 | This article contains promotional content .(August 2016) |
 | |
 Sporting Life at Markville Mall | |
| Industry | Retail |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1979 |
| Founders | David Russell, Patti Russell, Brian McGrath |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Website | sportinglife |
Sporting Life is a sporting retailer shop based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Sporting Life sells sporting goods specially made for runners, cyclers, skiers, snowboarders, and hikers.
Sporting Life was founded in 1979 as a privately owned company by David and Patti Russell (husband and wife), and Brian McGrath. The three co-founders are enthusiast skiers at a private club and are actively involved in picking merchandise, with Mr. Russell into sports equipment, Ms. Russell to fashion; and Mr. McGrath focused on footwear. As of 2011, there were 270 full-time staff and 600 employees. Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited bought a 75% share in the company in late 2011, with the founders retaining the remaining balance of shares. [1]
Sporting Life originally had four locations until their 2014 expansion. Their flagship store is located at 2665 Yonge Street, just south of Lawrence Avenue, and it contains 36,000 square feet over two stories, having been recently expanded in 2011. Their 2454 Yonge Street location sells mainly bikes and snowboards, with a limited selection of apparel. They also have a 42,000-square-foot anchor space at Sherway Gardens, which relocated to a new wing in 2015 as part of the mall's expansion and renovation, while the original location was replaced by Nordstrom in 2017. There is also a 10,000-square-foot location in Collingwood, situated near Blue Mountain, which was initially their only store outside Toronto. [2]
In 2008, Sporting Life launched its e-commerce website. [2]
The co-founders of Sporting Life sold a 75% stake to Fairfax in late 2011 in order to fund the retailer's expansion. The plan was to open two stores a year, with suggested locations in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, and Montreal, each store being in the 30,000-50,000 square foot range. [3]
Sporting Life's fifth and sixth locations opened in 2014, the first time in 14 years that they had opened a new store. Sporting Life had bought Ottawa-based Tommy & Lefebvre on June 25, 2013, and moved their staff from the Bank Street location to their new store at a reconstructed Lansdowne Park in October 2014. [4] [5] Another Sporting Life opened at the newly renovated Markville in September 2014, replacing a Sport Chek. [2] [3]
Sporting Life opened their seventh store at Hillcrest Mall in spring 2016, on the site of the former The Bay "Men's Store and Home" store; after The Bay had consolidated its two separate mall locations into a newly expanded central space. [2] Two more stores opened in 2017; one at Yorkdale Shopping Centre in part of the space previously occupied by Sears Canada, and another at Calgary's CF Market Mall. [6]
In October 2018, Sporting Life opened their first store outside Ontario and Alberta at Quartier Dix30, in Brossard, Quebec.
In November 2019, Sporting Life expanded into British Columbia and opened first store in Greater Vancouver at Brentwood Mall. [7]
In late 2022, Sporting Life opened 3 new stores located at Carrefour Laval Shopping Centre in Laval, Quebec, Mapleview Mall in Burlington, Ontario, and Southgate Mall in Edmonton, Alberta. This will bring their store total to 13 stores plus e-commerce. At maturity, Sporting Life will grow to 18 stores by 2027.[ citation needed ]
Sporting Life stocks outerwear, athleticwear, footwear, bikes, skis, snowboards and lifestyle apparel. It carries luxury labels such as Moncler, Nobis, Moose Knuckles and Canada Goose. [8]
Sporting Life was one of the first North American retailers of Canada Goose. [9] Sporting Life's stock includes moderately prices brands like Nike and Adidas as well as catering to an upmarket and enthusiast clientele. This is a differentiator from another Canadian sporting goods retailer, Sport Chek, which caters to a more casual audience as well being common in Canadian shopping plazas and malls. Sporting Life's annual sales are reported to be under $200 million but this is unconfirmed as the company is privately held and does not make its financial statements public. Co-founder David Russell suggested that Sport Chek and Sporting Life were not direct competitors, saying “Typically, our price points take over where theirs end”. [10]
Due to its few locations and product selection, Sporting Life has been described by the Toronto Star as a "destination shop". [10] It is extremely popular during Boxing Day and Black Friday, with huge lineups of customers waiting to enter. [11] Sporting Life is also known for sponsoring the Sporting Life 10K run which starts at its flagship store and takes the route of Yonge Street; the 2013 edition sold out with 27,000 participants raising $2.2 million. [12] [ third-party source needed ]
