Sports Authority going out of business sale

Sports Authority is closing all 460 of its stores nationwide, including in NYC and the Tri-State area. Expect huge discounts when the going out of business sale begins later this week. The end of the road for Sports Authority, which declared bankruptcy recently, also puts more than 14,000 employees out of work.

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For us New Yorkers, it’s especially ironic, since Sports Authority took over several locations from Herman’s Sporting Goods, a local retailer which went bankrupt some 15 years ago.

Luckily, NYC has two local sporting goods retailers going strong.

Family operated Modell’s Sporting Goods has expanded from its original location on Chambers Street to additional locations including in Grand Central, Flatiron and the Upper West Side, although its definition of sporting goods centers on clothing, not gear.  Modell’s is famous for getting World Series and Super Bowl championship t-shirts printed and on sale within 24 hours of those season-ending games, even faster when it’s a winning NYC team.

Paragon Sporting Goods is a three-floor extravangza in Flatiron, selling everything from socks to kayaks, with knowledgeable sales people in each department. Paragon also is the go-to place for getting your sports gear repaired. Experts here will restring your tennis racket and wax and sharpen your skis – I’ve done both here – and more. Paragon also will help you train for the NYC Marathon, and help you apply for a NYC tennis permit.

National retailers REI and EMS (Eastern Mountain Sports) also have NYC locations.

• REI is currently running 20%- 30% off sale on clothing and gear, in-store and online.

Once upon a time, Sports Authority was the largest national retailer of sporting goods. But it just couldn’t keep up with the trend towards shopping online and shopping directly from sports leagues such as NFL and NBA which sell team logo merchandise.

Sports Authority is just the latest of so-called “big box” retailers which have closed their doors.

Remember electronics chain Circuit City?  Their NYC flagship store on 57th Street and Broadway is now a CVS.

Remember the Borders bookstore chain?  Their outpost in the Time Warner Center is now an H&M.

Remember Tower Records?  Their flagship store on 67th St. and Broadway became a Barnes & Noble, and when the bookstore chain closed several NYC locations a few years ago, it became a Century 21.

FAO Schwarz, the legendary toy store on Fifth Avenue, closed last year, and the huge Toys R Us in Times Square is now all boarded up, likely coming down to make way for yet another skyscraper. .

We native New Yorkers also will remember other beloved chains which have gone out of business.

• Gimbel’s
• Alexander’s
• EJKorvettes
• Best & Co. 
• B. Altman 
• Daffy’s
• Bonwit Teller
• Franklin Simon
• Orbach’s
• Sym’s
• Abraham & Strauss

Have I missed anything?