Possible closing of the Sports Authority chain

[sbmom19]

There is a regional chain in my area called Scheel's. They make Dick's look like a dump. They hire young kids but they are trained to seek out customers smile, and actually talk to them. Dick's must train their employees to hide from customers and say "Hunh? I dunno" if a customer manages to corner them and they have to speak.

It's gotta be tough to be in retail and have to stock millions of dollars in product that can only be sold for full retail price. There has to be a value added to make people want to go in and pay more.

We LOVE Scheels!!! We go there whenever we travel south for a tournament. About 4 hours away from home...

 

[ian]

Ill check sheels out. Ive located one 200 miles to my east.

 

[ANNASDAD]

Dick's & Sports Authority = overpriced retail clothing stores !! Did buy my DD a sports bra at Dick's recently, my only purchase there in a long long time.

 

[jeyhey]

Call me old fashioned, but I like going into a brick and mortar store, and be able to touch and feel (and try on) what I am buying.....especially when it comes to gloves, bats, apparel.

 

[Coach JV]

I agree that SA is not a great Model for retail. They opened a new store near me recently that is
modeled like Dick's. It is a shame that the employees of 140 stores will be looking for work. In the big
picture, the loss of employment belittles how good or bad a business it is.

 

[CoreSoftball20]

The internet has killed store shopping and the fact that these big box stores just don't have personnel that know anything about anything. I know you guys have seen it, 2 year old bats still with retail pricing on them. They don't follow pricing nor do most even know the ups and downs of prices. Who is going
to pay 50-100 bucks more for a bat than you can get online? They just don't care about being competitive with equipment prices. Which is probably why they have moved focus to clothing.

Its a corporation, so they are looking for profit percentage, and if they sell equipment for what
they sell for online, profit margin isn't there.

 

[grcsftbll]

Plus online shopping is so much easier. MAYBE I can find what I want at Sports Authority. But I can definitely find it online, in multiple colors and sizes, with free shipping, and cheaper. And I don't have to leave my house. For me that's a no brainer for most things. I only wish there was a grocery delivery service in my area and I'd never have to go anywhere but the ball field (I work from home).

 

[Dave619]

I am hoping that ours closes so that we can get a Dick's Sporting Goods. Ours is just a clothing/shoe store masquerading as a sporting goods store...

The Dick's in my area is by far the worst of the bunch...softball equipment in almost non-existent in the store and it is nothing more than a clothing store. Out of the big chains in our area Academy is my preference, but not really for softball equipment. We have a sporting goods store in our area that has been in business for over 25 years and they have everything. The store is about 1/10 the size of our Dicks and blows them away with sports equipment.

 

[BuckeyeGuy]

They're closing 140 stores out of around 400 during the restructuring. What happened was they were taken private by Leonard Green and Partners in 2006. At that time they were essentially the same size as Dick's. But after the purchase, they were saddled with a LOT of debt that they never got out from under. So while Dick's has continued to grow, SA has fallen way behind. The debt basically stopped them from making any progress in any direction to become a better retailer.

 

[WARRIORMIKE]

There was a place in Portland, Oregon area that I checked out one time called "G.I. Joe's" It was so bad rear. I could get my fishing/hunting stuff there and while I shop I could get an oil change too. Total guy store. I heard Dicks took over and bought them out.

Bummer