Maine-based Olympia Sports Acquisitions, LLC filed for Chapter 11 protection with plans to liquidate its remaining 35 stores, citing poor sales, online competition and residual problems from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Auburn, ME-based company filed for Chapter 11 protection on Sunday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, DE, with $28.7 million in unsecured debt owed to 570 creditors. The case was filed alongside its owner, RSG Acquisitions, LLC and several of its non-operating affiliates.
In July, Olympia Sports, which once had more than 200 stores on the East Coast, confirmed that it was shuttering its remaining 35 stores by the end of September, and liquidation sales at all its stores began.
Olympia Sports was founded in 1975 by Edward Manganello, who opened his first store at the Maine Mall in South Portland. By 2013, it had 226 locations from Maine to Virginia.
In October 2019, Olympia Sports was acquired by CriticalPoint, a Los Angeles-based private investment firm, and 76 stores were closed at the time. Olympia Sports became part of CriticalPoint’s active lifestyle platform, mainly consisting of the JackRabbit running chain, which it acquired in 2017.
Last December, Fleet Feet acquired the JackRabbit running stores, with the Olympia Sports chain remaining under the ownership of CriticalPoint.
CriticalPoint, earlier this year, sold Shoes.com to Designer Brands, the parent of DSW.
