Market Street at Heath Brook gets down to business

OCALA - Phones rang, cash registers dinged and sports enthusiasts smiled Friday inside Dick's Sporting Goods.

The store's grand opening isn't until April 12, but its doors opened Friday for a "soft opening." The pre-opening was an opportunity to give employees additional training and to work out any kinks, said Perry Moore, the store manager.

The store expects to be a big player at the Market Street at Heath Brook mall on State Road 200 southwest of Interstate 75. It will keep regular operating hours - listed as 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays - through its grand opening.

Moore wasn't sure how many people Friday's opening would bring, but by mid-afternoon he was already extremely happy with the turnout.

Moore's cell phone rang as the loudspeaker announced that he was needed in another department.

"It's out of control. We're doing the most volume of any Dick's in Florida," Moore said while fielding a question from one of his employees.

Customers new to Dick's, like Carol Price and her husband, Chris, flowed through the main entrance at a steady pace.

Carol Price recently created a bocce ball court in her backyard, but didn't have the bocce balls needed to play the game until Friday.

"I guess I could have gone somewhere else, but we've been waiting to get them until this store to opened," she said.

The sporting-goods mecca is the third store to open at Market Street, joining JoS. A. Bank and Dillard's. Soon, the shopping complex will also house cosmetics retailer Ulta, clothing store Old Navy and eye apparel shop Solstice. All appear to be near completion.

Ulta should be open by the end of May, Old Navy by late August, and DSW, a shoe store, by the end of May, said B.J. Brandt, leasing consultant for United American Realty. Several other popular stores are in the process of finalizing their leases, Brandt said, but she would not elaborate regarding these soon-to-be vendors.

In addition to Mimi's Cafe, there are approximately 10 proposed eateries, including the Gainesville-based sushi restaurant Dragonfly. Those will take a bit longer to build out and most likely won't begin to open until June, said Brandt.

Jessica Greene may be reached at 732-7159 or jessica.greene@starbanner.com