8-decade-old retailer is staying in shape
Academy Sports + Outdoors, which celebrates its 80th anniversary next year, held on to its No. 2 position among the top privately held companies in Houston for the second year in a row.
Revenue edged up at the Katy-based company to $4.7 billion for 2016. That’s slightly more than for the previous year.
“But there’s an ebb and flow to the numbers, as well as to the number of people who actually work for us,” said J.K. Symancyk, the company’s president and CEO. “Revenue was actually up slightly.”
The chain added 19 locations in 2016, bringing the total number of stores to 225 by the end of last year. The company operates some 230 stores in 16 states throughout the South and the Midwest. Regionally, Academy Sports + Outdoors now can be found in Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas.
Symancyk joined the company in September 2015. He formerly served as president of familyowned supercenter chain Meijer, based in Michigan.
“I came on board at Academy during one of the most explosive, transformational times for retail overall,” Symancyk said. “Customers have never had so many choices in how they shop. It’s the intersection of retail and technology, and, like any other industry, whether you succeed depends on how well you’re able to provide the customer with a better value proposition than your competitors.”
Symancyk said that while each Academy may look slightly different depending on the location, the overall footprint remains the same.
“We employ a fairly standard layout in retail terms, which is called a racetrack,” Symancyk said. “We place our apparel in the center of the track and line that with footwear and sporting goods.”
He said store directors have some say in their location’s layout, while also adhering to a company standard.
The company employs 22,600 people overall, with 5,400 of those in the Houston area.