When College Mall opened in 1967, there were only two stores in the shopping center. One was locally owned Smith's Sport 'n' Shoe.
38 years later, Dick's Sporting Goods opened a 50,000-square-foot store in the mall, and Sport 'n' Shoe owner Steve Smith said he has never been the least bit worried. In fact, when Smith was asked about Dick's coming to the mall 18 months ago, he said he liked the fact that the store was coming.
Now, over a year after Dick's grand opening, Smith doesn't even look at Dick's as major competition, since he said the two stores only have a small overlap of similar merchandise. Smith said Dick's inventory is "80 to 85 percent products that aren't footwear," but "footwear (is) the main emphasis" of Smith's store.
Since Smith's Sport 'n' Shoe moved to College Mall, the store has provided Bloomington residents with a traditional "brown shoe" store that only sold casual, non-athletic shoes. When Steve Smith bought the store from his father in 1989, the shoe store changed more than just ownership, Smith said, it got a new image.