![\"sports-authority-store\"](\"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/sports-authority-store.jpeg\")
One of the last Sports Authority Stores<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n I was saddened\u2014though not surprised\u2014to read about the closing of The Sports Authority and its pending liquidation.\u00a0 While a letter from the CEO says that only 140 of the 463 stores would be shuttered now, public statements from the company\u2019s attorneys and financial releases indicate that the company will soon disappear. The agreement (announced today) that the stores have been sold to a trio of liquidation firms confirms the fact that this once respected brand will\u00a0 soon be a memory.<\/p>\n As I said, I was saddened because about 20 years ago, I was offered the top marketing job at Sports Authority and except for what seemed to be a better offer (can\u2019t tell a book by its cover) from Circuit City, I would have accepted the opportunity.\u00a0 I was impressed to say the least.\u00a0 Having just broken way from the grasp of Kmart (another brand in jeopardy now), Sports Authority had a lot of good things going for it at the time.\u00a0 A great brand name that personified its brand strategy.\u00a0 Well-merchandised stores that brought great selection at lower prices to categories that were booming at the time.\u00a0 Well-positioned locations that provided excellent traffic and visibility in well-targeted areas.\u00a0 A strong management team, led by the company\u2019s founder, with a focused vision on where it wanted to go, also developed an effective marketing strategy that mixed great positioning with strong promotions.\u00a0 Plus, it was based near Ft. Lauderdale, just across the state from where I was living so commuting was possible until I got settled.\u00a0 I have to admit that when the Circuit City deal didn\u2019t work out, I had a lot of second thoughts about that career decision!<\/p>\n Sports Authority Field at Mile High, Denver<\/strong><\/p>\n Sports Authority Field at Mile High, Denver<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n The company built itself on an effective positioning campaign using well produced, effective broadcast and timely promotions.\u00a0 More importantly, it had aggressively sought to have the Sport Authority logo placed in highly visible locations in sports venues in all major sports.\u00a0 Shots of the end zone for NFL, there was the logo.\u00a0 Sideline scorer\u2019s table shots at NBA games, Sports Authority was right there.\u00a0 Baseball outfield walls, NHL boards, college stadiums\u2014the company\u2019s presence verified that it was the authority on sports gear.\u00a0 Even as the company grew and stumbled, its sale to Gart Sports in Denver seemed like another smart move.\u00a0 The company was consolidated in Denver and changed names to The Sports Authority since there was so much equity in the brand.\u00a0 Unfortunately, that\u2019s where it ended.<\/p>\n The company\u2019s marketing became dominated by nothing more than boring sale ads and promotions.\u00a0 It\u2019s website was developed, yet not much more exciting than its print with little or no promotion driving customers online.\u00a0 More importantly, the stores were boring as well.\u00a0 Selections of athletic shoes were no better than most athletic footwear stores. Golf was sub-par to Golfsmith.\u00a0 Cycling failed to capitalize on the growth of this activity.\u00a0 Fishing was meager compared to Bass Pro and Cabela\u2019s.\u00a0 Camping ditto.\u00a0 Traditional sports like baseball, football, tennis, soccer were not much better than Wal-Mart or Target.\u00a0 Then, there was the in-store experience.\u00a0 The only authority was on the sign outside the store.\u00a0 Sales help was disinterested and about as knowledgeable as your neighbor.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Inventories were obviously being cut back and selection and sizes were insufficient to meet demand.<\/p>\n The stores in fact were boring.\u00a0 They did strike gold with buying the naming rights to the Denver Bronco\u2019s stadium at Mile High just in time for the Super Bowl championship season, but by then it was too late.\u00a0 The brand had awareness but not much value.<\/p>\n \u00a0Bass Pro Shops\u2013Brandon, FL<\/strong><\/p>\n So, it\u2019s strike three on Sports Authority and a good lesson learned that you have to consistently cover all the bases, outsmart the competition, and build a great team to keep a strong brand alive and well.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_video admin_label=”Video” src=”https:\/\/youtu.be\/SaiikZ0RnJw”] [\/et_pb_video][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] I was saddened\u2014though not surprised\u2014to read about the closing of The Sports Authority and its pending liquidation.\u00a0 While a letter from the CEO says that only 140 of the 463 stores would be shuttered now, public statements from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=114"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":547,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114\/revisions\/547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"sports-authority-field-photo\"](\"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/sports-authority-field-photo-300x199.jpeg\")
![\"bass-pro-brandon\"](\"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Bass-Pro-brandon-300x227.jpg\")
Before writing this article, I visited the newest Bass Pro Shop location in the Tampa Bay area and it was obvious why Sports Authority was fading fast.\u00a0 The Bass Pro shop was an exciting experience.\u00a0 Huge displays, interesting experiences, valuable in-store events.\u00a0 Then there is the selection from more fishing rods than I have ever seen to more cammo gear than in a military post.\u00a0 From boats to ACV\u2019s and with a restaurant that\u2019s worth making the trip just for the menu, Bass Pro gets it.\u00a0 And it\u2019s always supported by an effective, on-target marketing campaign.\u00a0 Across the road was a new Dick\u2019s Sporting goods and while not as over-powering as Bass Pro, it was everything that Sports Authority should have been but wasn\u2019t even close.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And Dick\u2019s marketing is as good as Gatorade or Under Armor in creating a relevant, adifferentiated brand of stores.<\/p>\n