Midwest sports retailer MC Sports to shutter all stores

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Feb 20, 2017

MC Sports is the latest retailer in 2017 to shutter all of its retail locations. The Grand Rapids retailer announced on Friday that it is closing all 66 of its stores across the Midwestern US, after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on February 14, 2017.

 
Tiger Capital Group and Great American Group are conducting the retailer's going-out-of-business sale in a joint venture. MC Sports currently operates 24 stores in Michigan; 11 in Ohio; 7 in Indiana; 7 in Wisconsin; 5 in Missouri; and 4 in Iowa.  
 
"Across the Midwest, MC Sports became a fabric of the community," stated­­­ Scott K. Carpenter, President of GA Retail Solutions, a leading provider of asset disposition and auction solutions, and a subsidiary of B. Riley Financial, Inc. "For a region in which sports and outdoor activities are incredibly popular," he said, "this is a truly compelling event."

Founded as Michigan Clothiers in 1946, MC Sports is a large format retailer offering sporting goods and apparel in various categories such as hunting, fishing, and camping among others. The retailer changed its name to MC Sports in 1962 to reflect a growing focus on sports equipment, footwear and apparel. Over the years, MC Sports acquired Illinois retail chains Morrie Mages’ Sports and Browns Sporting Goods.

"For bargain-conscious shoppers in the Midwest, the sale represents a rare value opportunity," said Michael McGrail, COO of Tiger Group. "We are witnessing a unique era of consolidation in sporting goods retailing due in part to the rapid growth of ecommerce," he said. "But stabilization is an inevitability; chain-wide store-closure events such as this won't continue forever in sporting goods."
 
The retailer offers numerous sportswear brands including Nike, Under Armour, Adidas, Everlast, Fitbit, Mizuno, K-Swiss, Asics, Calloway, Dunlop, Titleist, Wilson, CamelBak, Igloo and Louisville Slugger among others.