Sport Chalet Founder Norbert Olberz Passes Away

Olberz founded the company in 1959, served as Sport Chalet’s Chief Executive Officer until 1999 and as Chairman of the Board until 2001. Over the course of five decades he not only built a successful, publicly traded sporting goods business but was widely recognized in the industry for his innovative thinking, his commitment to his employees and community and his relentless belief in the power of recreation to lift an individual’s spirit.
In 1981, Olberz doubled the size of the company by opening a retail location in Huntington Beach, CA and expanding into ocean sports and, by 1992, the company went public.

In 2006, at age 80, Olberz, with his son Eric, began work on a new multi-million dollar shopping center and corporate office in La Cañada Flintridge, directly over his first store. In 2009, Olberz was inducted into the National Sporting Goods Hall of Fame and, in 2011, was the recipient of the Far West Ski Association’s “Snow Sports Builder Award.”

As a result of Olberz business acumen, unique ability to detect trends in the retail marketplace and his commitment to the outdoors and recreational sports, Sport Chalet now operates 55 retail locations throughout California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona, as well as an online store, www.sportchalet.com.

Olberz is survived by his beloved wife of 52 years, Irene, his sister, Elizabeth Lepper, his son, Eric, and grandchildren Karl and Markus.