Sports Authority files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
(USA Today CAUTION autoplay video) – Big-box chain Sports Authority lost its bid to remain in the retail game without a dramatic restructuring as the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday.
The retailer — owned by Los Angeles-based private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners — said it would seek to sell or close about 140 stores, or nearly one-third of its locations. The company admitted that it had lost market share to online retailers, became swamped with $1.1 billion in debt and failed to keep up with consumer trends, such as golf’s decline in popularity.
The company admitted that it had … failed to keep up with consumer trends.
They didn’t fail to keep up with consumer trends. The company failed to sell what consumers wanted and instead ran a retail shop under big-city liberal ideals that the Joe and Jane Sixpacks of America didn’t want. Consider it the “Air America” of sporting goods retailers and just like Air America, it’s drowning in debt, lack of customers and facing bankruptcy.
“What do you mean?” you ask.
The left-leaning Sports Authority decision-makers went long in over-priced, “hip” premium clothing and athletic shoe lines while their hunting, fishing, camping and even athletic gear sections keep shrinking and even disappearing at some stores.
In yet another stroke of marketing genius, Sports Authority Corporate rocket surgeons dumped firearm sales at many of their stores after the Sandy Hook massacre. Yep. Go long in $175 professional team jerseys, $50 ball caps and $300 athletic shoes while ditching the hottest retail item in America – guns. That might work in San Francisco, New York City or Washington D.C., but the rest of the country loves guns and outside of huge urban centers, plenty of Americans still love to go out into the great outdoors to hunt, fish, shoot, and camp.
Yeah, these guys deserve to go under. They and their big-city bigotry in analyzing what Americans want from a sporting goods retailer won’t be missed.
Didn’t these guys cancel a bunch of AR-15 orders after Sandy Hook? Not sorry to see them going down the drain like KMart.
That would be Dick’s Sporting Goods, and why I haven’t shopped there since.
LOL, I’ve never been in one. Apparently I wasn’t missing much.
Almost sounds like the democrats money laundering green solar companies.
The Bankruptcy Authority. Pardon me while I look for that “damn” I misplaced. I so want to give it to them.
One down, one to go. Can’t wait for anti-gun Dick’s Sporting Goods to go belly up. Won’t set foot in that place anymore.
I was sad to see Galyan’s bought out by Dick’s years ago. Galyan’s had a truly nice firearms section including a pretty nice concealed carry section (very rare for NJ). Dick’s came, and most of the firearms stuff went. Everyone thinks they’ll get brownie points for vilifying guns… and they do…but only from people who would NEVER shop in a sporting goods store in the first place.