICK’S. A family arriving for a cage session, clinic, golf fitting or outdoor event may eat at the mall, shop at other stores or spend several hours on the property rather than making a quick purchase and leaving. The redevelopment also includes additional retail space beyond House of Sport itself, which means the project is intended to reshape a larger portion of the former Sears area rather than simply replace one tenant with another. City plans show the mall’s total intensity increasing as part of the redevelopment, with the House of Sport serving as the major anchor for that change. If the concept succeeds, an empty department-store space that had become a symbol of older retail could become one of the busiest parts of the property again. (Palm Beach Gardens)

The Project Has Been Years in the Making

The September approval also closes a long chapter in the history of trying to bring DICK’S to The Gardens Mall. Plans involving the retailer and the property have surfaced in different forms for years, and the current House of Sport proposal went through an extensive municipal review process before reaching final approval. The city’s records show a Development Review Committee meeting in August 2025, a Planning and Zoning Appeals Board hearing in July 2026, a first City Council reading on August 6 and the final second reading on September 10. That sequence matters because it shows how much planning and review happened before the project reached its current status. What had once been a possibility is now an approved redevelopment with a defined site plan and a much clearer path toward construction. (Palm Beach Gardens)

DICK’S has also provided a preliminary timeline for what happens next. During the approval process, company representatives said they hoped to begin construction in early 2027, with an opening targeted for spring 2028 if the project remained on schedule. Those dates should still be treated as targets because large construction projects can shift as demolition, permitting and building work move forward. Even so, the timeline gives local athletes and families a reasonable idea of when the former Sears site could begin looking very different. If everything proceeds as planned, the next year should bring the first visible signs that House of Sport is moving from city documents and renderings into an actual Palm Beach Gardens destination. (Blue Water Healthy Living)

More Than Another Sporting-Goods Store

Palm Beach County already has places to buy bats, gloves, cleats, golf clubs and athletic apparel, so another store by itself would not be especially remarkable. What makes House of Sport worth watching is the way it combines shopping with equipment testing, training technology, recreational space, community events and hands-on sports experiences. The project brings those elements into one location at The Gardens Mall, much closer to Jupiter and Palm Beach Gardens families who currently have to order online or drive farther south for a larger sporting-goods experience. It also arrives in an area where youth sports, golf, recreational leagues and competitive athletics are already deeply woven into everyday life. That makes the concept unusually well matched to the community around it.

There is still plenty of work to happen before anyone walks through the doors, and a spring 2028 opening means local families will have to wait a while longer. What changed this month is that the project finally crossed the line from proposal to approved development, giving Palm Beach Gardens a clearer picture of what will eventually replace the former Sears anchor. If House of Sport delivers the kinds of cages, fitting services, simulators, field programming and community experiences that already exist at other locations, it could become far more than a convenient place to buy equipment. It could become one of the region’s most useful sports destinations for athletes who want to shop, test, train and experience new products in the same place. For northern Palm Beach County, that would be a meaningful addition to a sports community that already spends a tremendous amount of time and money chasing the next practice, game, tournament and piece of equipment.