 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1889 (136 years ago) (1889) inNew York City,New York, U.S, |
| Founder | Morris Modell |
| Defunct | August 30, 2020 (physical stores) |
| Products | Sports apparel, sporting goods,footwear, licensed goods |
| Brands | Majestic Athletic,Nike,Reebok, etc. |
| Services | Sporting apparel, licensed sports gear of the MLB, NHL, NBA, and NFL |
| Owner | Retail ECommerce Ventures |
| Website | modells |
Modell's Sporting Goods Online, Inc. is an American onlinesporting goods and relatedapparel retailer. Modell's began with operating retail stores between the late 1880s and the late 2010s.[1][2] In 2020, Modell's became a brand owned by theprivate-equity firm Retail Ecommerce Ventures.[3]
The chain was founded as a single store by Morris A. Modell in 1889 in theManhattan borough ofNew York City, making it possibly the third-oldest sporting goods store inNorth America (afterJames F. Brine's in Massachusetts andMilwaukee'sBurghardt Sporting Goods).[4]
Modell, a Jewishimmigrant fromHungary, opened the first location onCortlandt Street inLower Manhattan.[2] (The Modellpawn shop chain in Manhattan and Brooklyn was founded by Morris's brother George in 1893 as a spinoff. The two companies operate separately.)
Through the years, it remained afamily-owned business, passing through four generations of the Modell family. While best known as a sporting-goods retailer, Modell's also operated a chain of "full-line" discount retailers in the New York City-metropolitan area known as "Modell's Shopper's World" (and for a short time as "White-Modells") from the mid-1950s up until 1989, when the company decided to focus on its sporting-goods operations partly due to increased competition in the discount retail market.[5]
William Modell, who became chairman in 1985, also founded theCrohn's & Colitis Foundation along with his wife, Shelby Modell.[6]
Modell's at one time operated 152 stores,[2] mainly inNew York,New Jersey, andPennsylvania, in addition to also having a presenceDelaware,Maryland,Virginia, theDistrict of Columbia,Connecticut,Massachusetts, andNew Hampshire. It operated a flagship store which was located at 243 West42nd Street nearTimes Square in Manhattan.[7]
Mitchell Modell, the company's chief executive officer, was featured on an episode of the television seriesUndercover Boss that aired on November 2, 2012, in which he went in disguise into his own stores to see things from an employee point of view.[8] Two years later, he was accused in a February 2014 lawsuit by rivalDick's Sporting Goods of entering a Dick's store in disguise to gain access to its retail secrets.[8] The lawsuit was settled out of court on undisclosed terms by April. Independent retail analysts and attorneys suggested that Modell visited the store on a whim, rather than as part of some plot to steal information.[9]
In February 2020, the company announced that it would close 24 underperforming stores in an effort to stave off bankruptcy. The company also announced that it had hired financial advisers following a disappointing 2019 holiday season. The company also stopped paying a unspecified number of landlords and some of its vendors and had started discussions with suppliers in another effort to prevent losing any further cash.[10] However, it was not enough to save the company, and on March 11, 2020, Modell's Sporting Goods filed forChapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and announced it would permanently close all of its remaining stores. However, liquidation sales were disrupted due to theCOVID-19 pandemic forcing all brick-and-mortar stores to temporarily close. Once Modell's locations began reopening, liquidation sales continued, and all stores were closed by the end of August 2020.[11][12]
On August 20, 2020, all of the company's assets were acquired by Retail Ecommerce Ventures for $3.6 million, and it announced that the company would be coming back as a digital-only brand.[13] In March 2023, Retail Ecommerce Ventures announced that it would be exploring options in effort to save itself, including a potential Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, which would mark Modell's second bankruptcy in three years. The company has also hired restructuring lawyers in effort to stave off bankruptcy.[14]
Modell's had local, specialized offerings and programs such as Team Weeks, which assisted local schools, leagues, and non-profit organizations. Modell's sponsored many professional sports teams in itsU.S. East Coast market area, including theBaltimore Orioles,Baltimore Ravens,Boston Bruins,Boston Celtics,Brooklyn Nets,New York Mets,New York Yankees,New York Giants,New York Jets,New York Knicks,New York Rangers,New York Islanders,New Jersey Devils,Philadelphia Phillies,Philadelphia Eagles,Philadelphia 76ers,Philadelphia Flyers,Washington Capitals,Washington Nationals, as well as numerousminor league baseball teams.
Some writers attributed at least some of Modell's problems during the 2010s due to the poor performance of New York sports teams in that decade, and the difficulty in selling the team-related merchandise.[15][16]
Art Modell, who owned the NFL football teamsCleveland Browns and thenBaltimore Ravens, was the grandson of the founder of Modell's Sporting Goods, Morris A. Modell, but had nothing to do with that company. A perceived affiliation was hoped to be useful when Modell Sporting Goods attempted to penetrate Maryland markets in 2004 – a spokesman stated, "I think that Art Modell having brought a team to Baltimore that won a Super Bowl championship can help in some ways" – but the expansion was ultimately not successful.[17]
William D. Modell, who as chairman of the Modell's Sporting Goods chain oversaw its expansion throughout much of the Northeast, died Thursday in Manhattan. He was 86 and lived inHewlett Harbor, N.Y.