| Motto | Supporting Campfire Circle |
|---|---|
| First event | 2003 |
| Occur every | Year |
| Purpose | To provide funding for Campfire Circle |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario |
| Website | www |
The Sporting Life 10K is an annual 10K running/walking event on Yonge Street in Toronto, that has taken place every May since 2003. [13] Money raised from the Sporting Life 10K goes towards funding Campfire Circle (formerly Camp Ooch & Camp Trillium)– a volunteer-run summer camp to provide enriching experiences to victims of childhood cancer. [14] [15]
27,000 people participated in 2013. [16]
Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited is a Canadian retail company which operates in the automotive, hardware, sports, leisure and housewares sectors. Its Canadian operations include: Canadian Tire, Mark's, FGL Sports, PartSource, and the Canadian operations of Party City. Canadian Tire acquired the Norwegian clothing and textile company Helly Hansen from the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan in 2018.
Nordstrom, Inc. is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and a second location opened in 1923. The growing chain began selling clothing in 1963, and became the full-line retailer that presently exists by 1971. The company founded its off-price Nordstrom Rack division in 1973, and grew both full-line and off-price divisions throughout the United States in the following years. The full-line division competes with department stores including Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Neiman Marcus, and Saks Fifth Avenue, while the off-price division competes with retailers including the TJX Companies and Ross Stores. Previous expansions beyond the contiguous United States include Puerto Rico (2015–2020) and Canada (2014–2023).
Hudson's Bay, also known as The Bay, is a Canadian department store chain. It is the flagship brand of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), the oldest and longest-surviving company in North America as well as one of the oldest and largest continuously operating companies in the world.
CF Toronto Eaton Centre, commonly referred to simply as Eaton Centre, is a shopping mall and office complex in the downtown core of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is owned and managed by Cadillac Fairview (CF). It was named after the Eaton's department store chain that once anchored it before the chain went defunct in the late 1990s.
The T. Eaton Company Limited, later known as Eaton's and then Eaton, was a Canadian department store chain that was once the largest in the country. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an immigrant from what is now Northern Ireland. Eaton's grew to become a retail and social institution in Canada, with stores across the country, buying-offices around the globe, and a mail-order catalog that was found in the homes of most Canadians. A changing economic and retail environment in the late twentieth century, along with mismanagement, culminated in the chain's bankruptcy in 1999.
The Rideau Centre is a three-level shopping centre on Rideau Street in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It borders on Rideau Street, the ByWard Market, the Rideau Canal, the Mackenzie King Bridge, and Nicholas Street in Downtown Ottawa. Over 20 million people visit the mall annually. It is the largest shopping mall in the National Capital Region and the sixth largest mall, by area, in Canada. The Rideau Centre complex has approximately 180 retailers and is connected to a rooftop park, a Westin Hotel, the Shaw Centre, the Freiman Mall and the Major-General George R Pearkes Building.
Yorkdale Shopping Centre, Yorkdale Mall, or simply Yorkdale, is a major retail shopping centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located at the southwest corner of the interchange between Highway 401 and Allen Road, it opened in 1964 as the largest enclosed shopping mall in the world. Yorkdale is currently the third largest shopping mall in Canada by floor space and has the highest sales per unit area of any mall in Canada, with current merchandise sales levels at roughly CA$1,905 per square foot. At 18 million annual visitors, it is one of the country's busiest malls. Many international retailers have ventured the Canadian market initially at Yorkdale.
Vaughan Mills is a regional outlet mall located at the southeast quadrant of the Highway 400 and Rutherford Road interchange in Vaughan, Ontario, just south of Canada's Wonderland. It is one of the largest enclosed shopping centres in Canada, and the largest shopping mall in York Region with almost 1.3 million square feet (120,000 m2) of retail space. The complex has over 200 retail stores, restaurants, and entertainment outlets.
