Sports Authority quits the game

It’s curtains for Sports Authority.

The Englewood, Colo., company will close or sell off its 450 stores nationwide, including eight stores in Hawaii, possibly affecting hundreds of employees in the islands.

In March the sports retailer said it was planning to sell or close about 140 stores. No stores in Hawaii were on the list to close. It has four on Oahu, two on Hawaii island and one each on Maui and Kauai.

At the time, the company said in a statement that it was heading down two tracks: working with financial advisers to strengthen the company and exploring a potential sale of some or all of its assets.

Last week a Sports Authority attorney said in U.S. Bankruptcy Court that the company has abandoned an attempt to reorganize, according to news reports.

“The debtors currently intend to pursue a sale of all or substantially all of their assets, including all store locations and all manner of other assets,” attorneys for the company said in a document filed Tuesday in federal Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.

The company is in debt to the tune of more than $1 billion and is trying to sell its stores to a company that will keep them operating, according to Bloomberg News.

Information about the chain closing was not posted Sunday on the company’s website. Several managers at Sports Authority stores in Hawaii said they hadn’t received any information about stores closing in the islands and directed questions to the corporate office, which was closed Sunday.

“Everything, as far as we know, is normal,” one manager said by phone Sunday.

The number of employees working at Sports Authority in Hawaii was not available, but one manager said 40 to 50 people work at his store.

At the Sports Authority on Ward Avenue, employees said they were in a holding pattern, remaining calm and focused on the present until the company releases more details. One employee said he was waiting to hear whether the store will be sold or closed before panicking.

Some customers at the store were saddened by news of the closure, but others were not surprised.

“That sucks for Kauai,” said Landon Labrador, 33, of Koloa, who was on vacation on Oahu. “We don’t really have another sports store.”

He bought about 22 pounds of ammunition at the Sports Authority on Ward Avenue because the Sports Authority on Kauai usually is sold out.

He said that before the Sports Authority in Lihue opened two years ago, he would shop at Sports Authority on Oahu because general merchandise big-box stores just don’t have as good a sporting selection.

Robert Hernando of Kalihi bought shoes for himself and a gym bag for his 14-year-old son and looked at skateboards for his 9-year-old son.

“It’s almost like a little supermarket,” he said, adding that without the retailer he would have to visit several stores just to pick up the same items, and that others stores don’t have as “detailed equipment.”

But he plans to do more of his shopping online.

“I can adjust,” he said.

Jennifer Eugenio of Mililani said she will miss shopping in person.

“I don’t like to shop online,” she said. “I like to try things on.”

Ruby Klement, 50, a small-business woman from Waikiki, said she bought a lot of items from the store, including some she couldn’t find elsewhere, such as a heavy-duty tent she uses while selling organic coconut oil at farmers markets.

“It’s a good store for me,” she said after purchasing clothes with UV protection in preparation for the summer. “I would be sad if they leave.”

While she enjoyed the store’s convenience and parking, she noticed for years that traffic in the store had been slow, probably from the competition on the Internet and free shipping.

“I knew something was going to happen,” she said.