Lids Sports Group has acquired Cardboard Heroes, a licensed sports apparel, headwear and novelty company headquartered in Dayton, OH. The acquisition consists of 19 Cardboard Heroes retail locations in Ohio and Kentucky, which include four Buckeye Room stores that specialize in Ohio State University sports merchandise, as well as the e-commerce websites cheroes.com and buckeyeroom.com.

“The recent acquisition of Cardboard Heroes allows us to further enhance our retail presence in Ohio and Kentucky, as well as expand our reach online through its various e-commerce platforms,” says Ken Kocher, president of Lids Sports Group, which is based in Indianapolis.  “These new locations tie in well with our sports retail focus and allow us to provide additional licensed sports merchandise that complements our existing Buckeye Corner and Fan Outfitter locations in the region.”

Lids currently operates 936 headwear specialty retail stores, 151 sports fan retail stores and 57 team-specific professional sports and university athletics retail stores across North America.

The Lids Sports Group, operating within Hat World Inc., is comprised of the Lids retail headwear stores, the Locker Room by Lids specialty fan retail chain, the Lids Clubhouse retail stores, the Lids Team Sports wholesale team sports business, and the Internet businesses www.lids.com, www.lidsclubhouse.com, www.lidsteamsports.com and www.lids.ca. Hat World Inc. is a subsidiary of Genesco Inc.