Lids Sports Group | |
Company type | Subsidiary |
Industry |
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Founded | 1993 (Lids) 1995 (Hat World) |
Headquarters | , US |
Number of locations | 1131 |
Area served |
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Hat World, Inc. (doing business as Lids Sports Group) is an American retailer specializing in athletic headwear. It primarily operates under the Lids brand with stores in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom plus various websites. The majority of the stores operate in shopping malls and factory outlet centers. [1] [2]
Lids Corp. was founded in Boston by Douglass Karp (son of real estate developer Stephen R. Karp) and Ben Fischman (son of real estate developer Steven Fischman) in 1993. [3] [4] Hat World, Inc. was founded in 1995 by George Berger, Glenn Campbell and Scott Molander, with its headquarters office in Sioux Falls, SD. Hat World's first store opened on November 3, 1995, in the Tippecanoe Mall in Lafayette, Indiana. [5] The second store opened at Muncie Mall in Muncie, Indiana. The company's operations and warehouse were located in Indianapolis. The administrative headquarters was later moved from Sioux Falls to Indianapolis. The original Lids Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection in 2001 and certain Lids stores, the tradename/trademark and other assets were acquired by Hat World, Inc., which subsequently changed its store names from "Hat World" to "Lids."
Hat World, Inc. (dba the new "Lids") was acquired in April 2004 by footwear retailer Genesco Inc. [6] In 2019 Genesco sold Hat World/Lids to a joint venture between Ames Watson, LLC and Fanatics, Inc. [7] Also in 2019, rapper Meek Mill acquired an ownership stake. [8] In 2019, as well as the other three things, Fanzz joined Lids, causing all Fanzz stores to become a Lids store.
In 2024, Fanatics became the majority owner of Lids Holdings.
Genesco Inc. is an American publicly owned specialty retailer of branded footwear and accessories and is a wholesaler of branded and licensed footwear based in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded as the Jarman Shoe Company in 1924 as a footwear manufacturer, the company changed its name to the General Shoe Company in 1931 and became a public company in 1939. The company took its current name, Genesco, in 1959. Genesco exited footwear manufacturing in 2002 and now contracts with independent, third parties located outside the United States to manufacture its branded and licensed footwear. In June 2011, Genesco acquired U.K. retail chain and web business Schuh, which gave them an already well-established grounding in a market outside of the U.S.
Younkers Inc. is an American online retailer and former department store chain founded as a family-run dry goods business in 1856 in Keokuk, Iowa. The retailer had evolved over more than 150 years to include a presence in locations throughout Iowa and bordering states in the Midwest region of the United States. It is pronounced yong-kers. Younkers became influential as it acquired several rivals throughout the 20th century both inside and outside of Iowa. The chain itself was sold by the late 1990s, with ownership transferring out of state, and its Des Moines-based headquarters closed by 2003 as a part of a corporate consolidation. Following its last sale in 2006, Younkers operated as a subsidiary of The Bon-Ton, with locations in seven Midwestern states, primarily in shopping malls. As of 2013 the chain operated more than fifty locations in the region. On August 29, 2018, Younkers closed its doors one last time.
McCrory Stores or J.G. McCrory's was a chain of five and dime stores in the United States based in York, Pennsylvania. The stores typically sold shoes, clothing, housewares, fabrics, penny candy, toys, cosmetics, and often included a lunch counter or snack bar. They also exclusively sold Oriole Records, one of the most popular "dime store labels" from 1921 to 1938.
Dillard's, Inc. is an American department store chain with approximately 267 stores in 29 states and headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. Currently, the largest number of stores are located in Texas with 57 and Florida with 42. The company also has stores in 27 more states; however, it is absent from the Northeast, most of the Upper Midwest, and most of the West Coast, aside from three stores in California.
Zayre was a chain of discount stores that operated in the eastern half of the United States from 1956 to 1990. The company's headquarters were in Framingham, Massachusetts. In October 1988, Zayre's parent company, Zayre Corp., sold the stores to the competing Ames Department Stores, Inc. chain. In June 1989, Zayre Corp. merged with one of its subsidiaries, The TJX Companies, parent company of T.J. Maxx, which still exists today. A number of stores retained the Zayre name until 1990, by which time all stores were either closed or converted into Ames stores.
