Byline: Joe Mosley The Register-Guard
Running shoes, raquetballs and rugby equipment will be back in their old space at Eugene's Valley River Center this spring.
The Sports Authority, the nation's largest full-line sporting goods retailer, will open at Valley River in May, taking over the 51,250-foot space on the mall's east side that Copeland Sports occupied for 10 years. Copeland recently closed its Eugene location after the 20-store chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year.
'We are soft-opening around the beginning of May, just depending on how (renovation of) some of the visual elements go,' said Kent Miller, a public relations official at the Sports Authority's headquarters in Englewood, Colo. 'The grand opening will probably be in late May.'
The Sports Authority, which operates at 408 locations in 45 states, has arranged through Copeland's bankruptcy proceedings to purchase 12 of the failed chain's stores, Miller said.
He was unable to say how much money will be spent preparing the vacant Copeland building in Eugene for its reopening as a Sports Authority outlet, but he said a 'very light' renovation is expected to begin about mid-March.
'That will definitely be a good market for us to be in,' he said.
Valley River Center General Manager Don Foster confirmed that lease arrangements have been finalized with the Sports Authority, but said the Copeland bankruptcy has made it difficult for the mall to coordinate with its new tenant on plans.
'We don't have a lot of good, solid detail about what's going to take place,' Foster said.
The Sports Authority offers a wide variety of sports-related merchandise: skis, snowboards and other winter equipment; footwear and clothing; team sports and exercise equipment; and goods for hunting, fishing and camping. The company's Web site (www.sportsauthority.com) lists 112 separate categories of merchandise, from yoga and pilates items to cheerleading supplies and poker goods.
The Sports Authority opened its first store 20 years ago in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The growing chain was purchased in 1995 by Kmart, then was spun-off as an independent chain five years later.
In 2003, the Sports Authority - already the nation's largest sporting goods chain - was acquired by its closest competitor, Gart Sports Company, which assumed the Sports Authority name. The combined companies reported annual sales totaling $2.5 billion during their first year of operation, the most recent figures available.
The Sports Authority became a private company last year when the company's management team and a private equity firm, Leonard Green & Partners, L.P., purchased all outstanding shares of the company's stock. The Sports Authority stock was previously traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
The newly privatized company was named in November as a potential buyer of some Copeland stores, but it was not announced until this month which - or how many - locations would change ownership.
The dozen stores that will shift to the Sports Authority include locations in Eugene, Medford, Portland and Salem. The Sports Authority will close its existing Salem location when it moves into the former Copeland store. There also are existing Oregon outlets of the Sports Authority in Clackamas and Beaverton.
Miller said it has not been determined how many employees will be needed in Eugene, but most stores in the chain employ about 35 each.
