Sports Experts
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Sports Experts is a major Canadian sports-retailer franchise primarily located in Quebec. It is part of the Forzani Group.
Sports Experts was independently founded in 1967, but purchased by Provigo in 1981. Sports Experts' breakthrough success came in 1985 when it merged with sports retailer Arlington Sports, a sporting-goods chain that already had established a presence in many major Quebec and Ontario shopping malls. The combined company took on the name Sports Experts Inc and the Arlington locations were converted into the Sports Experts banner. In 1994, Provigo sold Sports Experts to the Forzani Group.
The bankruptcy of Eaton's in 1999 and the abandonment of shopping malls by supermarket chains in the early 2000s gave the opportunity for Sports Experts to move many of its stores to larger mall spaces and to introduce Atmosphere, its sub-banner which specializes in outdoor sports clothing.
Sports Experts currently has 71 stores nationwide, 62 of which are in Quebec.