What Academy Sports is known for
Texas sporting-goods chain founded 1938 in San Antonio as a tire shop by Max Gochman; added sporting goods in 1980 and has grown to 300+ stores across the American South.
Academy Sports + Outdoors traces to 1938, when Max Gochman opened the Academy Tire Shop in San Antonio, Texas. The business added military surplus goods within a year and was renamed Academy Super Surplus by 1945. Max moved operations to Austin in 1956, expanding to four stores; his son Arthur Gochman bought a Houston surplus retailer in 1973, renamed it Academy Corp., and eventually moved headquarters to Houston in 1978. The company added sporting and outdoor goods to its lineup in 1980, and relocated its headquarters to Katy, Texas, in 1990. Academy went public on NASDAQ in October 2020 and, as of a March 2025 count, operates 301 stores across 21 states, concentrated in the American South and lower Midwest.
Best for — Value sporting goods
Global
Recorded locations
- Academy Sports + OutdoorsPort Arthur — 8453 Memorial Blvd, Port Arthur, TXOfficial location page ↗
- Academy Sports + OutdoorsWebster — 21351 Gulf Freeway, Webster, TX 77598Official location page ↗
- Academy Sports + OutdoorsBaytown — 6425 Garth Rd, Baytown, TX 77521Official location page ↗
Where next
- J. Press — New York
- Conserverie Courtin — France
- Kish Fish Howth — Dublin
Hand-curated for ORBIS · no paid placement