By Paul Beebe, The Gazette, Colorado Springs, Colo. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Nov. 5--Big 5 Sporting Goods, which has hundreds of stores across the West, will open two shops in Colorado Springs this month, including one today.
A 10,000-square-foot store at 5909 Constitution Ave. opens this morning, the El Segundo, Calif.-based chain said Thursday.
A second store will open Nov. 24 in the old Wild Oats Market location at 5075 North Academy Blvd.
'We felt that the market would definitely sustain two locations. We're new to the Colorado Springs market, and we are very impressed with the number of sports enthusiasts in Colorado Springs,' spokesman Rick Gridley said.
Big 5 sells brand-name equipment and clothing for indoor and outdoor activities. Brands include Adidas, Brooks, Head, Saucony, Speedo, Rollerblade, Fila, Jansport and Wilson.
'Our selection of goods is medium to high-end,' Gridley said. 'We are more of a neighborhood store. We certainly don't think of ourselves as a big-box store.'
The company operates 300 stores in 10 Western states. In Colorado, Big 5 stores are in Aurora, Durango, Littleton, Pueblo, Thornton and Colorado Springs.
A store will open Dec. 10 in Lakewood.
The company has opened 16 stores this year.
Each store employs 16 to 20 people. Six to eight are full-time.
Big 5 was established in 1955. The chain is the seventh-largest sporting goods company in North America, according to trade magazine Footwear News. Sales totaled $710 million last year. Net income was $26.3 million.
Leonard Green and Partners, which controls competitor Sports Authority, has a 28 percent stake in Big 5, according to Hoover's Online, which collects information about U.S. businesses.
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