Olympia Sports begins ringing up final sales at 8 Maine stores
File Photo / William Hall
Employees at the Falmouth branch of Olympia Sports unload merchandise last month as news of the company's acquisition was spreading. The Falmouth store is not on the list of branches slated for closure.
Three weeks after a Colorado company acquired roughly half of Westbrook-based Olympia Sports’ 152 athletic apparel stores, the other half — including eight stores in Maine — began their final sales today before permanently closing.
Olympia is working with SB360 Capital Partners LLC, an asset liquidation consultant based in New York, to conduct closing sales at 76 stores, according to a news release Thursday.
Olympia operates 16 retail branches in Maine, according to its website. Stores preparing to close are in Bangor, Belfast, Biddeford, Farmington, Freeport, Sanford, South Paris and Wells. Not affected appear to be stores in Auburn, Ellsworth, Falmouth, Presque Isle, Rockland, South Portland, Waterville and Windham.
JackRabbit, a Denver-based sports retailer, purchased Olympia in October for an undisclosed price. The acquisition included selected branches and the Olympia brand, which JackRabbit plans to retain.
The liquidation sale is for $44 million of inventory, according to the release, with discounts on sneakers, running shoes, basketball shoes, sweatshirts, T-shirts, hats, coats and more. It's not clear how long the sale will run before the stores shutter.
Olympia was founded in 1975 by Ed Manganello Sr. with a single shop at the Maine Mall in South Portland. The company has grown dramatically since then, at one time operating over 200 branches from Maine to Virginia.
JackRabbit currently operates about 60 stores in 18 states. Many of the branches are the result of previous acquisitions, and operate under a variety of names. The JackRabbit identity was introduced in 2015 as an umbrella brand for the chain.
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