James Chick, 76, established sporting goods chain
“He was a great man — one of those great men torn from the pages of time.”
That’s how Tyler Chick remembers his grandfather.
It’s an apt description for the man who grew Chick’s Sporting Goods into a retail powerhouse with 16 Southern California locations, all while remaining a touchstone for his family, friends and employees.
James M. Chick was 76 when he died March 7 in Upland. He grew up in Covina and lived in Claremont not long before he died.
The end, his family said, came after a long struggle with dementia and then pancreatic cancer.
“He was loving, kindhearted and giving … always wanting to help people,” wife Karen said. “He loved his family, his business and his employees. He was kind to all of them.”
The firstborn child of James Elmo Chick and Elizabeth, James Chick’s entry into the business world began early when his father encouraged him to work at Chick’s Sporting Goods in downtown Covina, the store his father opened in 1949.
The business later was bought by his grandparents, Ralph and Hazel Chambers, as an investment in their grandson’s future. He worked there while attending Charter Oak High School in Covina and continued throughout his college years as a business student at Cal Poly Pomona.
In 1968, he bought the company from his grandparents at the age of 21, becoming president and CEO. Eight years later, he moved Chick’s into a 22,000-square-foot space that previously housed a supermarket. Most of his competitors’ stores were in spaces of 2,000 to 5,000 square feet.
The move kick-started the Covina-based company’s expansion from a single store with $180,000 in annual sales to 16 locations that generated $120 million in yearly sales. The company — which also maintained a Southern California distribution center — operated stores in Covina, El Segundo, Tustin, Murrieta, Norco, Oceanside, Laguna Niguel and Moorpark, among others.
At its height, the retail chain employed about 1,600 workers.
Dick’s Sporting Goods acquired the company in November 2007 for $72 million when James Chick decided to retire. The timing, according to Karen, couldn’t have been better.
“It was interesting because 10 days after we sold the business, the economy went in the tank,” she said. “I guess the Lord was watching out for us.”
The transaction was inked just ahead of the Great Recession.
“While his reputation was larger than life, he was a simple man with simple loves,” grandson Tyler said. “It was this modest pride and quiet confidence that I most admired him for.”
That “quiet confidence” served him well. Under his leadership, Chick’s went head to head with
such competitors as Sport Chalet, a La Cañada Flintridge-based chain that shuttered all 47 of its stores in 2016, and Big 5 Sporting Goods, an El Segundo-based retailer that still operates more than 400 locations in 11 Western states.
James Chick also served as chairman of the National Sporting Goods Association and was inducted into the Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame in 2004. The Hall of Fame was established in 1955 to honor sporting goods pioneers, innovators and leaders.
“He led a family business in Chick’s Sporting Goods to tremendous growth, and he made sure the company gave back to the people in the communities where they were located,” NSGA President Matt Carlson said in a statement. “We are saddened to learn about Mr. Chick’s passing, and we extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends.”
James Chick is survived by his wife, Karen Reza Chick; his daughter, Angela “Angie” Patrice and spouse Mark Anderson; son James Robert “Jimmy” and spouse Christina; grandchildren Brittany Anderson, Brianna Anderson, Alexa Anderson, Tyler Chick, Cody Chick and spouse Veronica; and great-grandchildren, Chase Laufer, Avery Laufer, Cadence Anderson, Sophia Chick and Russell James “R.J.” Chick.
A celebration of life for him will last 2-5 p.m. April 29 at South Hills Country Club, 2655 S. Citrus St., West Covina.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made to the Cal Poly Pomona Philanthropic Foundation, P.O. Box 3121, Pomona, 91769. Checks may be written to James M. Chick Scholarship Fund in the memo.