Modell's Sporting Goods
{{Short description|US sporting goods retailer}}
{{Use mdy dates |date=December 2024}}
{{Use American English |date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Modell's Sporting Goods Online, Inc.
| logo = Modells logo.png
| logo_size = 250px
| logo_alt = Modell's logo
| type = Private
| industry = Retail
| founded = {{start date and age|1889|paren=yes}} in New York City, New York, U.S,
| founder = Morris Modell
| defunct = August 30, 2020 (physical stores)
| products = Sports apparel, sporting goods,footwear, licensed goods
| brands = Majestic Athletic, Nike, Reebok, etc.
| services = Sporting apparel, licensed sports gear of the MLB, NHL, NBA, and NFL
| owner = Retail ECommerce Ventures
| num_employees =
| num_employees_year =
| website = {{URL|modells.com}}
}}
Modell's Sporting Goods Online, Inc. is an American online sporting goods and related apparel retailer. Modell's began with operating retail stores between the late 1880s and the late 2010s.{{cite web|title=About Us {{!}} Modell's Sporting Goods|url=https://www.modells.com/about-us.html|publisher=Modell's Sporting Goods|accessdate=6 March 2018|language=en|archive-date=7 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180307023021/https://www.modells.com/about-us.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite news |first=Dennis|last=Hevesi|title=William D. Modell, Seller of Sporting Goods, Is Dead at 86
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/business/15modell.html?_r=1&oref=slogin |work= The New York Times |quote=William D. Modell, who as chairman of the Modell's Sporting Goods chain oversaw its expansion throughout much of the Northeast, died Thursday in Manhattan. He was 86 and lived in Hewlett Harbor, N.Y.|date=2008-02-15 |accessdate=2008-03-07}} In 2020, Modell's became a brand owned by the private-equity firm Retail Ecommerce Ventures.{{Cite web|last=Verdon|first=Joan|title=The Name Game: Why Tai Lopez and Alex Mehr Bought Modell's and Other Retail Brands|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanverdon/2020/08/23/the-name-game-why-tai-lopez-and-alex-mehr-bought-modells-and-other-retail-brands/|access-date=2020-08-25|website=Forbes|language=en}}
History
The chain was founded as a single store by Morris A. Modell in 1889 in the Manhattan borough of New York City, making it possibly the third-oldest sporting goods store in North America (after James F. Brine's in Massachusetts and Milwaukee's Burghardt Sporting Goods).{{cite news |first=Doris|last=Hajewski|title=Burghardt's Takes Team Approach as It Passes Ball Down the Line |url=http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=487944|work= Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |date=2006-08-27 |accessdate=2008-03-07}}
Modell, a Jewish immigrant from Hungary, opened the first location on Cortlandt Street in Lower Manhattan. (The Modell pawn shop chain in Manhattan and Brooklyn was founded by Morris's brother George in 1893 as a spinoff. The two companies operate separately.)
Through the years, it remained a family-owned business, passing through four generations of the Modell family. While best known as a sporting-goods retailer, Modell's also operated a chain of "full-line" discount retailers in the New York City-metropolitan area known as "Modell's Shopper's World" (and for a short time as "White-Modells") from the mid-1950s up until 1989, when the company decided to focus on its sporting-goods operations partly due to increased competition in the discount retail market.{{Cite web|url=https://sgbonline.com/sgb-2016-retail-top-100-list/|title=SGB 2016 Retail Top 100: The List {{!}} SGB Media Online|website=sgbonline.com|date=11 August 2016 |access-date=2020-03-17}}
William Modell, who became chairman in 1985, also founded the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation along with his wife, Shelby Modell.{{Cite web|url=http://online.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/site/PageNavigator/foundation_hero_ModellFamily.html|title=Crohn's & Colitis Foundation|publisher=Crohn's & Colitis Foundation|access-date=2019-05-09}}
Modell's at one time operated 152 stores, mainly in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, in addition to also having a presence Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. It operated a flagship store which was located at 234 West 42nd Street near Times Square in Manhattan.
