The Tradition Continues

In 1949, in downtown Covina, California, James and Eleanor Chick began Chick's Sporting Goods® as a small town sporting goods and bicycle shop merchandising guns, fishing tackle, Schwinn bicycles, outboard motors and almost any and all types of sporting goods.  The business was built and maintained jointly by James and Eleanor Chick and Hazel and Ralph Chambers, grandparents of Chick’s Sporting Goods present owner, James M. Chick, who purchased the business in 1968. 

In 1968, change was already upon the small family business which consisted of 4,000 square feet of retail space, had eight employees on its payroll and annual sales of $187,000.

With the help of today's Management Team, Chick's Sporting Goods®, Inc., continues to grow as one of Southern California's largest and most respected independent sporting goods retailers. 

Today, Chick’s Sporting Goods employs over 1,400 people in its 16 locations (fourteen retail stores, corporate office and distribution center) totaling more than 700,000 square feet of retail selling space. Chick’s Sporting Goods, a California corporation with no subsidiaries, has become one of the ten most dominant full-line retail sporting goods store groups in the United States and one of the two in Southern California -- selling at mid- to upper- price points with annual sales in excess of $100 million. 

One of the key elements to the Company's success has been its corporate buyers and management team.  The Company buyers are responsible for fitness, golf, licensed product, shoes, ski and snowboard equipment, winter apparel, beach apparel, activewear, sporting goods, team sales and water sports.  Between the buyers and their assistants, they collectively possess over 200 years with the Company - that's an average of 23.  As for the 14 Store Managers, they collectively possess over 170 years with the Company - that's an average of 12 years.

Chick’s Sporting Goods is committed to support its communities by partnering with local schools, recreational leagues, sport facilities and events that encourage participation in sports.

A great deal of Chick's Sporting Goods® success is due to its philosophy toward business:

"The knowledge gained through growth allows Chick's to continually improve on its past performance."