Bits of Business: Nittany Mall adds sports retailer | Centre Daily Times

Hibbett Sports, which sells apparel, shoes and sports equipment, will open in the spring.

The Birmingham, Ala.-based company, which has about 830 locations in 28 states, started talking with the Nittany Mall in the fall of 2013 about coming to State College. The lease agreement, five years with an option, was finalized in December.

Nittany Mall general manager Polly Welch said construction on the 4,600-square-foot space should start in the next 30 days and will last four to six weeks for an April or May opening.

The new store gives the mall another activity-related business.

Planet Fitness opened in the mall in December, and the mall also houses Champs Sports and Finish Line.

“Planet Fitness and Hibbett Sports are two of the new stores, and they’re both activity-related, but that’s a coincidence,” Welch said. “We’re just trying to reach out to all demographics and to get as many people in the mall as possible so if they visit one, they visit the other.”