Dick's Sporting Goods Announces Grand Opening Celebration at Ring Road of Turtle Creek Mall in Hattiesburg, MS

PITTSBURGH, Oct. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Dick's Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS), the largest U.S. based full-line sporting goods retailer, invites the community of Hattiesburg to their three-day grand opening weekend. The store will open its doors on Thursday, October 20 and begin the celebration with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday, October 21 at 8 AM at the retailer's new location at Ring Road of Turtle Creek Mall, 1000 Turtle Creek Road, Hattiesburg, MS 39402 (601-264-6648).  Special extended store hours will also be in effect for Friday (8 AM - 10 PM), Saturday (8 AM - 10 PM) and Sunday (9 AM - 8 PM).

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110912/PH65977LOGO )

Dick's Sporting Goods has a variety of special athlete appearances and give-a-ways scheduled to celebrate the grand opening festivities. On Friday, the first customers through the door will receive a free adidas t-shirt while supplies last.

Saturday, Crocs will be giving away a free pair of youth Crocs and a Croslite doll with any Crocs purchase, and Southern Mississippi alumni Adalius Thomas will make an appearance from noon - 2 PM.* Earning Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year his final two seasons at Southern Mississippi, Thomas helped lead the Golden Eagles to three conference championships and was a finalist for the Conerly Trophy. Spending nine seasons in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots, Thomas compiled 517 tackles and 53 sacks, and won the 2001 Super Bowl Championship with the Ravens.

Sunday's schedule will feature a Mystery Gift Card Giveaway for the first 100 customers, where unmarked gift cards will be handed out with varying denominations from $5 to one lucky $500 gift card (limit one per person and must be 18 years or older) and customer can receive a free Reebok t-shirt while supplies last. Mississippi State alumni Fred Smoot will appear from noon - 2 PM, and Eric Moulds will be on site from 2 PM - 4 PM.* Smoot, a two-time All-SEC selection, was a finalist for the Conerly Trophy and drafted in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft. The defensive back went on to play nine seasons in the NFL with the Washington Redskins and Minnesota Vikings. Moulds caught 117 passes for 2,022 yards during his career at Mississippi State and was the 1994 NCAA Division I-A kickoff return champion. Selected 24th overall in the 1996 NFL Draft, Moulds played for 12 seasons and was a three-time Pro Bowl selection.  The University of Southern Mississippi cheerleaders and mascot will also be on site from 2 PM - 4 PM.  

"Dick's Sporting Goods is excited to become a member of the Hattiesburg community," said Lauren Hobart, Dick's Sporting Goods Chief Marketing Officer. "Top notch customer service and a wide variety of products are the foundation of our stores. We're thrilled to bring such traits to Hattiesburg and look forward to becoming a member of the community."

The Hattiesburg location will be the retailer's fifth store in the state of Mississippi and their 469th nationwide.

Throughout the weekend, customers can sign up for the $1,000 ScoreCard® Shopping Spree, earn triple points all weekend by signing up for the ScoreCard® Rewards Program, and register to win great prizes from The North Face, Michael Mauro, Crosman, or SofSole. Additionally, there will be activities throughout the store including product demonstrations by industry experts from Crocs, SofSole, Eagle Claw, and Crosman among others.

Visit www.dickssportinggoodsonline.com/Grand_Open/Hattiesburg/ for more grand opening details and directions.

Dick's Sporting Goods is proud to be an active member of the communities they serve through the efforts of Community Marketing and Youth Sports programs. Dick Stack, founder of Dick's Sporting Goods, believed that sports play a vital role in teaching our children fundamental values like a strong work ethic, teamwork, and good sportsmanship. Stack understood that supporting the organizations that make youth sports possible is the best way to promote those values. Today, that legacy continues. Dick's Sporting Goods shares the same enthusiasm for and commitment to youth sports in our communities. This year, through its Community Youth Sports Program, Dick's Sporting Goods will donate thousands of coach's equipment kits to youth sports organizations across select markets -- reaching over a million athletes.  For more information about Dick's Sporting Goods Community Marketing and the programs they offer, please contact Kim Bittinger at [email protected] or visit http://dickssportinggoods.sponsorport.com/.  

* Limit one autograph per person.  Autographs are provided on a first-come, first-served basis and are only guaranteed to the first 250 people in the special appearance line on the day of the event only.  Times and appearances are subject to change without notice.

About Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc.
Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. is an authentic full-line sporting goods retailer offering a broad assortment of brand name sporting goods equipment, apparel and footwear in a specialty store environment. The Company also owns and operates Golf Galaxy, LLC, a golf specialty retailer. As of October 17, 2011, the Company operated 463 Dick's Sporting Goods stores in 42 states, 81 Golf Galaxy stores in 30 states and e-commerce web sites and catalog operations for both Dick's Sporting Goods and Golf Galaxy. Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. news releases are available at http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/investors. The Company's web site is not part of this release.

SOURCE Dick's Sporting Goods