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NEW YORK, NEW YORK (Feb. 24, 2020) – Modell’s Sporting Goods, America’s oldest, family-owned and operated retailer of sporting goods, athletic footwear, active apparel and more, has announced that for the first time in its 130-year history, it is closing more than 15 percent of its stores and offering outside investment to support the retail business.
Mitchell Modell, CEO of the largest family owned sporting goods retailer in the United States, is executing a precedent-setting campaign to save his business. Modell appeared on Fox Business “Mornings with Maria” on Friday, February 21, 2020 and explained how his company became a retailer in crisis.
“For the first time ever, I never thought I would sell equity, but I’m now willing to sell a minority stake in our company,” Modell said. “But the fascinating part of the story is how I plan to do this. We are looking at this platform as crowdsourcing at the highest level. I’m hoping someone watching the show will say I love the brand and want to invest.”
Modell is pulling out all of the stops to preserve his company. Modell sees it as “my responsibility to make sure people are still able to go to Mo’s,” playing on the famous “Gotta Go to Mo’s” tagline. He has chronicled the story of his company’s history and his fight, and is appealing to his vendors, landlords and customers by sending this video to them to help him save his company. On February 22, Modell and one of his landlords negotiated a deal to reverse the closure of four stores that were announced the previous week. As a result of their agreement, 64 union jobs were saved.
Modell himself, and his entire family, are “all in,” both financially and strategically.
“We will do whatever it takes to save these stores and protect the communities that we have served and loved for generations,” he continued. “This is not a business and these are more than associates. Much more. This is a real family, and with a little help, we hope to serve your children, just as we served you, for generations to come.”
The following are links to Modell’s video that he created to tell his story, and his appearance on “Mornings with Maria” on Fox Business.
https://f.io/YsTSFekK
https://video.foxbusiness.com/v/6134570595001/
About Modell’s Sporting Goods
Founded in 1889, Modell’s Sporting Goods is the local family sporting goods destination that provides a convenient and compelling shopping experience for the athlete and fan in all of us. Modell’s offers customers an assortment of top brands in sporting goods, footwear, team apparel and active apparel for every level of play. The retailer operates more than 140 stores in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. In addition, www.modells.com is a diverse website which services customers all over the country.