Changes in retail will cost 140 jobs
Academy Sports + Outdoors lays off about 140 IT employees as it and other chains adapt to e-commerce
ACADEMY Sports + Outdoors laid off about 140 IT employees as the embattled retailer seeks to better compete with ecommerce and other athletic stores.
The Katy-based retailer outsourced part of its IT work to an undisclosed vender, the company announced late Wednesday. Affected workers can apply for a job with the vender or receive a severance.
“Academy Sports + Outdoors, like many brick-andmortar retailers, has been implementing a strategic realignment to help our organization grow and be more effective and responsible to our customers,” Academy said in a statement. “The new organizational structure will be better aligned with our business priorities, and will put us in a position to better serve our customers in an ever-changing digital age.”
This is the latest group of layoffs at Academy over the past year.
In mid-January, the retailer disclosed plans to lay off 57 transportation employees after outsourcing their work to an undisclosed company. Most of the driving positions will be eliminated by mid-April.
Last July, Academy laid off 100 workers at its Katy headquarters.
The layoffs and outsourcing come as Academy faces increased competition from e-commerce players, such as Amazon.
“Many major retailers are outsourcing some of their functions to bring in
worldwide talent to become better, more efficient and more responsive to the e-commerce revolution,” said Ed Wulfe, chairman and CEO of Houstonbased brokerage Wulfe & Co.
At the same time, Dick’s Sporting Goods has recently expanded into the Houston market, and is competing for Academy’s business. Academy has 29 Houston-area stores, Dick’s has nine. Neither Dick’s nor Academy plan to open a new local store in 2018, Wulfe said.
“Academy appeals to a different customer, so I don’t think there’s been much of an impact if anything from the inroads of Dick’s,” Wulfe said.
“At Dick’s, we have always felt that with competition, the consumer wins,” a Dick’s spokesman said in an email. “Our passion is to inspire, support and equip sports enthusiasts with an experience that is unparalleled in retail, and we are excited to offer our products and services to the Houston community.”
Academy is cutting and outsourcing as many other traditional brick-and-mortar retailers are adapting in different ways to the growing popularity of online shopping.
Several retailers are closing stores and replacing them with fulfillment centers. Walmart, which acquired Jet.com to compete with e-commerce giant Amazon, recently shuttered 63 Sam’s Club locations nationwide. The cuts included three Houston-area stores and cost 470 local jobs. Sam’s plans to convert some of its former stores into online fulfillment centers.
Some retailers, such as Kroger and H-E-B, are converting part of their existing stores into mini-distribution centers to offer convenient pickup and delivery of online purchases.
Other retailers are renovating stores to lure customers back from their computer and smartphone screens. Target recently opened a new location in Richmond, southwest of Houston, that has two sides: One for leisure shoppers looking for an experience, and the other for busy families looking for convenient grab-and-go items.
“You need to have the mentality to be the best you can be to succeed in this very competitive retail environment,” Wulfe said.