Champs Sports: we know game
Champs Sports is an American sports retail store operating as a subsidiary of Foot Locker. Their product line caters to the needs of sports lovers, offering clothing, equipment, footwear and accessories.
Champ Sports proclaims itself to be one of the largest athletic retailers in the United States.
As of October 2019, there were 484 Champs Sports store locations in the United States. They also have stores in Canada, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
It started with Woolworth’s
In 1879, the F.W. Woolworth Company, one of the first five and dime stores, was established in Utica, New York. In 1963, the F.W. Woolworth Company bought the Kinney Shoe Corporation and began operating it as its subsidiary.
Eleven years later, in 1974, Foot Locker, the parent company of Champ Sports, was founded. In the 1980s, the Woolworth Company diversified its stock in specialty stores by bringing in Champ Sports along with Afterthoughts and Northern Reflections. Eventually, Champ Sports became the most successful of the three.
In 1997, as a logical complement to their athletic business, the Woolworth Corporation acquired Eastbay, a mail-order catalogue athletic retailer, for the price of $146 million.
On July 17, 1997, the F. W. Woolworth Company changed its name to the Venator Group, Inc., and
closed their remaining department stores to
focus solely on becoming a specialty store.
That same year, Wal-Mart bought out the majority of the Woolworth Company stores and assets. Champ Sports and the remaining Woolworth stores and assets became the Venator Group Inc. Eventually, the company renamed itself Champ Sports parent company, Foot Locker, Inc. That name remains, today.
In 2000, the sports apparel market was declining and the Venator Group was forced to shut many of its stores. However, the Group reaped the benefits of a growing market for high-end sports shoes. Striving to offer customers only the best, Champs stocks a broad line of gear from Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, Jordan, New Balance and many other top brands.
On August 28, 2012, the first issue of Swag Magazine was released. As a quarterly online magazine, Swag features stories and interviews with athletes and celebrities. In partnership with Under Armour, Addidas and Nike, Champs Sports also features the latest and greatest in athletic gear.
Gloria Sauvé
Communications and Marketing