Field and Stream coming to Patton Creek

Hoover is moving ahead with plans to welcome the state’s first Field & Stream store. The store is slated to be built in the Patton Creek shopping center.

Allen Pate, Executive Director for the City of Hoover, said the 50,000-square-foot store will be located near Rooms To Go and is expected to open in the spring of 2015. The Hoover City Council approved a resolution during its regular meeting Feb. 17 authorizing Mayor Gary Ivey to execute a development agreement with Patton Creek Investments, LLC that calls for sales tax rebates not to exceed $4.5 million through 2024.

“It’s going to be a destination store for the City of Hoover,” Council President Jack Wright said before the meeting. “People are going to come there, bring their families and the City of Hoover has really positioned itself well with no immediate investment from the city.”

The rebate agreement reflects 50 percent of new sales tax revenue by Field & Stream and Dick’s Sporting Goods, which owns Field & Stream stores, above that generated only by the sporting goods store this year.

Dick’s Sporting Goods also operates a store in the Patton Creek shopping center. Pate said the stores will not duplicate merchandise and sales for Dick’s are expected to increase 20 percent because both retailers attract similar customers and can refer shoppers for items unavailable at a partner store.

Field & Stream stores specialize in merchandise for outdoors activities that include hunting, archery, fishing, and camping. The stores also sell canoes, kayaks and related accessories, along with firearms, ammunition and accessories.

Merchandise available at the store is similar to that sold at Bass Pro Shops in Leeds. “I would say Field & Stream would be a direct rivalry to Bass Pro Shops,” Wright said.