Top Sporting Goods Stores Companies

THE STORY BEGINS... DICK’S Sporting Goods was founded in 1948 when an 18-year-old Dick Stack was working at an Army surplus store in Binghamton, New York. An avid fisherman, Dick was approached by the store owner to come up with a list of products needed to get into the fishing tackle business. After Dick presented his suggestions, the owner told him he was a dumb kid and had no idea what he was doing. Dick was upset and promptly quit. He went to his grandmother’s house where he spent a lot of time as a kid and told her what had happened. Dick’s grandmother asked how much it would cost to build the store himself. Dick said it would cost $300. His grandmother then went to the cookie jar where she kept her life savings and gave him $300 and told him, “Do it yourself.” Dick used that money and his relentless work-ethic to open a bait-and-tackle shop in Binghamton. By the late 1970's, he expanded his product line to include much of what you’ll find at DICK’S Sporting Goods today. AND LIVES ON... Today, headquartered in Pittsburgh, DICK'S Sporting Goods is a leading omni-channel sporting goods retailer offering an extensive assortment of authentic, high-quality sports equipment, apparel, footwear and accessories. The company serves and inspires athletes and outdoor enthusiasts to achieve their personal best through a combination of its dedicated teammates, in-store services and unique specialty shop-in-shops dedicated to Team Sports, Athletic Apparel, Golf, Outdoor, Fitness and Footwear. DICK'S Sporting Goods also owns and operates Golf Galaxy and Field & Stream specialty stores, as well as GameChanger, a youth sports mobile app for scheduling, communications, live scorekeeping and video streaming. DICK'S Sporting Goods offers its products through a dynamic eCommerce platform that is integrated with its store network and provides customers with the convenience and expertise of a 24-hour storefront.

Our history: It all started with an ice axe We’ve been your outdoor co-op for 82 years. REI was founded in 1938 when a group of 23 climbing friends, united by their love for the outdoors, decided to source quality and affordable gear for their adventures. Today the REI community has 19 million lifetime members, over 13,000 employees and 165 locations in 39 states and the District of Columbia. While much has changed since REI’s beginnings, our passion for life outside lives on in everything we do. REI Co-op: A different kind of company Being a member-owned co-operative allows us to focus on shared values, not share value. Annually, more than 70 percent of our annual profits are invested back into the outdoor community through dividends to REI members, employee profit-sharing and retirement, and investments in nonprofits dedicated to the outdoors. Every year since 2015, we close all our stores on Black Friday. We give all our employees a day off to #OptOutside with family and friends on the busiest retail day of the year. We continue this tradition because we believe in putting purpose before profits. More than 700 organizations and millions of people have joined us. We hope you will, too. By staying true to our roots, we've earned a place on FORTUNE magazine's list of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" every year since the rankings began in 1998. We work hard to earn our reputation for quality and integrity every day. REI is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Under Armour, Inc., headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, is a leading inventor, marketer, and distributor of branded athletic performance apparel, footwear, and accessories. Designed to empower human performance, Under Armour's innovative products and experiences are engineered to make athletes better. For more information, please visit http://about.underarmour.com. Interested in joining the team? Visit careers.underarmour.com.

Bass Pro Shops is North America’s premier destination retailer offering a wide assortment of high-quality outdoor recreational and lifestyle products at a great value. Established in 1972 and headquartered in Springfield, Missouri, today 99 retail and marine centers host 120 million people annually. The company also operates White River Marine Group, the largest manufacturer of boats in the world by volume, and Big Cedar Lodge, America’s Premier Wilderness Resort. White River Marine Group is the largest manufacturer of boats in the world by volume. Founded by Bass Pro Shops founder/CEO Johnny Morris and headquartered in Springfield, Missouri, White River Marine Group manufactures quality boats offering performance, innovation and value with world-class service so everyone can experience the joy of fishing and boating. Popular recreational brands off include Tracker Boats®, Sun Tracker®, Nitro®, Tahoe®, Regency®, Mako®, Ranger®, Triton® and Stratos®.

Zumiez is a leading specialty retailer of apparel, footwear, accessories, and hardgoods for young people who want to express their individuality.

Big 5 Sporting Goods has outgrown its name. The company, which started out with five army surplus shops in California in 1955, is a leading sporting goods retailer with over 400 stores in eleven western states, including California, Washington, and Arizona. The company sells brand-name (Adidas, Coleman, Easton ...) and private-label equipment, apparel, and footwear for indoor and outdoor activities such as camping, hunting, fishing, tennis, golf, and snowboarding. Big 5 has stuck with a neighborhood-store format (averaging approximately 11,000 sq. ft.) instead of opening massive superstores. Big 5 Sporting Goods is run by its chairman and CEO Steven Miller, the son of company co-founder Robert Miller.

Small-town southern sports fans are the bread and butter for Hibbett Sports. The company sells sports equipment, athletic apparel, and footwear in small to midsized markets in more than 25 states, mainly in the Southeast. Its flagship Hibbett Sports chain is composed of about 780 locations, and stores are primarily found in malls and strip centers anchored by a Wal-Mart. Hibbett also operates three Sports & Co. superstores, which are larger format and feature in-store putting greens, basketball hoops, and appearances by athletes. On a smaller scale, it runs more than 15 mall-based Sports Additions shoe shops, most of which are situated near Hibbett Sports stores. The company also operates an e-commerce site.

Modell's colors change from city to city. Henry Modell & Company sells sporting goods, fitness equipment, apparel (including local team apparel), and brand-name athletic footwear at more than 150 Modell's Sporting Goods stores in 10 East Coast states, the District of Columbia, and online. Best known for offering branded products at reasonable prices, Modell's stores are in malls, regional shopping centers, and busy urban areas, including Manhattan. Founded in 1889 by Hungarian immigrant Morris Modell (who first sold menswear from a Lower East Side pushcart in New York City), the chain is the oldest family-owned sporting goods retailer in the country; it is in its fourth generation of Modell management.

Scheels All Sports is all about sports. It sells sporting goods and apparel through more than two dozen stores in about 10 western and midwestern states, as well as online. Products include bicycles, fitness equipment, hunting and fishing gear, and seasonal sporting goods (camping, baseball, golf, soccer, skateboarding). Scheels offers bike and exercise machine repairs, racquet stringing, and ski equipment maintenance. The company also has specialists in warranty repair for shotguns, rifles, and handguns, and it offers new and used firearms from Browning, Colt, and Winchester. Scheels began in 1902 as a hardware and general merchandise store. The employee-owned company is run by the founder's great-grandson.

DECATHLON: OUR COMPANY Assembling all sports beneath a single roof, DECATHLON has always promoted access to, and participation in, sport: - Access based on price, without sacrificing high standards in the development and quality of our products. Simple stores, optimum logistics, efficient organisation and a constant drive to control costs have allowed us, and continue to allow us, regularly to lower the prices of our products. - Access to a broad range of sporting products. This range includes DECATHLON's own "Passion Brands" products, such as Quechua, b'Twin, Kipsta ou Tribord, as well as products by international brands. In addition to these products, DECATHLON also offers a number of services to promote participation in sport: our workshops, or personalisation services, à la carte financing, gift cards, etc.