Sporting goods store opens in old Madison Walgreen’s

A sporting goods store is the latest business to open in the shopping center at Highway 51 and the Madison Parkway, developers say.

Bandwagon Sports, owned by Robert Brister, opened its doors in late November and held a ribbon cutting last Thursday, Nov. 7. Brister said they are going for an “old school sporting goods store feel.”

Brister offers apparel for local school teams as well as sports equipment, team uniforms, athleisure wear and more. Birster said he has previously operated the business online for the past five or six months.

Robert moved his family back to his hometown of Madison from out of state in 2020. He moved here with his wife, Jenn and their daughters Rylee, 9, Alex, 6, and Collins who is three.

Brister is a 2000 graduate of Jackson Preparatory School and grew up in Madison. He said he hopes his store will help “celebrate” the teams in the community and “get people involved.”

Bandwagon is one of six tenants in the new shopping center developed by Bridgforth Rutledge, a local real estate attorney and developer. 

Rutledge bought the building, an old Walgreens, in January of this year and converted it to a new space. The first business to open was Little Caesars Pizza on Nov. 3. Since then Bandwagon has opened their doors as well as a Mattress Firm.

All six spots are leased, according to Rutledge. The three forthcoming businesses are Tropical Smoothie Cafe, Southern Flare Salon and The Lost Sock. Rutledge said they all hope to open in the next couple of months.

Rutledge said a three-story multi-tenant building is also in the works next door to this building. He said he hoped to have more information on that at a future date.

The former Walgreen’s building is located at 1089 Highway 51. Bandwagon is in Suite 500.