According to “a person familiar with the matter,” Dick’s Sporting Goods picked up the U.S. business and intellectual property of bankrupt specialty retailer Golfsmith for $70 million, as expected. Serving as its caddies for this round were well-known names in the retail liquidation business, Hilco Global and Tiger Capital Group.
The liquidators are involved because while the trio bid on the entire business, Dick’s only plans to keep about 30 stores open out of the 109 that Golfsmith has in this country. According to the source, the liquidators will take care of closing the remaining stores and selling off merchandise.
What the source who gave this information to Reuters didn’t know is whether the stores will stay open as Golfsmith, or change to something else. Dick’s owns the Golf Galaxy specialty chain, and converting them to that brand would make sense.
Buying the intellectual property entitles Dick’s to the store’s name, brands, and most valuable of all: its customer mailing lists and social media accounts. People on Golfsmith’s mailing lists will at minimum be given a chance to opt out of receiving messages from Dick’s and/or Golf Galaxy.
The transaction won’t be final until the judge assigned to Golfsmith’s case in bankruptcy court approves it.
Exclusive: Dick’s wins auction for U.S. business of bankrupt Golfsmith – sources [Reuters]
by Laura Northrup via Consumerist
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