Academy Sports + Outdoors was supposed to break ground on a 62,000-square-foot store off Lee Avenue Southwest this month, but the company is postponing construction as it surveys the perilous national retail landscape.

Rumors have circulated the retailer had pulled out of Cullman completely — despite an $800,000 tax incentive from the city — but Cullman Mayor Woody Jacobs put that gossip to rest.

“They’re definitely still coming. It’s just not going to be tomorrow or next week. They missed a construction window, but they own the property,” Jacob said. “And the city is going to extend its agreement with them.”

No specific time frame has been officially announced.

The Katy, Texas-based retailer announced last spring that it planned to build an $8 million store behind Aldi’s, with an opening date set for this fall. The store is expected to create 100 new jobs and $270,000 in new annual sales tax revenue, plus more tax revenue from the construction materials, business license and ad valorem for Cullman.

In support of the development, the Cullman City Council passed just its second sales tax revenue agreement, plus covered the removal of a storm pipe and installation of a new sanitary sewer line.

Cullman would remit back to Academy $800,000 of its sales tax, paid in seven annual installments up to $110,000 and $30,000 on the eighth year, or half of the sales tax revenue.

Local schools would continue to receive sales tax money from Academy’s sales, and the retailer would be required to pay its monthly sales tax before it could request the city remit a portion back.

The delay comes as the country’s national retailers close several stores and slash corporate personnel with more consumers opting to shop online. Academy announced in late January that it was laying off about 140 IT employees after outsourcing their work to a third-party company.

“Academy Sports + Outdoors, like many brick-and-mortar retailers, has been implementing a strategic realignment to help our organization grow and be more effective and responsible to our customer,” the company said in a statement. “The changes announced this week are the next step in transforming our business. … The new organizational structure will be better aligned with our business priorities, and will put us in a position to better serve our customers in an ever-changing digital age.”

In addition to the January job cuts, Academy also eliminated about 100 positions across multiple departments at its Katy headquarters in July 2017. At the time, Academy President and CEO J.K. Symancyk said the “changes, while difficult, will create a more nimble and collaborative organization that will better serve our stores and the changing needs of our customers.”

If Academy opens in Cullman, it will join Dick’s Sporting Goods, Hibbett Sports and locally-owned Wilborn Outdoor in Cullman and Van’s Sporting Goods near Good Hope.

While competitor Dick’s announced Wednesday it would stop selling AR-15s assault rifles following the Parkland, Florida shooting, Academy said Thursday it will continue to sell them.

But a company statement says it does support the bipartisan bill that would strengthen existing gun background checks. The “Fix NICS” bill co-sponsored by Texas Sen. John Cornyn would address the problems that allowed the Sutherland Springs, Texas church shooter to buy the rifle he used in the massacre last November.

Academy released the following statement Thursday:

“We serve a broad base of customers, and outdoor sports, including hunting and shooting sports, are an important tradition and recreational activity for many of our customers and their families. We are strongly committed to ensuring the legal, safe and responsible transfer of firearms. We follow all applicable regulations relating to the sale of firearms and regularly review our internal policies and processes to ensure our legal and responsible sale of firearms and encourage safe usage and ownership. As a Federal Firearms Licensee, we support the Fix NICS Bill to strengthen the background check system and require greater compliance with the law.”