Fleet Farm employs 215 for August opening

By Siandhara Bonnet, Rapid City Journal // Photo by Andy Greenman

Fleet Farm’s doors will open its doors in late August with a full staff at the ready.

The grand opening for the retail store is Aug. 28. The store is at 1001 E. Mall Drive in Rapid City.

The store will host the company’s traditional hunting, fishing and outdoor equipment, clothing and boots, housewares, toys, home improvement, pets and wild bird, farm and livestock items, automotive and ATV supplies and more.

The company announced its Rapid City arrival in February 2019 with plans to build a 190,000-square-foot complex on Mall Drive, between LaCrosse and North streets.

“Beyond bringing our unique product assortment, we are proud to be creating jobs and being part of a compelling retail growth story,” Tom Carrico, Fleet Farm’s vice president of Real Estate and Construction, said in a press release in 2019.

The Fleet Farm convenience store will open Aug. 28 with the company's COVID-19 hours of 6 a.m. - 8 p.m. Monday through Sunday.

Photo by Jeff Easton / Rapid City Journal.

Tamika Parks, human resources and training manager for Rapid City Fleet Farms, said the store is fully staffed with 215 team members. This includes sales floor personnel, cashier teams and employees for the automotive work center.

She said the store may be looking to hire again closer to the holidays.

The Rapid City location will be the second in South Dakota. The first one opened in Sioux Falls in May 2019. The West River retail store was originally slated to open this spring, but Chief Marketing Officer Terry Brophey previously told the Journal that the best time to open the new location may be in the fall, based on previous experience.

According to the same report, the company will also open a store in Waukee, Iowa, this fall.

During the pandemic, Fleet Farm shortened its hours for all locations. The main store hours are 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, the convenience store hours are 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Sunday, and the auto center hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Sunday, according to an April 8 press release.

The company asks that its employees wear masks and customers maintain social distancing guidelines while in the store, although there is no mask mandate for all locations.