The TJX Companies, Inc. is an American multinational off-price department store corporation, headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts. It was formed as a subsidiary of Zayre Corp. in 1987, and became the legal successor to Zayre Corp. following a company reorganization in 1989.
Foot Locker, Inc. is an American multinational sportswear and footwear retailer headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and operating in over 40 countries.
Sam Goody is a music and entertainment retailer in the United States and United Kingdom, operated by The Musicland Group, Inc. It was purchased by Best Buy in 2000, sold to Sun Capital Partners in 2003, and filed for bankruptcy in 2006, closing most of its stores. The remaining stores were purchased by Trans World Entertainment, which also runs FYE, Saturday Matinee, and Suncoast Motion Picture Company.
Marsh Supermarkets was an American retail food chain headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, with a peak number of 86 stores in 2013 located throughout central Indiana and parts of western Ohio. Its eventual parent company was Sun Capital Partners, headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida.
The Shops at Santa Anita is a super-regional shopping mall located in Arcadia, California, adjacent to the Santa Anita Race Track.
Woodland Mall is an enclosed super-regional shopping mall located in Kentwood, Michigan, a suburb of Grand Rapids. The mall features JCPenney, Macy's, and Von Maur, in addition to a Phoenix Theatres.
Southwyck Mall was a shopping mall in southern Toledo, Ohio. After the final anchor (Dillard's) left, along with most of the inline stores, the mall closed on June 29, 2008.
Plaza del Norte is a 698,581 sq ft (64,900.3 m2) shopping center located in Hatillo, Puerto Rico currently owned and managed by Curzon Puerto Rico. It is the largest shopping center in northwestern Puerto Rico, with over 130 stores and fast food restaurants.
Charlotte Russe Inc. is an American clothing retail chain store that operates in the United States, headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Fashions in the stores are targeted at women in their teens and twenties. As of September 2023, Charlotte Russe operates 196 stores, mostly in malls and shopping centers.
The Woodlands Mall is a two-story, enclosed shopping mall located at the intersection of Interstate 45 and Lake Woodlands Drive in the community of The Woodlands in unincorporated Montgomery County, Texas, United States, north of Houston. The Woodlands Mall features six anchor stores: Dick's Sporting Goods, Dillard's, Forever 21, JCPenney, Macy's, and Nordstrom. With a gross leasable area of 1,350,000 square feet (125,000 m2), The Woodlands Mall is considered a super-regional mall by industry definitions. The Woodlands Mall is managed by Brookfield Properties.
VPS Convenience Store Group was an American convenience store chain headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina that could trace its roots to the founding of the first Village Pantry convenience store in 1966. VPS was sold in two parts in 2013 and 2015 to GPM Investments.
Plaza del Sol is a 728,546-square-foot (67,684.1 m2) regional mall located in the city of Bayamón, Puerto Rico. The mall is anchored by a Caribbean Cinemas, Walmart, Burlington, H&M, Dave & Buster's and The Home Depot. The mall was opened in 1998; it was later acquired in 2005 by DDR Corp. out of a $1.15 billion portfolio deal with Caribbean Property Group (CPG), which included the mall. And is now owned by Curzon Puerto Rico.
Las Vegas Premium Outlets North is an outlet mall located on 40 acres (16 ha) in downtown Las Vegas, north of the Las Vegas Strip. It is an outdoor mall with 685,000-square-foot (63,600 m2). It is owned and managed by Simon Property Group, and is part of Simon's Premium Outlets chain. It was co-developed with Chelsea Property Group, and was opened on August 1, 2003. Expansions were finished in 2008 and 2015, adding additional retailers and parking spaces.
Fanzz was a sports apparel and team gear retailer that was based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Fanzz began operations in 1985. Fanzz/Just Sports had approximately 85 retail store locations in many US states. Fanzz purchased the Northwest-based Just Sports retailer on October 1, 2013. The company's assets were sold in 2018 by the Larry H. Miller Company to Ames Watson Capital and re-incorporated as Fanzz Gear Inc. In February 2019, Fanzz joined Lids, causing all Fanzz stores including the website to join Lids. The website changed in 2024.
Stephen R. Karp is an American real estate developer and billionaire.