Sports Authority Shutting Down Abington Store: Reports

By MARC TORRENCE and JUSTIN HEINZE

Sports Authority, the popular national retail chain for new and used sports equipment, will close all of its more than 450 locations across the country as part of a bankruptcy filing, according to multiple reports.

The sports retailer filed for Chapter 11 in March and is carrying over $1 billion in debt, according to Forbes, who broke the story Sunday night, and has decided to liquidate all assets and pursue a sale. The company employs more 14,500 people.

Sports Authority has a location in Abington on 1411 Old York Road.

A phone call and email to Sports Authority from Patch seeking comment were not immediately returned.

Sports Authority's initial plan as part of the bankruptcy, announced in March, was to close just 140 of its stores across the country to trim down. Instead, reports say, it will shutter all of its stores and look to sell off all of its assets completely.

There is no word on when the stores will be shuttering, but customers can expect heavy discounts in the near future on everything from team apparel to sports equipment.

Sports Authority faces stiff competition from other major retailers such as Dick's Sporting Goods and Modell's.

The company said earlier this year that it had missed a $20 million debt payment. A $300 million payment is due in May 2017, according to BusinessInsider.com.

Sports Authority is headquartered in Englewood, CO, and has stores in 41 states. Its first location was opened in 1987 in Lauderdale Lakes, FL.

Photo courtesy of Mike Kalasnick via Flickr

Mike Carraggi contributed to this report