Mitchell Modell, the company's chief executive officer, was featured on an episode of the television series Undercover Boss that aired on November 2, 2012, in which he went in disguise into his own stores to see things from an employee point of view.{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Business/dicks-sporting-goods-accuses-rival-modells-spying/story?id=22756803|title=Dick's Sporting Goods Accuses Rival Modell's of Spying|author=ABC News|publisher=ABC News|date=March 4, 2014|access-date=December 31, 2024}} Two years later, he was accused in a February 2014 lawsuit by rival Dick's Sporting Goods of entering a Dick's store in disguise to gain access to its retail secrets. The lawsuit was settled out of court on undisclosed terms by April. Independent retail analysts and attorneys suggested that Modell visited the store on a whim, rather than as part of some plot to steal information.{{cite news |last1=Verdon
|first1=Joan |title=Settlement in Mitch Modell Spy Case |url=http://www.northjersey.com/news/business/settlement-in-mitch-modell-spy-case-1.877440 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161017180556/http://www.northjersey.com/news/business/settlement-in-mitch-modell-spy-case-1.877440 |archive-date=2016-10-17 |date=13 April 2014
|access-date=17 October 2014|work=The Record |publisher=NorthJersey.com}}
In February 2020, the company announced that it would close 24 underperforming stores in an effort to stave off bankruptcy. The company also announced that it had hired financial advisers following a disappointing 2019 holiday season. The company also stopped paying a unspecified number of landlords and some of its vendors and had started discussions with suppliers in another effort to prevent losing any further cash.{{Cite web |last=Wilson |first=Marianne |date=February 20, 2020 |title=Modell's Reportedly to Close 24 Stores as It Fights to Stay Afloat |url=https://chainstoreage.com/modells-reportedly-close-24-stores-it-fights-stay-afloat |access-date=October 1, 2023 |website=Chain Storage |language=en}} However, it was not enough to save the company, and on March 11, 2020, Modell's Sporting Goods filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and announced it would permanently close all of its remaining stores. However, liquidation sales were disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic forcing all brick-and-mortar stores to temporarily close. Once Modell's locations began reopening, liquidation sales continued, and all stores were closed by the end of August 2020.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/new-york/articles/2020-03-11/sporting-goods-chain-modells-to-close-its-remaining-stores |title=Sporting Goods Chain Modell's to Close Its Remaining Stores |last=D'Innocenzio |first=Anne |agency=Associated Press |magazine=U.S. News & World Report |date=11 March 2020 |access-date=11 March 2020}}{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/modells-files-for-bankruptcy-plans-to-close-down-all-stores-11583960307 |title=Modell's Files for Bankruptcy, Plans to Close Down All Stores |last=Biswas |first=Soma |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=11 March 2020 |access-date=11 March 2020}}
On August 20, 2020, all of the company's assets were acquired by Retail Ecommerce Ventures for $3.6 million, and it announced that the company would be coming back as a digital-only brand.{{Cite web|url=https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/topics/digital-commerce/modells-will-become-digital-only-with-3-6-million-purchase-by-retail-ecommerce-ventures|title=Modell's Will Become Digital-Only with $3.6 Million Purchase by Retail Ecommerce Ventures|date=August 20, 2020|access-date=October 1, 2020|website=Retail TouchPoints|language=en}} In March 2023, Retail Ecommerce Ventures announced that it would be exploring options in effort to save itself, including a potential Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, which would mark Modell's second bankruptcy in three years. The company has also hired restructuring lawyers in effort to stave off bankruptcy.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/retail-ecommerce-ventures-buyer-of-moribund-brands-faces-its-own-financial-struggles-7c3e36ac|title=Retail Ecommerce Ventures, Buyer of Moribund Brands, Hires Advisers for Its Own Struggles|date=March 2, 2023|access-date=October 1, 2023|website=The Wall Street Journal|language=en}}
Local sports affiliations
Modell's had local, specialized offerings and programs such as Team Weeks, which assisted local schools, leagues, and non-profit organizations. Modell's sponsored many professional sports teams in its U.S. East Coast market area, including the Baltimore Orioles, Baltimore Ravens, Boston Bruins, Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, New York Mets, New York Yankees, New York Giants, New York Jets, New York Knicks, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia Eagles, Philadelphia 76ers, Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals, Washington Nationals, as well as numerous minor league baseball teams.
Some writers attributed at least some of Modell's problems during the 2010s due to the poor performance of New York sports teams in that decade, and the difficulty in selling the team-related merchandise.{{Cite news|last=Vigdor|first=Neil|date=2020-03-12|title=Modell's Sporting Goods to Close All Stores after Bankruptcy Filing|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/business/modells-bankruptcy.html|access-date=2021-06-08|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news|last=Barry|first=Dan|date=2019-12-30|title=The Lost Decade of New York Sports|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/30/sports/new-york-decade-sports.html|access-date=2021-06-08|issn=0362-4331}}
Art Modell, who owned the NFL football teams Cleveland Browns and then Baltimore Ravens, was the grandson of the founder of Modell's Sporting Goods, Morris A. Modell, but had nothing to do with that company. A perceived affiliation was hoped to be useful when Modell Sporting Goods attempted to penetrate Maryland markets in 2004 – a spokesman stated, "I think that Art Modell having brought a team to Baltimore that won a Super Bowl championship can help in some ways" – but the expansion was ultimately not successful.{{cite news |last1=Walker |first1=Andrea |title=Modell's Blitzes Baltimore |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2004-08-12-0408120059-story.html |work=The Baltimore Sun |publisher=Tribune Publishing |date=12 August 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210619231533/https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2004-08-12-0408120059-story.html |archive-date=19 June 2021}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{url|modells.com}}, the company's official website
Category:1889 establishments in New York (state)
Category:American companies established in 1889
Category:Companies based in Manhattan
Category:Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020
Category:Economy of the Northeastern United States
Category:Family-owned companies of the United States
Category:Financial District, Manhattan
Category:Online retailers of the United States
Category:Privately held companies based in New York City
Category:Retail companies based in New York City
Category:Retail companies established in 1889