Change was again the name of the game over the past few years both in politics and across the sporting goods retail landscape. While U.S. presidential candidates argue over who represents the most change or the right kind of change, the sporting goods market has certainly seen its share of transitions over the last four years, where Wal-Mart has remained the only constant in the SGB Retail Top 100 report.
Since the last general election year, the market has seen Dicks Sporting Goods move from the #8 spot to the #3 spot this year, while key competitor The Sports Authority fell two spots to the #4 position. Outdoor big box and chain store players Sportsmans Warehouse (up 11 spots on the list), Gander Mountain (also up 11 spots), REI (up six spots), The Sportsmans Guide (up five spots) and Cabelas (up three spots) showed some of the biggest growth over the last four years. Zumiez moved up the most in the rankings since the Retail Top 100 report was published in the last general election year, followed by Sportsmans Warehouse and GSI Commerce.
The market also saw a few retail brand names disappear over the last four years. The venerable Galyans and Gart Sports names were folded in mergers with Dicks Sporting Goods and The Sports Authority, respectively, and Just for Feet, d.e.m.o., Copeland Sports, Tri-City Sporting Goods and Decathlon Sports were shuttered.
The growth of vendor-owned retail as a viable strategy has resulted in the need to cover this segment in a whole new way. The small list that focused on the direct business four years ago has given way to a broad roster of companies looking to build revenues, improve margins and liquidate excess goods on a larger scale, included as a special feature with the report.
Although the souring economy has caused some publicly held companies to slow their expansion, many other retailers-including privately held operations-harbor ambitious plans to add stores in the coming year. For instance, The Sports Authority intends to add 25 stores this year and Dunhams will open 11 or 12. Combined with the number of stores already in existence-to say nothing of the growth in catalog and Internet operations-it is unlikely that in four years hence, the SGB Retail Top 100 list will look anything like todays version.
