JackRabbit, the running chain owned by affiliates of CriticalPoint Capital (CPC), announced the acquisition of certain assets and liabilities, including the online presence and the “Olympia Sports” brand from Olympia Sports.
Originally founded in 1975 in Portland, Maine, Olympia currently operates its brick and mortar stores primarily in the Northeast U.S. while also serving online customers via its e-commerce site Olympiasports.net.
“We are thrilled to welcome the Olympia Sports brand into the JackRabbit family,” said Bill Kirkendall, CEO of JackRabbit. “Olympia has been a leader and household name in providing premium athletic specialty brands and sporting goods in the Northeast for 45 years. This acquisition continues JackRabbit’s expansion and commitment to providing the most complete, high-performance product offerings, services, and experiences to the active lifestyle fan across all markets and channels. Additionally, we will continue to operate the acquired stores under the Olympia Sports banner.”
JackRabbit serves a broad audience of runners, athletes, and fitness enthusiasts through its specialty retail stores in 17 states and on its e-commerce sites jackrabbit.com, clevertraining.com, and surfoutfitter.com. JackRabbit bolstered its presence in the active lifestyle category in 2017 through a joint venture with Rogue Training, a renowned training company for runners, and again in 2018 with the acquisition of Clever Training, a provider of fitness technology and accessories. With the addition of Olympia, the consolidated company will operate 135 brick and mortar stores.
JackRabbit operates 62 stores in 18 states along with its e-commerce platform, according to its website. With the expectation to have 135 stores, JackRabbit will be acquiring 73 of the more than 150 Olympia stores in operation.
An Olympia Sports’ official on Tuesday told WGME prior to news of the sale that store closings were possible. Carlene Kurowski, director of marketing at Olympia, told the news site, “We are not going out of business, but some stores might close.”
Brad Holtmeier, partner at CPC added, “Olympia Sports is a cornerstone investment and brand for the JackRabbit family of stores due to its success serving communities in the Northeast over the previous 45 years. The combination of these two specialty athletic retailers is an ideal match and allows JackRabbit to expand its footprint and product categories further into athletic goods while maintaining its commitment to dedicated athletes and runners.”
“We are pleased to partner and work with JackRabbit and CriticalPoint Capital on this transaction,” said Ed Manganello, president at Olympia Sports. “Olympia Sports, the Manganello family, and our dedicated employees have tirelessly served our customers and communities for nearly five decades. We would like to thank everyone who has been involved in our success – especially our employees. We have accomplished great things together. We look forward to transitioning Olympia to the JackRabbit family and believe they will be outstanding stewards of the Olympia brand and its long-standing customers and vendors.”
Olympia opened its first store in 1975 at The Maine Mall in South Portland. From there, it grew to more than 220 locations throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Mid-West, with stores from Ohio and Virginia to Presque Isle.
Photo courtesy Olympia Sports
