Academy Opens in Willis as Magnolia Store Prepares for Saturday

Academy Sports + Outdoors has opened a new Willis store, and its Magnolia location is scheduled to open November 14. Both stores are roughly 55,000 square feet and offer outdoor, hunting, fishing and pickup services.

Montgomery County gained one new Academy Sports + Outdoors store last week, and another is scheduled to open this Saturday. The Willis location is now operating at the Market at Willis development, while the Magnolia store is preparing to open November 14 near FM 1488. The two openings are close together on the calendar but serve different parts of the county.

For residents, the practical change is straightforward: more nearby access to fishing, hunting, camping, youth-sports, footwear and outdoor-living merchandise, along with several in-store services.

Willis Store Is Now Open

The new Willis store is located at 12268 Interstate 45 North in the Market at Willis development. Academy held its grand-opening celebration from November 5 through November 8, and the company's official store page now lists the location as open. Regular hours are 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. The store's main phone number is 936-506-1240.

State construction filings describe the Willis space as a single-story, concrete tilt-wall retail building of about 55,020 square feet. One filing covered the building shell and associated site work; a second covered the tenant's interior finish-out. Those figures are project estimates and construction records — not a property appraisal or the store's final value.

The opening celebration also included a donation to Willis ISD and a surprise shopping spree, according to KPRC's clearly labeled sponsored coverage of the event.

Magnolia Opens November 14

Academy's Magnolia store is scheduled to open Saturday, November 14, at 4353 Magnolia Village Drive, just off FM 1488. The company's official page currently lists the location as "coming soon" and confirms the November 14 opening date.

Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation records describe the Magnolia project as a new, single-story tilt-up retail building containing 55,015 square feet. The filing lists an estimated construction cost of $8 million. As with all TDLR project records, that number is an estimated construction figure supplied for the filing; it is not a final project invoice, sale price or appraisal.

Academy had not posted regular Magnolia store hours as of Monday morning. Anyone planning an opening-day visit should check the official store page before leaving, especially because opening-weekend hours and events can differ from the regular schedule.

Services Listed at Both Locations

The official store pages for Willis and Magnolia list hunting and fishing licenses, reel-line spooling, boresighting and scope mounting, propane exchange, and product delivery and assembly. Both pages also advertise in-store pickup, curbside pickup and same-day delivery on eligible purchases.

That service list may matter as much as the added shelf space in an area built around Lake Conroe, the Sam Houston National Forest, youth sports, hunting and year-round outdoor activity. Anglers can have a reel spooled, hunters can handle licensing and scope setup, and families can arrange delivery or assembly of larger purchases.

Two Openings, Two Growth Corridors

Willis and Magnolia have both seen steady residential and commercial construction, but the two stores are positioned for different travel patterns. The Willis location sits on the I-45 corridor in north Montgomery County. The Magnolia store places a large sporting-goods retailer on the FM 1488 side of the county.

Willis is open now, and Magnolia is next. With the openings only nine days apart, Academy is adding more than 110,000 square feet of combined retail space across the two communities.

Before You Go

• Willis — 12268 Interstate 45 North, Willis, TX 77378 | Open; Mon.–Sat. 8 a.m.–10 p.m.; Sun. 9 a.m.–9 p.m.

• Magnolia — 4353 Magnolia Village Drive, Magnolia, TX 77354 | Scheduled to open Sat., Nov. 14; check the official store page for hours.