Troubled sporting goods chain Sports Authority told a judge Tuesday that it plans to sell off its assets after giving up on a restructuring plan.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the chain’s debtors will seek a sale and forego a reorganization plan. Sports Authority had around $1.1 billion of debt when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March.
Sports Authority was set to open a new 30,000-square-foot store in the Glendora Marketplace some time this summer, but its status appears very doubtful.
“As Sports Authority disclosed to the Court on Tuesday, April 26th, we are no longer pursuing the standalone Plan of Reorganization track because we could not get our lenders to agree on the terms of such a Plan,” said a Sports Authority spokesman. “Therefore, we are now focusing solely on the M&A track and are pursuing a sale of some or all of the business.”
Moniqe Sidhom of Sard Verbinnen & Co., the media relations firm for Sports Authority, said that while the company may not yet have a comment on the status of the planned Glendora location, she did provide the court filing document which lists all stores slated to close.
In all, 19 stores are slated to close in the Golden State and 140 altogether, Sports Authority reported.
Glendora City Manager Chris Jeffers is uncertain what will become of Sports Authority’s future in town.
“I cannot confirm it officially but given the announcement I read in the WSJ [Wall Street Journal] it would appear that it will not be the case,” Jeffers told GCN via email. “The developer has not received the official notification and has just read what we all have read in the paper and trade newsletters.”
The developer has been working on a backup plan since Sports Authority filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March Jeffers said, and has held discussions with alternate retail tenants.
Zak Bushey contributed to this story
***This story updates a previous version with comment from a Sports Authority spokesman and comment from the chain’s media firm.
