Published: September 26, 2007 12:52 pm         

Hibbett Sports open in Kosciusko

In case you haven’t notice, Hibbett Sports has opened a new store in Kosciusko at 200 Veteran's Memorial Drive in the Memorial Plaza.

In fact, the sporting goods store has been open for two weeks now.

Store manager, or in Hibbett Sport terms “head coach,” Chris Nellum said the response from the community has been great.

“People are glad that they don’t have to drive to Philadelphia,” Nellum said. “I had one lady tell me she had driven to Greenwood to go to Hibbett.”

The Kosciusko store has a large assortment of athletic shoes, Nike and Under Armour apparrel, SEC and NFL gear, bats, gloves, soccer balls, a myriad of football equipment from helmets to receiver gloves and much more for the whole family.

"Hibbett has a large selection of athletic shoes, as well as other sports apparel, including a wide selection of baseball and softball equipment and apparel," Newsome said.

Since the opening, Nellum said their most popular item right now is athletic shoes but they have also sold things in most every category of the store.

Nellum said they have even sold a handful of skateboards.

The sporting goods store may be part of a national chain but they wait on each customer individually.

"Our employees are trained extensively to make sure they can answer the questions and meet the needs of our customers. We consider ourselves a team, and the way we win is by making our customers happy," Hibbett Sports President Mickey Newsome said.

Nellum said helping the customer comes first and that they always try to get the products they want.

“I don’t care if we have to call all the way in Birmingham,” Nellum said.

Nellum said he believes building customer relationships is key to the success of the store.

Newsome went on to explain that Hibbett Sports, a company that has been in business since 1945, has developed a "home town-philosophy of growth.”

"Hibbett Sports is made up of individual stores uniquely suited to the needs of the communities where we're located,” Newsome said. "We don't have a one size fits all mentality.”

"We think our new Kosciusko location is going to be a real winner," Newsome said.

The Kosciusko location is one of more than 600 Hibbett Sports locations in twenty-three states. The store is always taking employment applications.