Sports Authority filling MC Sports space off Rand Road in Lake Zurich
One sporting goods retailer will replace another in a mall off Rand Road in Lake Zurich.
Sports Authority announced Wednesday it plans to open in Lake Zurich by mid-May, filling the spot vacated by MC Sports. Sports Authority spokeswoman Samantha Fink said 25 employees will be hired for the store.
Lake Zurich Mayor Thomas Poynton said Wednesday he was pleased to learn of Sports Authority's arrival in the Village Square mall.
“Isn't that the life cycle of retail?” Poynton said. “You lose something and you pick something up.”
MC Sports exited in January from the mall on the southwest corner of Rand and Route 22 because the store let its lease expire, according to a company representative. MC Sports, which had 14 employees, opened in Lake Zurich in 1999.
Lake Zurich recently has had good luck in filling empty storefronts.
Jewel-Osco announced last month it'll move into a vacated Dominick's Finer Foods store at the northwest corner of Rand and Route 22. After opening in the Dominick's space, a Jewel-Osco spokeswoman said, the company will continue running another store about a half-mile east at Route 22 and Ela Road.
American Sale recently opened on South Rand Road in a 38,920-square-foot facility that has been vacant since Bay Furniture left Deerpath Court Shopping Center in 2008. American Sale is a large home recreation and holiday retailer, with merchandise ranging from billiard tables to artificial holiday trees.
Lake Zurich reported that retail vacancy went from 9.7 percent to 11.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013, mostly because of the Dominick's closure at Northlake Commons. The village reported several smaller retailers have opened in the Rand Road corridor.