Sporting goods store planned for Lexington site being developed by NFL star

A national store known for sporting goods and outdoor gear is proposed for a coming shopping area in Lexington.

Academy Sports + Outdoors is planned for 2568 Augusta Hwy. in Lexington, according to the Lexington County Planning Commission’s Feb. 19 agenda packet. The Academy Sports along the Augusta Highway is listed as a commercial project in the development activity section of the agenda.

Lexington County property records show the sporting good store would be at the under-development Victory Village shopping center that’s about a mile west of Lexington High School. That project, announced a year ago, will be anchored by a Target store. Construction on the Target is underway, with a fall 2026 date circled for potential opening.

Dallas-based 413 Solutions, whose co-founder is former Dallas Cowboys star Emmitt Smith, is developing the site and plans to ultimately have more 230,000 square feet of retail space at Victory Village. The property is roughly 27 acres.

Academy Sports + Outdoors has more than 300 stores nationwide, per its website, and current Midlands locations include stores in the Harbison area near Irmo and in northeast Columbia.

The Augusta Highway property is in the midst of a growing area of Lexington, just north of Interstate 20 and just south of U.S. 378. A host of new residential subdivisions are in various stages of development along Augusta Highway, headed in the direction of Gilbert. Retailers in the general area of Lexington High, either along Augusta or nearby U.S. 378, include Lowes Foods, Publix, Little Caesars, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Bojangles, Planet Fitness and Zaxby’s among others.

Lexington County has seen its population soar in the last quarter-century. The county’s population has grown from 216,000 in 2000 to more than 313,000 as of 2024, per census data.

This story was originally published February 18, 2026 at 12:26 PM.

Chris Trainor

The State

Chris Trainor is a retail reporter for The State and has been working for newspapers in South Carolina for more than 21 years, including previous stops at the (Greenwood) Index-Journal and the (Columbia) Free Times. He is the winner of a host of South Carolina Press Association awards, including honors in column writing, government beat reporting, profile writing, food writing, business beat reporting, election coverage, social media and more.