MC Sports is closing all 66 of its stores across the Midwest, providing shoppers in seven states with significant discounts on over $110 million of top-name sporting goods and apparel brands. A joint venture between Tiger Capital Group and Great American Group will conduct the going-out-of-business sale, which is now underway.
Founded in Grand Rapids in 1946, MC Sports was one of the few remaining privately held sporting goods chains in the country. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on February 14, 2017 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Western District of Michigan, Grand Rapids.
The company currently operates 24 stores in Michigan; 11 in Ohio; seven in Indiana; eight in Illinois; seven in Wisconsin; five in Missouri, and four in Iowa. To see a list of locations, please click here.
MC Sports’ large-format stores brim with sporting goods and apparel in virtually every category—from hunting, fishing and camping equipment, to running shoes, kayaks, treadmills, workout clothes, team sports equipment, and much more. During the liquidation event, shoppers will find discounts of up to 60 percent off the original prices on dozens of top brands (with some exceptions, most notably firearms).
Available brands include Nike, Under Armour, Adidas, Century, Everlast, Fitbit, Merrell, Mizuno, K-Swiss, Asics, Cleveland, Calloway, Adams Golf, Dunlop, Titleist, Wilson, Coleman, CamelBak, Shakespeare, Daiwa, Igloo, Diamond, Easton and Louisville Slugger, to name a few.
For bargain-conscious shoppers in the Midwest, the sale represents a rare value opportunity, said Michael McGrail, COO of Tiger Group, which provides asset valuation, advisory and disposition services to a broad range of retail, wholesale, and industrial clients. “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.”
“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 example, local sports teams frequently received discounts from the chain. MC Sports also prided itself on its diverse offering of top brands, Carpenter noted. “For a region in which sports and outdoor activities are incredibly popular,” he said, “this is a truly compelling event.”
Offering everything from men’s clothing to military surplus, the company was launched as Michigan Clothiers in 1946 but changed its name to MC Sports in 1962 to reflect a growing focus on sports equipment, footwear, and apparel. Over the years, MC Sports’ growth trajectory included snapping up competing regional chains such as Morrie Mages’ Sports, as well as Browns Sporting Goods, both in Illinois.