By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – A large new Hibbett Sports wholesale and logistics facility is set to open in Alabaster’s Shelby West Corporate Park in late July, according to city leaders.

Alabaster and Hibbett Sports officials will join the Greater Shelby County Chamber of Commerce for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new facility at 2 p.m. on Thursday, July 31.

The facility is located at 201 Corporate Woods Drive near the Shelby County Airport, and tours of the facility will be available after the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The facility occupies about 60 acres, and is about 416,000 square feet.

The Alabaster distribution facility originally was planned to be about 360,000 square feet, but the company decided to up the space to 416,000 to allow the building to serve more retail stores, Hibbett Sports representatives said previously. The Alabaster facility replaces Hibbett’s previous 180,000-square-foot distribution facility in Birmingham.

Once open, the Alabaster facility will employ about 150, and the company will consider expanding its workforce in the future.

Hibbett chose the Alabaster location in 2012 after looking at several possible sites for the distribution center, including Tupelo, Miss. The new Alabaster distribution facility will help the company keep its stores stocked as Hibbett looks to open hundreds of new locations across the country in the near future, according to Hibbett Sports Executive Chairman Mickey Newsome.