It all started with $300 from his grandmother’s cookie jar and a dream.

In 1948, at just 18 years old, Dick Stack would open a modest bait and tackle shop in Binghamton. To this day, that location remains, although it’s safe to say the company has grown a bit over the years.

Many, like Broome County Executive Jason Garnar, still remember the joy they shared as children shopping at what would later be named Dick’s Sporting Goods.

"I remember being in Little League and I think my, my first year or two, I used my dad's old baseball glove and really started getting into baseball and my dad's like, 'all right, we're we're going to buy you a brand new baseball glove.' And of course, I actually remember that day,” said Garnar.

Today, that small bait and tackle shop has turned into a $12.6 billion company based out of Pittsburgh with more than 700 stores across the country. But for the Stack family, Dick's Sporting Goods would always call Broome County home.

That continued back in 2007, following a record flood, when the company sponsored the inaugural Dick’s Sporting Goods Open. The Champions Tour golf tournament and concert has drawn tens of thousands to the Southern Tier each year ever since.

“Having a PGA tournament event in Broome County and bringing thousands of people to Broome County during that weeklong event is huge for our area and all the money they give back to charities. I think today they've given back like $16-17 million back to local charities," said Garnar.

Fast forward to 2018, where the company would then bring a massive distribution center to its home. To this day, it employs hundreds.

"That was $75 million investment that really Dick's Sporting Goods could have put anywhere. And they chose that to put it right in their home, which is kind of a common theme. They could have put a lot of different things in different places, but they've always had a fondness for where they started," said Garnar.

That leads us to today, where the company has now opened the largest “House of Sport” in the country, at the Oakdale Commons.

A mall that once faced a closure is now seeing more new life than ever before, and the store has already drawn people from across the Northeast.

"They were willing to drive all the way from multiple states away to check it out. That's great for us. It's great for sales tax. The more sales tax that we can generate from outside of Broome County, it's better for taxpayers here,” said Garnar.

The House of Sport features an indoor rock climbing wall, golfing and baseball simulator, an outdoor field to test out equipment and the latest technology to help make purchases.