Dunham’s Sports: Get in the game at Dunham’s!

October 15, 2022


Dunham’s Sports is an American sporting goods retail chain owned by Dunham’s Athleisure Corporation, with stores located in the Midwestern to the Southeastern United States.


Dunham Sports has 245 retail stores in the United States.

In 1937, Ron Dunham opened the first Dunham’s store on Northwestern Highway west of Telegraph Road in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan. At that time, it was Dunham’s Bait & Tackle shop, but Dunham helped his store gain exposure by advertising in Newsweek and on fishing shows hosted on radio. Sadly, the original store burnt down in 1946, but Dunham was quick to rebuild.

The store was bought and sold a few times over the coming years, first in 1953 when R. L. Schmalzreid bought it and relocated it to the corner of Northwestern Highway and Orchard Lake Road.  Then, in 1985, American Can Company acquired the chain which, at that time, had eight stores: five in Metro Detroit, one in Grand Rapids, Michigan, one in Anderson, Indiana, and one in Muncie, Indiana. The American Can Company merged with Primerica in 1991 and sold off Dunham’s chain which at that time had 49 stores and was headquartered in Waterford Township, Michigan.



Today, Dunham’s Sports is headquartered in Troy, Michigan. The chain specializes in athletic equipment, clothing, firearms, and other sports-related items. The chain has over 240 locations in 24 states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, 
Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

The Company is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol RPAI.

Gloria Sauvé
Communications and Marketing