COOKEVILLE – Academy Sports + Outdoors plans to supply 100 retail stores via its new distribution center under construction in Cookeville, according to Congressman Diane Black, who toured the facility this week.
While Academy officials have been quiet on the project’s progress, Black got to see the site first-hand Tuesday. She was invited back to see the operation at full capacity in the future, she said. Per past media reports, Academy plans to be operational by early 2016. The company has already started its initial hiring process.
“I am thrilled that Academy Sports chose to make this investment in the Upper Cumberland,” Black told the UCBJ. “I appreciated the opportunity to get a firsthand look at the construction site and am eager to return to see the finished product. The Academy Sports distribution center is proof positive that Cookeville has the location, the infrastructure and the skilled workforce to be a thriving business hub in Middle Tennessee. I am confident that, as a result of this landmark development project, more businesses will follow Academy’s lead and choose to invest and expand in our region of the state.”
Local leaders were also given a tour of Academy’s the progress in July; more than 300,000 man-hours have been logged at the site so far, Cookeville Mayor Ricky Shelton said.
Black’s team said the distribution center will supply 100 Academy stores. In addition, the facility:
- Has 100 dock doors on one side for incoming product
- Has 100 dock doors on another for outgoing product
- Is the most technologically advanced distribution facility ever built by Academy (this will be the company’s third distribution center)
- At 1.6 million square feet, the facility is the size of nearly 28 football fields under one roof and a quarter mile in length
Academy expects to create 700 full-time equivalent jobs in Putnam County over the next five years. The most recent wave of available jobs has been posted here.
