Sports Authority
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 | |
| Type | Sporting goods |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1928 |
| Headquarters | 1050 West Hampden Avenue, Englewood, Colorado 80110 |
| Key people | David Campisi, President |
| Industry | Retail |
| Products | Apparel, sports equipment, footwear, exercise equipment |
| Website | http://www.sportsauthority.com/ |
Sports Authority (formerly The Sports Authority) is one of the largest sporting goods retailers in the United States. It is headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, and operates more than 450 stores in 45 U.S. states under the Sports Authority name.
The company's e-tailing website (located at sportsauthority.com), is operated by GSI Commerce, Inc. under license and e-commerce agreements. Because the e-commerce website is operated under a company separate from Sports Authority, the website often carries a wider selection than what is available in the stores. In addition, a joint venture with ÆON Co., Ltd. operates "Sports Authority" stores in Japan under a licensing agreement.
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[edit] History
[edit] Gart Sports
The Gart Sports name has been synonymous with the top tier of sporting goods retailers in the United States for decades. The Gart tradition started in 1928, when Denver Post newspaper carrier Nathan Gart started the company with $50 in fishing rod samples.
In 1971, Gart Sports Company opened its first "Superstore" with the opening of the "Sportscastle" store in Denver, Colorado at the corner of 10th Avenue and Broadway. The 1980s proved to be an exciting time for the company, during which the company grew 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.
[edit] Sportmart
At the same time that Gart Sports Company opened the Sportscastle, the Hochberg family and the Cantor family opened their first Sportmart in Niles, Illinois. The company grew to 60 stores in nine states. Gart Sports and Sportmart merged in 1998.
[edit] Oshman's
Oshman's was opened in 1919 when Jake Oshman opened the first Oshman's Sporting Goods store. By 1965, Jake Oshman had built his business to become the largest sporting goods chain in Texas. The company operated 43 Oshman's SuperSports USA stores and 15 traditional stores when it merged with Gart Sports Company in 2001.
[edit] Sports Authority
The Sports Authority, Inc. was founded in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida by a syndicate of Venture Capital Groups and several key Founding Executives. Jack A. Smith, formerly COO of Herman's World of Sports, CEO; Roy M. Cohen, Sr VP and General Merchandise Manager; Richard Lynch, Sr.VP and CFO and Arnold Sedel, VP of Stores Operations were the Founding Executives. The VC syndicate was led by William Blair Venture Partners and included First Chicago Venture Partners, Bain Capital, Phillips-Smith Venture Partners, Marquette Venture Partners, and Bessemer Securities.
The Sports Authority, Inc. opened its first store in November 1987 in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida. In 1990, with approximately nine stores in six states, the company was acquired by Kmart. Five years later, The Sports Authority had expanded to 136 stores in 26 states, and was spun-off from parent Kmart.
[edit] Gart Sports merge with Sports Authority
Gart Sports, which also operated Oshman's and Sportmart, completed a "merger of equals" with Sports Authority on August 4, 2003. At the time of its merger with Gart Sports Company, The Sports Authority was the largest full-line sporting goods retailer in the United States, and had 205 stores in 33 states. The combined company took the Sports Authority name. With the merger, each share of Sports Authority was exchanged with 0.37 shares of Gart Sports which gave investors in each about 50% of the new merchant. The new company is based in Englewood, Colorado, which was the home of Gart Sports.
As of May 2006, the remaining stores that were not operating under the Sports Authority name re-branded to the Sports Authority name. There are no longer any stores operating under the name of Gart Sports, Sportmart or Oshman's.
[edit] Copeland Sports
In August 2006, Copeland Sports, headquartered out of San Luis Obispo, California filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. On November 17, 2006, Sports Authority, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, assumed the leasehold interests in seven former Copeland Sports retail store locations.
[edit] 2006 Leveraged Buyout by Leonard Green & Partners
In January 2006, Sports Authority agreed to be purchased in a leveraged buyout by affiliates of Leonard Green & Partners, a private equity investment firm, in a transaction valued at $1.4 billion.[1] Shareholders approved the deal in May 2006. Upon completion of the merger, Sports Authority ceased to be a publicly-listed stock. The subordinated financing for the deal was a private mezzanine loan from TCW/Crescent Mezzanine LLC. Thus, no public bonds are outstanding and Sports Authority no longer files financial statements with the SEC.
[edit] Brands
Sports Authority sells different brands of sporting goods from many different vendors. The company also sells products under its own private labels, including Alpine Design (which makes up a majority of clothing and outdoor goods), Aspire (women's sportswear), Golf Day (Golf goods), Tour Collection (Golf), Parkside (outdoor games and trampolines) and Bodyfit by Sports Authority (fitness accessories). Many of these products are made by other manufacturers and branded with the Sports Authority private labels.
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