Saturn Sports is the area’s newest retailer for Olympic sports athletes, with a range of apparel and other gear designed for swimming, running and court sports.
Saturn Sports is formerly First Place Athletics, which opened in 1990. Amid myriad changes and competitive retail battles, the store has managed to hang around longer than anyone else. Now, it’s rebranding and in a new location as it begins a new chapter in the city.
Thomas Reed and Whitney Morris-Reed bought First Place Athletics in 2022, when it was located near Parkway City Mall. Their new store is at 3061 Leeman Ferry Road in Huntsville. That’s northwest-ish of the parking lot at Joe Davis Stadium. The new store opened April 3 with swimming, court/pickleball and running products. More will be added including for CrossFit, functional fitness, wrestling and more.
“The big brands we think people will be excited to see in-store are TYR Sport, for swimming, fitness and court,” Morris-Reed said. “There will also be a wider selection of triathlon-focused products coming closer to summer. Other brands include Dolfin, JOLYN, Swiftwick, INOV8 (making its return to Huntsville; for CrossFit/fitness in April and run options coming in May), Diadem for pickleball equipment, accessories and court footwear (for tennis and pickleball) and coming up later this summer, RUDIS, for freestyle and greco-roman wrestling, with footwear and equipment coming with that.”
Active Partnerships
Saturn Sports helps more than 60 public school and club teams gear and apparel, along with supporting off-site special events and programs. Summer swim meets? They might be there. Autumn track or cross-country outings? Yep. Whether it’s a “fit night” to get the right sizing or someone walking in to buy shoes or swim goggles, the Reeds are keen on helping get it right.
“We also still have a large selection of shoes and competitive spikes,” Morris-Reed said. “We are looking into a few other sports and brands, to bring in or bring back, as well. Like Strokemaker, for some of our old school swimmers.”
