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Olympia Sports to Close All Remaining Locations, Liquidation Sales Underway

Olympia Sports is closing all its remaining stores by the end of September.

The Maine-based sports retailer confirmed that all 35 stores would close, and liquidation sale have already started. A large banner on the retailer’s website confirms the news reading: “Everything must go! Closing Sale. All locations. See store for details. All sales final.”

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Olympia currently operates stores primarily in the Northeast U.S. and will close its remaining stores in New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

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Olympia Sports was founded in 1975 by Edward Manganello, who opened his first store at the Maine Mall in South Portland. By 2013, the company operated 226 locations from Maine to Virginia, according to a report by the Portland Press Herald.

In 2019, Denver-based running and active lifestyle brand JackRabbit bought the company. At the time, JackRabbit CEO Bill Kirkendall said the acquisition continued its expansion in the active lifestyle market.

JackRabbit was founded in 2011 as the Running Specialty Group, the specialty running store consolidation effort by The Finish Line, and was acquired in 2017 by affiliates of CriticalPoint Capital.

CriticalPoint also bought Shoes.com from Walmart in Oct. 2020 and combined the footwear site with JackRabbit and Olympia Sports under the banner “Running Specialty Group,” which later changed its name to Antero Brands.

In December, CriticalPoint sold JackRabbit to Fleet Feet for an undisclosed sum. According to a statement to FN from Fleet Feet, the sale did not include the assets of Olympia Sports, leaving the Maine retailer owned by the private equity firm.

FN reached out to CriticalPoint Capital for further comment.

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