Katy retailer puts focus on store experience
Ken Hicks had a busy first year at the helm of Academy Sports + Outdoors.
The chief executive of the Katy athletic retailer oversaw the launch of an Academy-branded credit card, the hiring of a new head merchant and the overhaul of many of its 255 stores nationwide.
“Our vision for our company is to be the best sports and outdoor retailer in the country,” Hicks said.
Academy ranked No. 3 on this year’s Chronicle 100 list of top-performing private
companies, down one spot from last year. The retailer, which has 31 stores and employs 6,200 in the Houston area, is one of the largest private employers locally, with 23,000 employees nationally. The company reported $4.8 billion in revenue in 2018, flat from the previous year.
Hicks, a turnaround CEO and former chief executive of Foot Locker, was tapped last year to lead Academy through a challenging retail market that has put legacy retailers, such as Sports Authority, out of business. Moody’s, a New York-based bond credit rating company, earlier this year downgraded Academy’s ratings outlook to negative, from stable.
Hicks said he’s not concerned about Moody’s rating of Academy because the retailer is a profitable company with access to $1 billion in cash and financing and its debt won’t mature until 2022. The company closed one store in Birmingham, Ala., last year, and plans to open a store in Aliana, southwest of Houston, this fall.
“We’re in a solid financial position,” Hicks said. “We’ve got a lot of liquidity and we make money. We are not at risk like some of the other companies.”
Academy is focused on improving its shopping experience to attract customers, Hicks said. The company recently launched an Academy credit card, offering a 5 percent discount to loyal customers.
The retailer also revamped its stores, lowering sight lines and creating special displays that grouped similar products and showcased apparel on mannequins to drive up sales.
Academy also is rolling out its “buy online, pick up in store” service, training team members on customer service and to improve the checkout experience.
“We want to create a better experience across the whole store to make Academy a more interesting place to shop,” Hicks said. “We’ve got a strong customer base. Our job is to grow it and make sure people keep coming back.”