Oakbrook Center is home to the first-ever Champs Sports Community Store, which along with a full offering of Champs Sports products, includes the first physical presence of Eastbay, which sells athletic footwear, apparel and sports equipment.
Previously, the 40-plus-year-old Eastbay had only an online presence, but this first physical store is part of more than 20,000 square feet of the Community store, which opened Jan. 29 in a space previously occupied by Forever 21.
Guy Harkless, senior vice president and general of Champs Sports and Eastbay, said he was excited about having Oakbrook Center as the location for the first Community Store.
“We think about demographics, and there’s a large high school community in that area,” he said. “We love the mall and the consumers in that area we’re connecting with.”
A couple of area consumers said they are very pleased with the addition of the Community Store to Oakbrook Center.
“I’ve been to a couple of the other Champs stores and usually end up buying a few things,” said Joe Burkett of Westchester. “I’m excited about having this bigger store with more merchandise to choose from.”
Tammi Stace of Oak Brook agreed.
“It’s always interesting when we get a new store at the mall, and it definitely seems like there will be a great variety of sports-related clothing, shoes and other things, all in one place, which is very convenient,” she said.
Yorktown Center in Lombard and North Riverside Park Mall in North Riverside are the two closest Champs Sports stores.
The Community Store in Oakbrook Center will employ more than 40 people and is taking several safety precautions while first opening during the coronavirus pandemic, Harkless said.
“We’re following all of the safety guidelines and more so that it’s safe in the store,” he said. “We believe our consumers will come back.”
Champs Sports sells the latest shoes, apparel and accessories among its offerings from well-known brands such as Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, Jordan and New Balance.
Eastbay caters to a more performance-driven customer, Harkless said, and includes the likes of baseball gloves and performance-driven basketball shoes among its available merchandise.
Eastbay and men’s Champs Sports items occupy the second floor of the two-level store, and merchandise for children and women is readily available on the first floor.
“We have a full expression of kids’ and women’s and have more women’s in this store than in other stores,” Harkless said.
The Community Store offers a variety of options for shopping and payment, including flex pay options such as Apple Pay, Klarna and PayPal, as well as pickup options that allow customers to buy online and pick up their order at the store.
