Hibbett Sporting Goods

Hibbett Sporting Goods (Nasdaq: HIBB) is a Birmingham-based publicly-owned chain of sporting goods stores with over 800 locations. Jeffry Rosenthal was promoted to CEO effective March 15, 2010. Former CEO Mickey Newsome, who has been with the company since the 1950s, is executive chairman. Its corporate offices are located in the former CVS Caremark Building at 2700 Milan Court in the Oxmoor Valley. Its distribution center moved from the Oxmoor Industrial Park to a site near the Shelby COunty Airport in Alabaster in 2013.

History

Hibbett was incorporated as Dixie Supply Company in 1945 in Florence, Lauderdale County, by high school coach Rufus Hibbett. At first the company carried a wide range of athletic, marine and aviation equipment. When Hibbett's two sons joined the company in 1952, he changed the name to Hibbett & Sons and reoriented the business to focus on the team sports market. In the mid 1960s they started branching out and changed the name to Hibbett Sporting Goods, Inc.

Hibbett sold the company to the Anderson family of Florence in 1980. The Anderson's decided to target small and mid-sized markets, mainly in the South, avoiding direct competition with major national retailers and keeping operating and distribution costs low. Hibbett's also established a strong mall presence with their prototype 5,000 square foot Hibbett's Sports store, sometimes accompanied with a smaller Sports Additions footwear annex. The chain grew from 34 locations in 1993 to 41 in 1994, 60 in 1995.

The Andersons sold the growing company to the investment firm Saunders Karp & Company in 1995, and opened their first superstore Sports & Co. location in Huntsville that year. The larger format provided space for more "customer participation" such as basketball hoops and putting greens, as well as special appearances by athletes and other publicity events. In October 1996 Saunders Karp & Co. took Hibbett public. The company used the capital to fuel continued aggressive expansion. At the end of 1997 Hibbett Sporting Goods was operating 77 stores with retail sales of over $86 million. At the end of 1998 there were 120 stores in 14 states. 1999 was a record-breaking year for Hibbett, as net sales, profits and openings continued to accelerate.

The chain now has over 800 locations in 26 states, including 82 in Alabama, and annual sales of over $500 million. On February 11, 2007, the company changed its name to Hibbett Sports, Inc. Hibbetts Sports is now the holding company of Hibbett Sporting Goods, Inc.

In July 2012 it was announced that the distribution center would be moved from Birmingham's Oxmoor Valley to a new 360,000 square foot center just north of the Shelby County Airport in the ShelbyWest Industrial Park in Alabaster. The Alabaster site was chosen over a finalist site in Tupelo, Mississippi. The company's offices relocated to the former CVS Caremark Building on Milan Court near Red Mountain Park in 2013. The new building includes space for displaying Newsome's extensive collection of sports memorabilia.

Birmingham area location

Current locations

• Alabaster: Colonial Promenade Alabaster, Suite 800
• Bessemer: 726 Academy Drive Southwest, Suite 112
• Bessemer: 4863 Promenade Parkway, Suite 125
• Birmingham: 2245 Bessemer Road
• Birmingham: 1632 Montclair Road, Suite 400 (Eastwood Village)
• Birmingham: Roebuck Marketplace
• Birmingham: 5275 U.S. Highway 280
• Birmingham: Palisades Shopping Center (2010–present)
• Calera: 291 Supercenter Drive, Suite A3
• Center Point: 2304 Centerpoint Parkway
• Cullman: 1631 Town Square Southwest
• Fairfield: 9A Aaron Aronov Drive
• Fairfield: 13C Western Hills Mall
• Forestdale: 1982 Veterans Memorial Highway
• Fultondale: 3433 Lowery Parkway, Suite 610
• Gardendale: 1036 Main Street
• Homewood: Brookwood Village, Space 247
• Hoover: 1615 Montgomery Highway
• Jasper: 300 U.S. Highway 78 East, Suite 438
• Leeds: 8525 Whitfield Avenue, Suite 101
• Pell City: 67 Vaughan Lane
• Talladega: 216 Haynes Street, Suite E
• Trussville: Colonial Promenade at Trussville, Suite 101
• Tuscaloosa: 1800 McFarland Boulevard
• Tuscaloosa: University Mall

Former locations

• Birmingham: Century Plaza

References

• Milazzo, Don (February 20, 1995). "Hibbett to Relocate HQ and Warehouse to Oxmoor." Birmingham Business Journal
• Fickes, Michael (February 12, 2001). "Hibbett Grows By Staying Small". Sporting Goods Business, p. 46.
• Lemieux, Gloria A. (2006). "Hibbett Sporting Goods, Inc." Reference for Business. - accessed November 2, 2006
• "Hibbett's Newsome to be inducted into Sporting Goods Hall of Fame." (November 2, 2006). Birmingham Business Journal.
• "Hibbett sets up new holding company." Breaking Business News, (February 12, 2007). Birmingham News
• DeButts, Jimmy. (March 31, 2009). "Hibbett plans 70 new stores." Birmingham Business Journal.
• DeButts, Jimmy. (March 10, 2010). "Hibbett Sports promotes Rosenthal to CEO." Birmingham Business Journal.
• "Hibbett Sporting Goods opens new Palisades location." (December 14, 2010). Birmingham Business Journal.
• Wagner, Neal (July 9, 2012) "Hibbett moving distribution center to Alabaster." Shelby County Reporter

External links

• Hibbett Sports website

[[Category:Oxmoor Industrial Park]