The COVID-19 pandemic left more empty storefronts in some of Chicago’s best-known retail districts, but Wilson Sporting Goods is betting bricks-and-mortar retail will bounce back in the city’s tony Gold Coast neighborhood.

Chicago-based Wilson’s first bricks-and-mortar store is expected to open in the neighborhood July 15. The company, long known for sports equipment, launched a sportswear line and announced plans for the store earlier this year.

The store, which is expected to open July 15, will carry Wilson’s new apparel along with a selection of sporting equipment focusing on high-performance and special edition products, like a Chicago-specific version of Wilson’s A2000 baseball glove, said Gordon Devin, president of Wilson Sportswear.

Customers will also find references to Wilson’s history in Chicago, where it was founded more than a century ago. Best known as a maker of sports equipment, the company still uses leather from another century-old Chicago company, Horween Leather, in its footballs.

“We really wanted … to recognize that and give Chicago some insights and share some of that story,” he said.

The company was also known for apparel like warm-up suits in the 1960s but more recently focused on equipment until a 2019 change in ownership. Amer Sports, parent company of Wilson and brands like Salomon, Arc’teryx and Louisville Slugger, was bought by a consortium led by China’s Anta Sports in 2019.

Wilson is moving into the 2,247-square-foot former Vineyard Vines store in a neighborhood long known for luxury retail. Its neighbors across the street are Dior and Versace, but there are also high-end athletic and streetwear brands. Stadium Goods, a destination for the resale of high-end sneakers, opened nearby in 2019, and Wilson will be next door to Lululemon.

“In the world of sport, we are a luxury,” Devin said.

While Wilson eventually expects to have additional stores in Chicago, the next U.S. locations will be opening in New York and Los Angeles within the next few months, the company said.

Wilson initially looked to open on North Michigan Avenue but ended up a block west, in the Gold Coast, because it seemed to have been “a little more resilient” during the pandemic, with a stronger community of local shoppers, Devin said.

The retail vacancy rate in the Gold Coast neighborhood Wilson chose is around 15%, including space in the 900 North Michigan Shops vertical mall, said Greg Kirsch, executive managing director and Midwest retail leader for Cushman & Wakefield, who represented the company leasing Wilson the space.

That’s more empty space than retail hubs like Armitage Avenue and Southport Avenue that have almost no vacant storefronts, but less than Michigan Avenue and State Street, where the vacancy rates are about 24% and 25%, respectively, he said.

On Michigan Avenue, rents have fallen and vacant spaces are attracting interest from entertainment or experience concepts, Kirsch said.

“I believe we’ve hit bottom and I think we’re going to be crawling out of it,” he said.

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