Sports Authority appears on a path to liquidate and close its U.S. stores.
A consortium of liquidators that includes Tiger Capital Group, Hilco Global and Gordon Brothers prevailed in a bankruptcy auction in Delaware on Monday for the retailer’s merchandise and other inventory, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources.
Sports Authority operates a store at the Durango Mall. A store employee declined to comment about the closure or any going-out-of-business sale.
The sporting goods chain is an anchor retailer for the mall and helps stop some people from driving out of town to shop, said Jack Llewellyn, executive director of the Durango Chamber of Commerce.
“Anytime you have more choices here in Durango, it definitely helps to stop the retail leakage,” he said.
Shopping out of town cuts into local sales tax collections.
“Hopefully, they will be able to find another retailer to fill that space,” he said.
National competitors Dick’s Sporting Goods and Modell’s Inc. submitted bids ahead of the Monday auction, but their bids involved fewer than 20 stores each in unnamed cities, far less than the number analysts had expected, the sources said.
News service Bloomberg reported that Modell’s also opted not to pursue a possible bid to purchase some of the stores with plans to retain the Sports Authority name.
Still to come is an auction for Sports Authority’s store leases, the sources told The Journal.
Under that option, rivals could take over some of the leases, re-brand the sites under their names and stock them using their own merchandise. Other kinds of retailers also could bid for the leases.
As for the future of the Sports Authority name at Mile High Stadium in Denver, the naming rights – along with Sports Authority’s retail name – went unsold at the auction, according to Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources.
Durango Mall owner Kim Rathbun directed all questions to corporate Sports Authority management.
A spokesperson for Denver-based Sports Authority wasn’t immediately available for comment.
Sports Authority filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in early March with the stated hopes of closing under-performing stores and reorganizing its remaining business. Soon after, the retailer announced it was shelving its plans and would seek to sell off whatever stores it could and liquidate the rest.
Sports Authority moved its headquarters to Denver following its 2003 merger with Denver-based Gart Bros.
Herald staff writer Mary Shinn contributed to this report.
