BSN Sports has completed the acquisition of Judge Little Company, Inc., based in Meridian, MS. Judge Little, a family owned and operated company since 1946, is a leading distributor of team apparel and equipment in the state of Mississippi. Prior to this acquisition Judge Little was a member of the Sports Inc. buying group.
“Judge Little is the premiere team distributor in Mississippi and we are proud to bring Judge and the rest of the team aboard”, said Adam Blumenfeld, the company’s chairman and CEO. “The Company has deep roots in Jackson, Tupelo, Meridian and beyond. We plan to add value to their existing relationships and expand the operation to new frontiers.”
Tommy Little remarked: “As hard as it is for a family business that's been around for 70 years to make changes, we as owners of Judge Little Co. feel like the timing is right to let BSN Sports take what we've created and run with it. Judge Little Co. was built on the backs of great people like Jim Bayles, Lefty Rawlings, Jack Parker, Walker Rawlings, Jo Smithey, and Scott McMullin just to name a few. These men, and others, served the great people of Mississippi with joy. Judge, David, and I think BSN Sports is ahead of the curve on industry trends, and we think our salespeople will thrive using their proven structure, professional approach, and technology. I'm excited our salespeople will now carry a better, deeper bag of product of apparel and equipment into their accounts, and continue to deepen relationships with schools and leagues throughout Mississippi and beyond.”
Blumenfeld concluded: “Our acquisitions are comprised of three basic ingredients: Great People. Great People. And Great People. With Judge Little, Olympia, and ETSC we’ve inherited highly talented individuals from three of the finest organizations in the South. We are grateful to Tommy Little, Coach Joiner, and Paul Reynolds for running such strong companies and entrusting us with their future. While we’ve been pretty busy these past 30 days, I see us in just the second or third inning of the game. We are committed to finding companies and salesmen with a passion for not just selling sporting goods, but truly surprising and delighting their clients; creating a real WOW experience, and being part of something much bigger than themselves. I believe BSN’s 1000 teammates share a common desire to go beyond what’s expected, and serve in a way that has a lifelong impact on the spirit and pride of our schools; their coaches, and the 55 million school-aged athletes in their care. If you’d like to join our mission, and the fastest growing employee-owned organization in sports, contact Tevis Martin at tmartin@bsnsports.com or Bob Dickman at bdickman@bsnsports.com.”
All of this would be impossible without the tireless efforts of Tevis Martin, our Executive Vice President; Bob Dickman Director of Acquisitions; Michael Caravati Director of Recruiting, and the numerous support and transition teams that make it all happen without missing a beat. We have recently added valuable team-mates across the USA, including Texas, Kentucky, Colorado, Oklahoma, California, Mississippi, West Virginia, Ohio, New York, Florida and Tennessee. We will continue to seek out partners that share our values and have a passion for building lifelong relationships with customers.
BSN Sports is the nation’s leading marketer and distributor of sporting goods equipment and apparel. The company has more than 400 sales professionals serving local communities, supported by a network of 70 territory managers; more than 3.0 million catalogs and a family of websites focused on enriching the experience of sports and physical education in more than 150,000 institutions nationwide. On June 26, 2013 BSN Sports merged with Herff Jones, a leading supplier of class rings; caps and gowns; yearbooks and cheerleading products and competitions. Collectively the Enterprise now sports more than 1400 sales professionals serving schools in local communities. Herff Jones, headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, is one of the nation’s oldest employee-owned organizations.
