Olympia Sports to Close Clarion Mall Store

Aly Delp

Aly Delp

Published October 9, 2019 3:57 pm
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CLARION, Pa. (EYT) — The Olympia Sports store at the Clarion Mall is one of an unknown number of stores that will be closing their doors following the sale of the brand.

(Photos by Dave Cyphert of ProPoint Media Photography)

According to Clarion store manager, Emily Reiner, they received notification from the company on Tuesday that the Clarion location would be closing.

“Our store is shutting down sometime after the holidays, either at the end of December or in January,” Reiner told exploreClarion.com.

“We’re already in the works of preparing things for liquidation.”

Joanne Kenny, Corporate Communications Manager at Olympia Sports, confirmed the closure on Wednesday and noted that the Clarion location is one of a number of Olympia Sports stores that are closing following the acquisition of the company by JackRabbit.

“Some of our stores will continue to operate, but the Clarion store is one of the ones scheduled for closure,” Kenny said.

JackRabbit, a leading omni-channel retailer of athletic footwear, apparel, and accessories owned by affiliates of CriticalPoint Capital, announced the acquisition of the “Olympia Sports” brand in a press release issued earlier today.

Originally founded in 1975 in Portland, Maine, Olympia currently operates its brick and mortar stores primarily in the Northeast U.S. while also serving online customers via its e-commerce site.

“We are thrilled to welcome the Olympia Sports brand into the JackRabbit family,” said Bill Kirkendall, CEO of JackRabbit, in the release.

“Olympia has been a leader and household name in providing premium athletic specialty brands and sporting goods in the Northeast for 45 years. This acquisition continues JackRabbit’s expansion and commitment to providing the most complete, high-performance product offerings, services, and experiences to the active lifestyle fan across all markets and channels. Additionally, we will continue to operate the acquired stores under the Olympia Sports banner.”

JackRabbit serves a broad audience of runners, athletes, and fitness enthusiasts through its specialty retail stores in 17 states and on its e-commerce sites jackrabbit.com, clevertraining.com, and surfoutfitter.com. JackRabbit bolstered its presence in the active lifestyle category in 2017 through a joint venture with Rogue Training, a renowned training company for runners, and again in 2018 with the acquisition of Clever Training, a world-class provider of fitness technology and accessories. With the addition of Olympia, the consolidated company will operate 135 brick and mortar stores.

Brad Holtmeier, Partner at CPC added, “Olympia Sports is a cornerstone investment and brand for the JackRabbit family of stores due to its success serving communities in the Northeast over the previous 45 years. The combination of these two specialty athletic retailers is an ideal match and allows JackRabbit to expand its footprint and product categories further into athletic goods, while maintaining its commitment to dedicated athletes and runners.”

“We are pleased to partner and work with JackRabbit and CriticalPoint Capital on this transaction,” said Ed Manganello, President at Olympia Sports.

“Olympia Sports, the Manganello family and our dedicated employees have tirelessly served our customers and communities for nearly five decades. We would like to thank everyone who has been involved in our success — especially our employees. We have accomplished great things together. We look forward to transitioning Olympia to the JackRabbit family and believe they will be outstanding stewards of the Olympia brand and its long-standing customers and vendors.”

No additional information on other pending store closures has been officially released.

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