Sporting Life (retailer)

Sporting Life is a sporting goods retailer based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Sporting Life
IndustryRetail
Founded1979 (1979)
FoundersDavid Russell, Patti Russell, Brian McGrath
HeadquartersToronto, Ontario, Canada
Websitesportinglife.ca
Sporting Life at Markville Mall

Sporting Life sells footwear, apparel, and equipment catered towards runners, cyclers, skiers, slowboarders, and hikers.

Clientele

Sporting Life is well known for its large stock of outerwear, fleece, coats, and jackets, often regarded as Ontario’s "luxury sporting goods store (and $2,300 parka emporium)" and the "Holt Renfew of the sporting world". It is one of the few Canadian retailers to carry such luxury labels as Arc'teryx, Canada Goose, Marmot, Moncler, The North Face, Patagonia, and Salomon.

Sporting Life was one of the first North American retailers of Canada Goose, which has only been recently also been sold at Holt Renfrew and Harry Rosen.[1] Sporting Life's clientele tends to be more upmarket and enthusiast, in contrast to another domestic sporting goods retailer, Sport Chek, which caters to a more casual audience as well being common in Canadian shopping plazas and malls. Sporting Life's annual sales in 2011 were $100 million, less than one tenth of Sport Chek's parent Forzani Group. Co-founder David Russell suggested that Sport Chek and Sporting Life were not direct competitors, saying “Typically, our price points take over where theirs end”.[2]

Due to its few locations and unique premium product selection, Sporting Life has been considered a destination shop in Toronto for decades. At its flagship store, the parking lot is reportedly full on weekends despite having a parking attendant and has often stalled traffic on Yonge Street south of Lawrence.[2] It is extremely popular during Boxing Day and Black Friday, with huge lineups of customers waiting to enter, as brands such as The North Face are often marked down by 50%, though these promotions do not extend to Canada Goose.[3] The Sporting Life is also known for sponsoring the Sporting Life 10K run which starts at its flagship store and takes the route of Yonge Street; the 2013 edition sold out with 27,000 participants raising $2.2 million.[4]

History

It was founded in 1979 as a privately owned company by David and Patti Russell (husband and wife), and Brian McGrath. The three co-founders are enthusiast skiers at a private club and are actively involved in picking merchandise, with Mr. Russell into sports equipment, Ms. Russell on with fashion; and Mr. McGrath focused on footwear. In 2011, there were 270 full-time staff and a total of 600 employees. Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited bought a 75% share in the company in late 2011, with the founders retaining the remaining balance of shares.[5]

Sporting Life originally had four locations until their 2014 expansion. Their flagship store is located at 2665 Yonge Street, just south of Lawrence Avenue, and it contains 36,000 square feet over two stories, having been recently expanded in 2011. Their 2454 Yonge Street location sells mainly bikes and snowboards, with a limited selection of apparel. They also have a 42,0000-square-foot anchor space at Sherway Gardens, which relocated to a new wing in 2015 as part of the mall's expansion and renovation, while the original location was replaced by Nordstrom in 2017. There is also a 10,000-square-foot location in Collingwood, situated near Blue Mountain, which was initially their only store outside Toronto.[6]

In 2008, Sporting Life launched its e-commerce website.[6]

Expansion

The co-founders of Sporting Life sold a 75% stake to Fairfax in late 2011 in order to fund the retailer's expansion. The plan was to open two stores a year, with suggested locations in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, and Montreal, each store being in the 30,000-50,000 square foot range.[7]

Sporting Life's fifth and sixth locations opened in 2014, the first time in 14 years that they had opened a new store. Sporting Life had bought Ottawa-based Tommy & Lefebvre on June 25, 2013, and moved their staff from the Bank Street location to their new store at a reconstructed Lansdowne Park in October 2014.[8][9] Another Sporting Life opened at the newly renovated Markville in September 2014, replacing a Sport Chek.[6][7]

Sporting Life opened their seventh store at Hillcrest Mall in spring 2016, on the site of the former The Bay "Men's Store and Home" store; after The Bay had consolidated its two separate mall locations into a newly expanded central space.[6] Two more stores opened in 2017; one at Yorkdale Shopping Centre in part of the space previously occupied by Sears Canada, and another at Calgary's CF Market Mall.[10]

In October 2018, Sporting Life opened their first store outside Ontario and Alberta at Quartier Dix30, in Brossard, Quebec.

In November 2019, Sporting Life expanded into British Columbia and opened first store in Greater Vancouver at Brentwood Mall.[11]

Sporting Life 10K
Sporting Life 10K
MottoSupporting Camp Oochigeas
First event2003
Occur everyyear
PurposeTo provide funding for Camp Oochigeas
HeadquartersToronto, Ontario
Websitewww.sportinglife10k.ca

The Sporting Life 10K is an annual 10K running/walking event on Yonge Street in Toronto, that has taken place every May since 2003.[12] Money raised from the Sporting Life 10K goes towards funding Camp Oochigeas – a volunteer run summer camp to provide enriching experiences to victims of childhood cancer.[13][14]

27,000 people participated in 2013.[15]

gollark: Why?
gollark: I'm giving people permission to try and gather data on me if they want, on the condition that they tell me while doing so, give me the results of this, and delete any copies they might retain of it without giving them to anyone else. Unfortunately this is pretty unenforceable. I can pay in melons, though.
gollark: <https://www.zdnet.com/meet-the-team/us/oliver-marks/> ← me
gollark: I think I've been pretty clear that I'd prefer Nobody to not gather people's datas without asking them *beforehand*, but if he does do that anyway then he should notify people he's doing it.
gollark: If he *isn't* telling people about his data gathering escapades then he may not receive the appropriate complaint volume, so maybe I should just *assume* he's looking up someone's data at random times and complain?

References
  1. "Is there a future for luxury sporting goods in Toronto? Sporting Life hopes so". Toronto Life. 2011-12-22. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  2. "Sport Chek makes a move". thestar.com. 2013-01-29. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  3. Boxing Day Sale, Sporting Life
  4. "Sporting Life 10k Virtual Run - Run, Walk, Jog for Camp Ooch!". Sporting Life 10k Virtual Run. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  5. Fairfax Announces Acquisition of Sporting Life, Fairfax press release, 2011
  6. About Us, Sporting Life
  7. "Sporting Life to open stores across Canada". Retail-insider.com. Retrieved 2016-01-19.
  8. Toronto's Sporting Life buys Ottawa's Tommy & Lefebvre, CBC, 25 June 2013
  9. "Sporting Life acquires Tommy & Lefebvre". Archived from the original on June 28, 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-29.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link), Ottawa Citizen, 26 June 2013
  11. "First mega-retailer moves into expanded Burnaby mall this week". Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  12. "Welcome". Sporting Life 10K. Retrieved 2013-04-22.
  13. "Charity - The Magic of Ooch". Sporting Life 10K. Retrieved 2013-04-22.
  14. "Thousands take over Yonge Street for 10K run". Citynews. Retrieved 2013-04-22.
  15. "Info". Sporting Life 10K. Retrieved 2013-04-22.
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