Ahead of its 20th anniversary, The Soccer Corner is planning to relocate its original store to Plano’s Preston Towne Crossing shopping development later this year.

“It’s a little bit of a scary move, but I’m excited about it and most everybody else is [at the store],” owner Don Willard said. “We [will have] Trader Joe’s, REI and Rally House [as neighbors]. There’s just a lot of foot traffic [at that development].”

Willard founded The Soccer Corner in 2002 when he bought the store’s current location in the West Park Village development from his father, who had operated Plano Sports Center there since 1972. Willard eventually added several more The Soccer Corner locations, first in Arlington and then three more in and around Austin.

Throughout the expansions, Willard has kept office space and meeting rooms at the Coit Road location. But with the move, the office operations will relocate to the business’ school sales store at 1845 Summit Ave. in Plano.

“We do a lot team sales out of [that store],” Willard said. “We have a school division, and we [fulfill orders for] schools from all over the country [there].”


The summer months are the busiest season at the store, Willard said, as students prepare to go back to school and teams order new uniforms. But he noted business for spring soccer can also prove brisk.

“Our core customer is from age 13-21,” Willard said. “But we have customers from the first time they start [playing] when they’re 5 all the way through professional [players].”

While soccer is incredibly popular in Plano, Willard said international events like the Olympics always bring a new wave of interest in the sport.

“Every time there’s a big game [at AT&T Stadium] in Arlington or at the Cotton Bowl, that [brings] a big influx of people,” he said. “Events like the World Cup or [the European Championship] creates a lot of excitement and that spikes our sales.”


Many of the store’s regular customers love The Soccer Corner for its exclusive product lines, he said.

“We have a lot of high-end footwear from Nike, Adidas and Puma that they can’t just find everywhere,” Willard said. “[That] is a big draw for us.”

The Soccer Corner

1820 Coit Road, Ste. 125, Plano


972-519-0222

www.thesoccercorner.com

Hours: Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sun. noon-5 p.m.