Academy near me runs out of the "clearance" items within the first day of the sale, but other than those items the shelves are always stocked with what they carry. The employees aren't the brightest at times and there's usually only two lines open similar to Walmart. I wish Academy, bass pro, etc would put in self checkouts.

EXACTLY!!!!!

I was told that exact same thing yesterday at the Waxahachie store. You'd think that they would like to make money..but, I guess I'm wrong.

Fair enough. I've had nothing but good experiences there. That being said, I usually don't go during busy hours. So there may not be a ton of employees, but there aren't many customers either so it's easy to find someone to help.

Interesting. I didn't know Ryan went to Academy. I was up there buying ammo. I walked around the fishing briefly. I thought the Greenville store had more fishing rows. maybe not.

I need to go up and chat with Ryan. Good guy.

Ryan told me the reason that most departments are smaller is the store is like 9k sq foot smaller than their usual stores, because they are in the old sports authority building.

He said he wants feed back on what people want them to stock.

I also order from their website. It's faster than Prime

10-12 years ago at Academy you could buy a solid rod- Falcon Low Rider or an All-Star and have take your pick of any Shimano or Diawa reel. They also stocked Abu Garcia Revo STXs when they first came out. They stocked Chronarch 50mgs ($249 back then), 100B ($269 back then) and other high-end stuff. Presently, I don't think they stock a reel over $199- at least not in most stores and most of their stock is cheaper H20 stuff that frankly isn't that good. They only carry the cheapest Shimano and Diawa rods.

Like everyone else has said lure section is usually pretty bad with a lot of empty pegs. I'd like to see a much better balance of low-end and higher-end stuff. They seem to be really focused on the low-end market in my areas- Highland Village and Denton. HV has plenty of people that would buy higher-end stuff. They definitely lose that business now to Tackle Warehouse, BPS and Cabelas. Academy used to be my go-to place (along with Sportsman Warehouse in Lewisville what closed in 2007 or 2008). I know what I can get there and what I can't now. If I need some Zoom Z-Craws I am good to go but I haven't bought a rod or reel there in over 8 years. "Rod Riot" days are gone I guess too.

Tell them you want Tiki Sticks! We did great in there for many years thanks to you all. I have had many customers from all over say they used to buy them at Academy and they wish they could again. I am working on it and with you all's help we can get it done.

I ordered a rod the other day and just used the basic free shipping and it arrived at my door less than 24 hours later. I was amazed.

I sure hope we get one in lake worth

I have 3 Academys in about a half an hour from my house,..

I do as well, Flower Mound store is on my way home, Lewisville store is a few miles from work, and Denton is a few miles from home. All three have a great selection of "more commonly used" baits, which is what the masses are buying.