What Champs Sports is known for
Mall-based sporting goods chain founded in 1984 by Bill Robinson under F.W. Woolworth's specialty-store push; now a Foot Locker subsidiary (merged with Eastbay in 2021), headquartered in Bradenton, Florida.
Champs Sports traces back to the F. W. Woolworth Company's diversification into specialty retail. Woolworth had bought the Kinney Shoe Corporation in 1963 and used it to launch Foot Locker in 1974; in 1984, under Bill Robinson, Woolworth extended the same mall-based sporting-goods format under the Champs Sports name, aimed at team apparel and athletic footwear alongside Foot Locker's sneaker focus. The chain weathered a rough patch in 2000, when its then-parent Venator Group closed 27 underperforming Champs locations during an industry-wide sportswear slump, before recovering as demand for premium athletic footwear grew through the 2000s. Champs Sports and the online retailer Eastbay were merged into a single Champs Sports x Eastbay operation in November 2021. Foot Locker, Inc., the corporate parent that has owned Champs Sports since the Woolworth restructuring, was itself acquired by Dick's Sporting Goods in September 2025 for roughly $2.4 billion, putting the Champs Sports chain under Dick's ownership. Headquarters remain in Bradenton, Florida.
Best for — Athletic footwear retail
Global
Where next
- Finish Line — Texas City
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- R. Derwin Clothiers — United States
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