JD Sports acquisition of Hibbett, Inc was completed yesterday after it was announced back in April 2024 that the Bury born sportswear retailer would be further expanding into the US.
After purchasing the US based sneaker store, Finish Line, in 2018 for $558 million and off-loading various UK brands like Tessuti & Scotts to Frasers Group in 2023, JD Sports announced in April this year they would also be acquiring the Alabama “sporting goods retailer” Hibbett Inc for a fee of $1 billion. Hibbett is now officially JD Sports owned and will cease to be a stand-alone publicly traded company. The sportswear retailer will continue to be based at their current head offices in Birmingham, Alabama in the USA.
With retail stores across 36 US states, Hibbett has built its core consumer on a personalised customer service and sought after sneaker releases from brands such as Jordan, Nike & adidas. JD Sports has built a UK based “athleisure” empire, originally starting in Bury, Greater Manchester back in the early 1980s, the JD Sports brand now spans all the way from Alabama to the Arndale in Manchester city centre. The further expansion of JD Sports into the USA will see a more stateside orientated consumer and although sneaker trends are very similar in the modern era across the world a sportswear consumer from the USA can look very different from a sportswear consumer from Liverpool or London, for example.
We are excited to complete this transaction and join JD. Hibbett and City Gear will continue to have significant growth thanks to our strong vendor relationships with highly coveted brands, best-in-class omni-channel platform and efficient supply chain operations. In addition, out store footprint is complementary and incremental to the other existing JD locations in North America. Above all, we will continue to provide and outstanding consumer experience in underserved communities by offering a unique and compelling product mix that appeals to our fashion conscious shoppers.
Mike Longo, CEO Hibbett, Inc
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