Wearable technology helped drive up same-store sales at Canada's Sport Chek chain 9.4 percent in the fourth quarter, executives reported last week.

“Sports technology wearables category was a huge contributor to Sport Chek's very strong growth,” said Michael Medline, president and CEO for Canadian Tire Corporation Ltd, which owns Sports Chek's parent company FGL Sports. “There is a lot of emerging technology in sports built into clothing, equipment, and the wearables category, and you're going to see Chek be a leader in this arena.”

CTC reported retail and same-store sales at FGL Sports were up 15.0  percent and 4.9 percent respectively for the quarter due to increases across all categories and led by a  9.4 percent increase in same-store sales at its flagship Sport Chek stores. FGL Sports 2014 retail sales were up 11.5 percent (17.7  percent at Sport Chek) and same store sales increased 6.9 percent (10.6 percent at Sport Chek) over a strong 2013.

“Honestly, we did buy some sales,” said Medline, noting that FGL engaged in discounting to offset lower traffic levels in December due to the lack of colder weather. “Margins were down, but, to be clear, it was not because of competitive pressure and they weren't down a lot.”

In addition to about 170 Sport Chek stores, FGL Sports operates roughly another 250 stores under such banners as Sports Experts, Atmosphere and Pro Hockey Life. Atmosphere is an outdoor specialty retailer that operates from 45 locations, including 14 that located within Sports Chek stores.

FGL COO Chad McKinnon said Sport Chek's sales in Edmonton, Alberta rose 30 percent after it opened a new flagship store in the capital city. The co company plans to open two similar stores in Toronto in November and then take the concept to Vancouver, British Columbia. The flagships do about CAN20 million a year in sales and are profitable in their first year.

Sport Chek continues to spearhead CTC's digital marketing efforts. In  December, for instance, it partnered with Facebook to create 50 seven-second video ads to promote products that drove very high double-digit sellthrough, compared to products that did not get that video support.

Sport Chek continues to shift resources from print flyers to digital advertising and continues to post strong comp sales in those weeks where the old print spend has been redistributed digitally, Medline said.