City Sports Celebrates Head Merchant’s SGB 40-Under-40 Recognition

City Sports recognized Lauren Blanda, its general merchandising manager, for being named one of the top young executives in the sporting goods and active lifestyle industry by SportsOneSource in its annual “SGB 40 Under 40 Awards.”

Blanda, 33, is one of 40 executives under the age of 40 selected by SGB (formerly Sporting Goods Business magazine) recognized for exceptional achievement in the industry. A panel of analysts, editors and industry executives gathered by the SportsOneSource Group, the parent company of SGB, reviewed more than 400 nominations for this year’s competition.

“Lauren is a key member of our executive team,” said Edward Albertian, president and CEO of City Sports. “With her oversight and guidance, our team stays current with cutting edge trends and products in the athletic world.”

Blanda leads the company’s buying, planning, allocation and visual merchandising teams to carry out the City Sports vision from concept to reality in City Sports’ 26 retail stores and on citysports.com.

“Our product assortment is highly curated compared to larger sporting goods chains” said Blanda. “At the same time, we have a broader selection than traditional specialty stores. This goldilocks approach – not too big and not to small – and the one-stop shopping atmosphere, has been key to our success.”

Blanda joined City Sports nearly 13 years ago upon graduating from nearby Emerson College. In college, she worked on the sales floor as a part-time retail store employee.

“These awards are a way to recognize the great work done by younger leaders in our industry,” said James Hartford, president and CEO of The SportsOneSource Group, which publishes the SGB trade publication, now in continuous circulation for 47 years. “The extraordinary and diverse talent nominated again this year made it difficult to narrow the list to just 40 people. We drew very strong support from past honorees and other industry leaders to select a prestigious group of individuals and it is our pleasure to honor this next generation of leaders.”

This marks the eighth annual list of “40 Under 40” honorees from SGB. The 40 honorees will be feted at an event this summer hosted by SportsOneSource.

City Sports currently operates 26 metropolitan stores across the East Coast, with locations in Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Vermont and Washington, D.C.