Celebrating almost 60 years serving Middle Tennessee
By Jason Zasky
Since 1966, Jones & Lang Sporting Goods has been serving the needs of Columbia’s sports community, as well as the needs of surrounding communities. Most notably, perhaps, is that much of its staff/ownership has been on hand for the majority of that six-decade time frame.
"Rick Whitley and I have both been here for 36 years. I started working here while I was in college, and Rick started right after he graduated from college,” begins co-owner Daniel Pollard, speaking about one of three other co-owners, the other two being Wes Ricketts and Michael Johnson, the latter a grandson of Jones & Lang’s founder.
"The four of us purchased the store in 2010 from Michael’s father and uncle. We have been fortunate and blessed to stay around as long as we have,” he continues, before turning the conversation to the mission of Jones & Lang, which has long been guided by the motto ‘The Look of a Winner.’
“We take care of the uniform and apparel needs of teams, schools, organizations, and businesses, and we sell sporting goods equipment across a wide range of sports, including football, baseball, softball, soccer, basketball, and volleyball,” offers Pollard, who regards college football as his favorite sport, but enjoys watching and attending most any sporting event.
“We focus primarily on taking care of local schools and youth recreational organizations, supplying them with their uniforms. We also have a lot of corporate accounts, supplying companies with the polos and T-shirts they need for their employees. We also do embroidery in-house, we do silk screening in-house, and we have a trophy & awards department,” he continues, explaining the company’s offerings in more detail.
As for what has enabled the business to thrive for almost six decades, Pollard highlights Jones & Lang’s commitment to personal service and its dedication to the local community.
“I think our customer service and community involvement has enabled us to stay in business all these years,” he says. The move to Neely’s Mill shopping center—which occurred some years back—has also been a positive.
"We had outgrown our previous location and were fortunate enough to get a great opportunity to increase our space, not only for our showroom but also our production area. Now we have about 10,000 square feet of space,” notes Pollard.
It helps, too, that Jones & Lang generates business from growing communities throughout Middle Tennessee, including Spring Hill, Mt. Pleasant, Hohenwald, Pulaski, and Lawrenceburg, among others.
"There are a lot of surrounding cities and counties that rely on us to take care of them,” he continues.
Meanwhile, Jones & Lang takes care to reciprocate by supporting local schools and teams in ways large and small.
“We sponsor local organizations and help them out by putting banners in gymnasiums and on fences in the ballparks. We try to give back to those organizations and schools that are loyal to us and good customers of ours,” continues Pollard, who says he and his fellow employees—a dozen in all—appreciate their work as much as ever.
“We all enjoy helping take care of our customers’ needs, but it’s especially nice when you see the look on kids’ faces when they get new uniforms, and how it makes them feel when they are able to take the field with nice-looking apparel,” he says.
As for whether the company will have a blowout celebration for its 60th anniversary in 2026, Pollard says it’s too soon to tell.
"We did a huge celebration for our 50th anniversary, and the past ten years have flown by. It’s kind of a surprise to look up and say, ‘We’ve got 60 coming up next year,’” he concludes. “I don’t know that we have anything planned for the 60th.”
CONTACT:
Jones & Lang Sporting Goods
1412 Trotwood Ave., Ste. 3
Columbia, TN 38401
Phone: 931-388-8060
