Sports Authority Closing Schaumburg Store, 10 Other Illinois Stores, and About 140 Stores Nationwide with Bankruptcy

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Sports Authority Inc., is closing about 140 of its stores nationwide (11 in Illinois) after filing for bankruptcy reorganization. The Randhurst Village store, which moved a few years ago from their previous location on Rand Road just west of Arlington Heights, is set to stay open.

Nearby stores scheduled for closing are …

1015 E. Golf Road in Schaumburg

727 W. Main St. in Lake Zurich

173 Yorktown Center in Lombard

1777 S. Randall Road in Geneva, and

2030 Northbrook Court in Northbrook.

The other Illinois stores scheduled to close are in Calumet City, Matteson, Orland Hills, Chicago, Joliet and Springfield.

Liquidation sales are set to begin within the next few days and possibly today.

On Wednesday, Sports Authority filed for bankruptcy and planned to close about 140 stores nationwide. Sports Authority will also close or sell distribution centers in Chicago and Denver.

The Chapter 11 process will streamline and strengthen the business both operationally and financially so the company has the financial flexibility to make investments and adjustment to adapt to a changing retail industry The process is expected to take about three months.

Sports Authority struggled since a $1.3 billion buyout in 2006 that piled the company with debt. At that time, the chain was competing evenly in sales with Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. However, Dick’s expanded with hundreds more locations and eventually gained twice as many sales per store. Dick’s Sporting Goods in 2016 is the U.S. leader in athletic gear sales.

Dick’s Sporting Goods has a store about two miles west of the Sports Authority store in Randhurst Village on Rand Road near Palatine Road. Dick’s also has a larger store at The Streets of Woodfield.

Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., JP Morgan Chase & Co. and TPG Capital will be providing the $595 million loan that will help Sports Authority operate as it restructures in bankruptcy.

LETTER FROM CEO MIKE FOSS

March 2, 2016

Dear Sports Authority Customers,

During the past several months, we have been working very hard to adapt our business to better meet the needs of our customers. We are committed to evolving as a company so we are able to continue to offer the best brands at great values – both in our stores and on our website, SportsAuthority.com.

With these goals in mind, we have decided to utilize the Chapter 11 process to implement a financial and operational restructuring that we believe is necessary to help us become an even better place for our customers to shop for sporting goods.

Due to the changing retail environment, we have a long-term plan to streamline and strengthen our business so we can continue to make necessary investments in our operations, including upgrading our in store experience and enhancing our website. As part of that plan, we have identified approximately 140 stores that we intend to close or sell in the coming months. This was a tough decision to make, but we believe it was a necessary step in our plan to make Sports Authority an even better partner for our customers. The store closings will occur over the next three months.

While no stores are being shut immediately, if the store where you regularly shop is ultimately closed, you can use the Store Locator on our website to find the nearest Sports Authority location. In addition, you always can find all of our brands at the same great values online at SportsAuthority.com.

Most importantly, I want to emphasize that our customers should not be affected by this restructuring process.

We do not expect there to be any impact on gift card balances or your ability to use gift cards at our stores or online at this time.
In addition, there should be no changes to our return/exchange policies at our go-forward stores or our customer loyalty program, The League.
If you have a warranty on a product you bought at Sports Authority, it is still in effect for the same period of time.
Finally, this should have no impact on the way you use your Sports Authority credit card or pay your bill.
In short, we are continuing to operate our stores and website, and we remain fully committed to delivering value and great brands wherever you shop at Sports Authority.

If you have any questions, or would like more information about the Chapter 11 case, including access to Court documents, please visit www.kccllc.net/sportsauthority or call the information line at:

Toll Free (USA and Canada): 866-967-0490
International Callers: 310-751-2690

Thank you for your continued support!

Sincerely,

Michael Foss,
Chief Executive Officer

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