Big Rock Sports in Hamlet shutting down in July of next year

HAMLET — Big Rock Sports distribution center in Hamlet will be shutting down its operations in July of 2024.

General Manager Melinda Alford confirmed this information on Nov. 1. Alford said they will be consolidating their Hamlet operations into their Charlotte warehouse.

In 2009, the 310,000 square-foot distribution center was relocated form Morehead City to Hamlet. It services the entire East Coast and South Central states with fishing, hunting, camping and electronics supplies.

“Business conditions in the last 18 months have helped us reset the capacity needs of the business,” said Chief Operating Officer Mark Charnot. “We do have the ability to offer positions to all employees. We made that available to anyone seeking to stay with us.”

Charnot also added that their human resource employees are working with local opportunity boards, and that they hope to stay in contact with whatever business assumes their Hamlet facility and form a partnership that could allow some of the Hamlet employees to stay at their current location.

Alford said this information was relayed to employees a few weeks ago. She added that the Hamlet facility has about 120 employees.

County Manager Bryan Land said that himself and Economic Developer Martie Butler were saddened by Big Rock’s decision, but confident that each employee will have an opportunity to re-train or find employment at other local industries.

“Richmond County Economic Development met with the leadership team of Big Rock last week & discussed options which are available for employees, should the employees decide not to relocate to Charlotte,” Land said in an email. “We along with Richmond Community College and Workforce partners are prepared to assist employees by training them with a new skill or finding alternative employment within the community.”

According to a Progress magazine article published in 2023, Big Rock Sports, LLC in Hamlet carries over 190,000 product SKUs and services more than 15,000 fishing, shooting, camping, taxidermy and marine retailers across the US, Canada, the Caribbean and eight other countries.