Sports Authority
 |
|
| Private | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Fate | Chapter 11 Bankruptcy |
| Successor | Dick's Sporting Goods |
| Founded | November 1987 (as The Sports Authority) Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S. |
| Defunct | July 28, 2016 |
| Headquarters | 1050 West Hampden Avenue, Englewood, Colorado, U.S. 80110 |
|
Number of locations
|
450+ (at the time of closure) |
|
Key people
|
Michael Foss (CEO) Paul Gaudet, COO Jeremy Aguilar, CFO |
| Products | Apparel, sports equipment, footwear, exercise equipment |
|
Number of employees
|
14,250 (2011) |
| Website | Archived official website at the Wayback Machine (archive index) |
Sports Authority, Inc. (formerly The Sports Authority) was a sports retailer in the United States that was headquartered in Englewood, Colorado. At its peak, Sports Authority operated more than 460 stores in 45 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. The company's website was on the GSI Commerce platform and supported the retail stores as well as other multi-channel programs. A joint venture with ÆON Co., Ltd., operated "Sports Authority" stores in Japan under a licensing agreement.
On March 2, 2016, Sports Authority filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. On May 18, 2016, the company's stores were sold to a group of liquidators and on May 25, CEO Michael Foss announced that all of the stores would close by the end of August 2016. On June 30, 2016, Dick's Sporting Goods won the auction for Sports Authority's brand name and intellectual property.
On July 15, 2016, the online store closed operations. On July 21, 2016, the purchase of Sports Authority's intellectual property by rival Dick's Sporting Goods was approved. As of July 28, 2016, the Sports Authority website redirects to the Dick's Sporting Goods website.
Gart Sports began in 1928, when Denver Post newspaper carrier Nathan Gart started the company with $50 in fishing rod samples.
In 1971, Gart Sports Company opened the "Sportscastle" superstore in Denver, Colorado at the corner of 10th Avenue and Broadway. The 1980s marked a period of substantial growth for the company through a series of acquisitions. These mergers included Hagan's Sports Ltd. (1987) and Stevens Brown of Salt Lake City (1987). In the fall of 1992, Leonard Green & Partners acquired Thrifty and became the company's largest shareholder.
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Wikipedia