It was just announced that National Sports is closing all of its 18 Canadian storefronts for good. The sports shop, owned by Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd., may have been your go-to for many years with great prices on athletic equipment, training gear, activewear, and more.
Familiar brands that are also owned under the parent company are Canadian Tire, Sport Chek, Mark’s, Atmosphere, Sports Experts, and Pro Hockey Life.
You may be thinking that the closures are due to the negative impacts of the pandemic. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case. On the contrary, Canadian Tire Corp. announced that it had outstanding sales and growth during its last quarter of 2020.
So, why are they deciding to close National Sports?
Well, it’s apparently due to the fact that Canadian Tire Corp. is trying to narrow down its product focus. That being said, it was found that National Sports’ offerings overlap with the company’s other owned brands.
The president and CEO of Canadian Tire Corp. said in a release about shuttering doors that “[National Sports] was a business that was receiving just enough capital for maintenance needs over the years, and just wasn’t a core asset for us. We just couldn’t find a continued purpose.”
The decision to close the locations was not one that was made lightly. Fortunately, it’s said that the parent company will ensure that employees affected by the closings will be placed to work at the other brands.
There is no exact date for when the stores will officially close down permanently, but it can be expected to be in the very near future.
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