Dick’s Sporting Goods celebrated the grand opening of their distribution warehouse in Conklin Thursday morning.

Ed Stack, Chairman and CEO of the sporting goods retail giant, started the ceremony by dedicating the building to his father, Dick Stack, who opened the first store in 1948.

“It’s come a long way from the first store that my father started.”

That 1,500 square-foot store on Court Street in Binghamton is still in business.

Eight miles away is the brand new 920,000 square-foot facility that will serve as the distribution center for Dick’s Northeast stores, distributing products to 160 Dick’s Sporting Goods across ten states.

“We’ve just grown so much, we needed something to service the Northeast, and this was the perfect place to do it.” - Ed Stack, Chairman and CEO

The $160 million warehouse in the Broome Corporate Parkway in Conklin employs 250 workers, a number that’s expected to double in the next five years.

The family says they struggled at first to find land big enough for the warehouse.

“They said, ‘There’s just not a piece of land big enough.’ I said, ‘Can you keep looking? ‘Cause we’d really like to build this in Binghamton if we can.’”

They did just that, a few towns over.

Members of the community had the opportunity to tour the 123-acre state-of-the-art facility, getting an up-close look at the 7 miles of conveyor, 450 trailer spots, and 150 docks for the dozens of trucks driving in and out of the warehouse.

“It was a difficult project to get done, but they worked tirelessly, and we’re very committed to building this in Binghamton. After seeing this building, we’re really happy we did.”

A decision that the Stack family says would make Dick Stack very proud.