Integrity’s Sport Shack has evolved from what began as a small sign shop into an extremely diverse business encompassing not only signs, but sporting equipment, screen-printing, trophies, ad specialties, and embroidery. Located in Gulfport, Mississippi, Integrity’s Sport Shack started out as a part-time venture for Alan Simmons and his brother, Darryl Simmons, in the summer of 1994 known as Integrity Signs. By the end of 1994, with the help and support of his family, business was strong enough to allow the Simmons brothers to transition the part-time venture to a full-time occupation. In January of 1995, less than one year after the inception of the business, Integrity Signs purchased it’s first property, a 30 year-old 2,000 square foot building in Long Beach, Mississippi. After a couple of months of renovations, the grand opening was celebrated on March 20, 1995.

The first five years of business, 1994-1999, showed consistent and significant growth. While the sign business was growing, so was the demand for diversity. In addition to producing signs, the business began offering screen-printing, awards & advertising specialty products. During this period of time the business began operating under the name of “Integrity Sign, Trophies & Screen-printing.” The name became more than people were willing to recite, so most folks just began referring to the business as “Integrity.” With the diversification and expansion Integrity also found it necessary to hire additional staff. The end of 1999 saw an average of six workers employed year-round.

The next five years saw several different areas of growth. Multiple locations, an introduction into team sporting-goods, and the addition of an embroidery department were all achieved between 1999 & 2004. In 2000 a second location was opened in Diamondhead, Mississippi and later moved to Bay St.

Louis, Mississippi. With the additional space of two locations, Integrity began to add team sporting-goods to its inventory. Balls, bats, shoulder pads, shoes, and all other sorts of sporting-goods began making its way on to the shelves at Integrity. Through this phase of growth Integrity began doing business as Integrity Sports. In 2001 after examining trends in the market, the decision was made to add embroidery to the long list of in-house services offered by Integrity Sports. In the later half of 2001 a competing store, Sport Shack of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, was acquired. Sport Shack had a solid reputation and there was some concern about customer perception if the name were completely changed.The decision was made to do business in Ocean Springs as Integrity’s Sport Shack while maintaining the name of Integrity Sports in Long Beach and Bay St. Louis. Not long after the Ocean Spring store was added, it became necessary to make a tough decision. The Bay St. Louis store was closed. Three stores became too many for the customer base to support and the management to maintain. Although it was a tough, it was the right decision at that time.

The last five years have completed our evolution to date. Sales and customers have increased every year at a very strong pace. Our staff has grown to 15 to 20 employees, depending on the season. We continue to upgrade our services through investment into new equipment and technology. Without question the biggest development over the last five years has been the move to Gulfport. In January of 2004, Integrity Sports of Long Beach moved from its 2,000 square foot building to an 18,000 square foot facility right next door to the Gulfport Sports Plex located just off I-10 and Canal Road. The building had previously housed an indoor batting cage and training business. Because of the history of the facility and the natural fit, indoor batting cages became a vital addition to our business. With this relocation, yet another name change was in store.The timing to change the name to match its fellow location in Ocean Springs, Integrity’s Sport Shack, couldn’t have been better. This completely tied the two locations together. Through our growth another fact became evident. We became the largest locally owned sporting goods dealer along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Although the move from Long Beach to Gulfport was a fantastic opportunity for our business, this did set in motion another change. With the addition of such a large facility in Gulfport, the Ocean Spring store became unnecessary. In the end, this was a great move. All of our customers, staff, and production were brought under one roof. We are now able to maintain greater quality control and service while keeping our cost to a minimum. We are currently celebrating our 15^th year in business.

As the Coast changes and grows, so does our business. Early in 2009 our company was informed by the MS Department of Transportation that a new highway would be built through our property, and we, therefore, would need to move. We made the decision to build a new building on our property in Long Beach. We anticipate being ready to move in sometime in late spring or early summer.  You can see the plans here for our new and improved store. We will keep you updated on the new location and we hope you will continue to let us serve you!

It has been an exiting ride and we look forward to many more years, serving our customers while doing what we love. We would like to thank you for taking the time to learn a little bit about our history. We would also like to invite you to come by anytime and visit us in person!