Sporting Goods

For those of us over 40, sporting goods stores were every part of our childhood as the ice-cream truck and arcades. Whatever sport you were into, and assuming you lived in a city with at least 500,000 people, your local sporting goods store likely had what you were looking for. Need a new glove, one especially for first-base man? Dicks Sporting Goods had you covered. Need some spare hockey knee pads? Sport Chalet is just down the street. Going fishing with your kid for the first time? Sports Authority has all the rods and reels.

But as with video rental stores, sporting goods stores are disappearing at a steady clip. A couple years back Sports Authority revealed it was nearly $1.1 billion in debt and months later decided to liquidate instead of restructure. The parent company of Eastern Mountain, Bob’s Stores and Sports Chalet filed for bankruptcy in 2016 and we’re now down to a just a handful. 

An Adidas spokesman had some interesting takes on this phenomenon, “a chain like Sport Chalet can only carry so many of our items.” He went on, “we know the walls in their stores can’t carry every piece of Adidas, but a company like Zappos can hold every one of our items.” You guessed it, yet another industry evolving and moving online. 

The number one competitor of every brick and mortar sporting goods store is none other than Amazon. The sheer variety is otherworldly, and the customer reviews make it easy to filter and choose depending on your individual tastes.Amazon also offers international shipping but depending on your country getting items in a reasonable time without having to pay exorbitant taxes and fees can be challenging. 

Eastbay is another online retailer with brands from Reebok to Nike, Fila, Timberland, Puma, Converse and more. Eastbay is especially popular due to the frequent discounts they run. As much as 25% in savings can be had at any given time on the site and accessing via a smartphone is a breeze. eBay is known as the global leader in sporting goods because they stock both new as well as used items. Some folks could care less if that basketball has been dribbled by someone before. They just want a good ball! 

As you can imagine this list goes on and on. Now, you can still hit a brick and mortar store to touch and feel that fishing rod, but if you want extreme selection and the best prices, onto the internet you’ll go.