Alas, we present a eulogy for
another business billed as a “sporting goods store.” This time the store in question is Sports
Authority.
Firstly, this joint was
mislabeled as a sporting goods store.
A sporting goods store should
sell and/or service goods related to sports.
The Sports Authority does neither.
I visited a Sports Authority shop
in January 2016. I was the only customer
in the building.
My quest was for fishing rod eyes
that needed to be replaced on one of my salt water rods.
At the fishing department, there
were five rods in a display, a glass case containing ten reels, and roughly 30
rubber baits hanging on the wall.
There were no eyes, no bait
buckets, and no nets. They did have a
few cheesy hats, though.
Not to waste a trip, I searched
for the hunting department. There was
none. No bows, no arrows, no guns, no
ammunition, no knives, and no need to keep that store open.
On the other hand, there were
plenty of sneakers, shorts, and t-shirts.
Sweat pants and sneakers, and sweat shirts and sneakers. Did I mention there were tons of sneakers?
Baseball gloves, balls, and bats
were available, too. It’s been a long
time since I played baseball, so I was astonished to see the price of a
baseball bat set at $39.95. Apparently
Alex Rodriguez shopped there.
Perhaps they would have more
business if they renamed the store Sneakers and Overpriced Bats Authority.
By the way, Gander Mountain