Square One Shopping Centre, or simply Square One, is a shopping mall located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest shopping centre in Ontario and the second largest shopping centre in Canada, after the West Edmonton Mall. It has over 2,200,000 square feet (200,000 m2) of retail space, with more than 360 stores and services. On average, the mall serves over 24 million customers each year. It operates on most holidays, making it the only shopping mall in the city and one of the few in the Greater Toronto Area that does so.
Masonville Place is a two-storey regional shopping mall located in London, Ontario, Canada, at the southeast corner of Fanshawe Park Road and Richmond Street. The mall contains over 130 stores, several restaurants, and a food court. Masonville Place is anchored by several large retailers including Hudson's Bay, Zara, H&M, Sport Chek/Atmosphere, and Shoppers Drug Mart. Cineplex Cinemas has two locations at the shopping mall, the SilverCity / IMAX theatres, and The Rec Room, an adult-centred entertainment facility featuring food, drink, arcade games and axe-throwing.
Sherway Gardens is a large retail shopping mall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The mall is located 17 kilometres (11 mi) west of Downtown Toronto, near the interchange of Highway 427 with the Queen Elizabeth Way and Gardiner Expressway.
Chinook Centre is the largest shopping mall in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is located near the geographic centre of the city on Macleod Trail, north of Glenmore Trail about 5 km (3.1 mi) south of downtown, and three blocks west of the Chinook CTrain station. The mall is operated by Cadillac Fairview.
Sports Experts Inc. is a major Canadian sports-retailer franchise primarily located in Quebec, Canada. It is part of FGL Sports, itself part of the Canadian Tire group.
Upper Canada Mall is the 25th largest shopping mall in Canada, located in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. The mall is situated on the northwest corner of the Davis Drive West and Yonge Street intersection. The mall is owned and operated by Oxford Properties, one of the largest shopping centre development companies in Canada. It opened in 1974, at which time its layout was a north-south arrangement with two sunken sitting areas surrounded by brick planters on the lower level.
CF Markville, also known as Markville Shopping Centre in the Cadillac Fairview chain of malls, is a shopping mall of over 140 stores in Markham, Ontario, Canada. It is located at the intersection of Highway 7 East and McCowan Road, and runs along Bullock Drive, located slightly west of McCowan Road. Its anchors are Hudson's Bay, Winners, Walmart Supercentre, Decathlon, Sporting Life, Marshalls, Uniqlo, Best Buy, and a Toys "R" Us/Babies "R" Us combo store. It has a gross leasable area of 981,000 square feet (91,100 m2). It was the largest shopping mall in York Region until 2004 when Vaughan Mills opened.
Hillcrest Mall, or Hillcrest, is a 54,419-square-metre (585,758 sq ft) enclosed shopping centre located in the town of Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, on the northwest corner of Yonge Street and Carrville Road. It has 135 shops, services, and restaurants.
Mapleview Mall, or simply Mapleview, is a two-story shopping mall located in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. It is located at the intersection of Maple Avenue and Fairview Street, south of the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW). The name of the mall comes from the two streets in which it is located. It is owned by Ivanhoé Cambridge.
Target Canada Co. was the Canadian subsidiary of the Target Corporation, the eighth-largest retailer in the United States. Formerly headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, the subsidiary formed with the acquisition of Zellers store leases from the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in January 2011. Target Canada opened its first store in March 2013, and by January 2015 was operating 133 locations throughout Canada. Its main competition included Walmart Canada, Loblaws, Shoppers Drug Mart, and Canadian Tire.
The Sporting Life 10K is an annual 10K running/walking event on Yonge Street in Toronto, that has taken place every May since 2003. Money raised from the Sporting Life 10K goes towards funding Campfire Circle – a volunteer-run summer camp to provide enriching experiences to victims of childhood cancer.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), Ottawa Citizen, 26 June 2013
