WHICH SPORTS AUTHORITY STORES WILL BE CLOSING?
Sports Authority Inc., which filed for bankruptcy reorganization, aims to close about 140 stores, including 11 in Illinois with many of them in the suburbs, according to court documents.
Local stores slated to close are 727W. Main St. in Lake Zurich; 173 Yorktown Center in Lombard; 1777 S. Randall Road in Geneva; 1015 E. Golf Road in Schaumburg; and 2030 Northbrook Court in Northbrook, the document said. Stores in Chicago’s Water Tower Place as well as Calumet City, Matteson, Orland Hills, Joliet and Springfield also are set to close, according to the documents.
Liquidation sales are set to begin soon. “They are expected to start as soon as today or in the next few days, depending upon the store,” said spokesman Steven Goldberg.
On Wednesday, Sports Authority filed for bankruptcy and planned to close about 140 stores nationwide. It also will close or sell distribution centers in Chicago and Denver. The process should take about three months, the company said.
Sports Authority has had a rough time since a $1.3 billion buyout in 2006 that piled the company with debt. At that time, the chain was even with Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. in sales. Now Dick’s has hundreds more locations and takes in almost twice as much per store, making it the U.S. leader in selling athletic gear, while Englewood, Coloradobased Sports Authority has been hampered in its ability to expand or innovate.
“We are taking this action so that we can continue to adapt our business tomeet the changing dynamics in the retail industry,” Chief Executive Officer Michael E. Foss said in a statement. “We intend to use the Chapter 11 process to streamline and strengthen our business both operationally and financially so that we have the financial flexibility to continue to make necessary investments in our operations.”
Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo& Co., JPMorgan Chase& Co. and TPG Capital have agreed to provide a $595 million loan that will help Sports Authority operate as it restructures in bankruptcy, according to court papers filed along with the bankruptcy in Wilmington, Del.
—Anna Marie Kucek