Academy Sports and Outdoors

Prices are fair. Tried shopping online to find specific items and website said available for pickup in store same day. Drove to Lake May and not any in stock, so NOT available for pickup. Hunted around for 30 minutes to find store associate only to learn that no, there are not any in store at all, website wrong, no similar items, could offer to help me order online but no guarantee that items would arrive even within projected delivery dates. Complete and total was of my time. Guessing they just try to get you into the store so you will buy something even though they do not even have any of what you drove there to get. Nobody appreciates having this done to them.

Came in here to get some Asics running shoes and was so impressed at what they carried. Got a very good deal on the shoes and loved that they have a money back guarantee in that anytime that you own the shoe if you don’t like them or if they malfunction, you can return them. That’s unheard of now Adays. I will definitely be back to shop there!

Good variety of sporting goods. First time here, so it was kinda overwhelming & disorienting. I could not figure out where things where & they have a lot of merchandise. Their staff was very helpful in the shoe department. Just by glances, their prices seemed about average for the products they sold. Very similar to a Sports Authority, but with more selection. I would defidently go back.

My first experience with Academy was a positive one — the staff were all helpful and I could find everything I was looking for easily. That was the first week they opened.
Returning today, several months later, my experience wasn’t as positive. I went there because I had a few $ 10/​off coupons, and it is right by my office, so it was an obvious choice. However, on the coupon, it says it’s not applicable on 20+ brands, so essentially, the only things you could buy were their store brand items. It’s kind of annoying, but not the end of the world — I didn’t have to have a specific brand.
The staff were all still friendly, but trying to find an item proved to be quite challenging! I needed a few things for tennis (sweatbands, socks, balls, etc.) and it was kind of hard to find what I was looking for. Also, the aisles were super tight to navigate. Most I couldn’t fit the cart through so I’d have to back-​up and find an alternate route. That was obnoxious.
Sweat bands — I went to the small wall of headbands they had but they didn’t have the kind I needed. I went down the golf/​tennis isle and found 2 options, but they were not good ones. While I suppose breast cancer research, I don’t want to wear pink head and arm bands when I’m playing. I left without getting anything.
Socks — Unless you’re buying name brand (Nike, Adidas, etc.) your options are limited. Unless you want neon colors. Or unless you want to pay $ 14 for 1 pair of «specialty» socks. They didn’t have any plain white ankle socks. I had a $ 10 off coupon so I bought a pair of «specialty» socks (they were on sale for $ 11.50 — a total bargain! Lol)
Balls — No issue there. Plenty of options to choose from.
I went back to the headband section and there still wasn’t anything there I liked. I went back to the golf/​tennis aisle to see if anything miraculously appeared on those shelves in the 10 minutes since I was last there, but still nothing. There were a group of employees standing around (watching me wander aimlessly) so I asked them if there were any other options. I was directed to yet another spot in the store (now the 3^rd place where they have sweatbands) and, alas, there were a few options! Hooray! The selections for the off-​brand were limited (plenty for name brands), but at least I didn’t have to get pink.
When I went to check out, I told the guy I had 3 coupons and I’d need to do 3 separate transactions. The coupon read 1 per person, per transaction, per day. He wouldn’t let me do it. He said I could only use 1 per day. I said while I can see where it says that, it also says ‘per transaction,’ and I am not coming back on 3 different days to get this stuff. I asked if I could use them all today, but on 3 separate transactions, and he said no. Seriously? Ugh. I was annoyed and I was getting ready to talk away and not get anything when he said he would call the manager. Another cashier came over and then called the manager on her headset and after another minute of back-​and-​forth, they did it. While I understand they want people to come back to the store more than once and it specifies «per day,» it also states «per transaction,» which leaves room for interpretation that you can use several, just not on the same transaction. They said it was because they didn’t want people to hold up the lines for the people behind. When I started, I was the only person in line. During the several minute conversation, a man came up to check-​out and I told them to ring him up while we were waiting for a manger. No need for him to wait. Once they finally agreed to let me do 3 separate transactions, it took approximately 2 minutes for the entire process. During the last of the 3 transactions, two other people got in line. Not a big deal — I didn’t hold anyone up.
Overall, the store is nice and they seem to have a little bit of everything. The areas where I think they have room to improve are: consolidate items to make them easier to find, make sure the aisles are easy to navigate with a cart, and improve your coupons (allow for more items/​brands to be purchased and make the rules clearer/​more concise). Another place for improvement is that they both times I’ve been there, they’ve only had 1 register open, even if there is a line of people. There are several staff members standing around, but no one to jump on a register.
I’m sure I’ll be back, because it’s convenient to go at lunch, but I hope they iron out some of their wrinkles.

Have been in only twice during my quick lunch break, so I didn’t have a chance to check out the entire store. In the women’s sports clothing section, I found what I needed. I like that they offer generic clothing, in addition to brand-​name clothing. Their selection is smaller than Dick’s and Sports Authority, and their prices are comparable to these two big stores.
Customer service was good; on my second visit a young man tried to help me find what I was looking for, by walking around and searching for it. Cashier was cordial. I have only one complaint: I noticed after I left the store that my receipt was not in the bag. Didn’t have time to go back in and get it.

This is a sporting good store! I normally hate to shop, but they have great prices on shoes, equipment and clothes. The service was great and I will be back!

Love this place! When it first opened I came here everyday for a week!!! This place beats Sport Authority, DIck’s and even Gander Mountain. The carry lots and lots of ammo including .380 and other hard to find calibers.
They are Orlando City’s fan heaven!!! Also lots of UCF and other local teams goodies.
The staff members are always willing to help.

This was my first visit and I had hoped it would be good. Pretty store and I do like the huge selection of different types of workout gear and varied sporting merchandise. The browsing and shopping was great and the sales associates in each area asked if any help was needed. Things got weird when I went to check out…
There were several store sales associates hanging out by the one (and only) cashier that was actually open. At one point there were 7 people in line, some customers grumbling behind me, and no one working there offered to assist the lone cashier. I approached another employee standing right by the cashier and asked if another register could be opened since there are so many people in line. I was told by the one cashier that the other associates standing there were on break. Then why hang out by the cashier area? I mentioned that it’s confusing to customers. Then the flustered cashier got defensive and said «we can’t help it and there is nothing we can do about it». Ummm, okay?! It was just silly and a terrible first impression of customer service. Once I asked for assistance I was treated like I was being rude. First time here and great merchandise, but disappointed by staff.