Modell's Sporting Goods is an American online

sporting goods Sports equipment, sporting equipment, also called sporting goods, are the tools, materials, apparel, and gear used to compete in a sport and varies depending on the sport. The equipment ranges from balls, nets, and protective gear like helmets. ...

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and ...

er that had locations in the Northeastern United States. Modell's carries both sporting goods and related apparel. Modell's had more than 150 retail locations in ten states and the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

in 2018. The company reported

revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services related to the primary operations of the business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some companies receive reven ...

of approximately $765 million in 2015. Sales in 2019 were $538 million, 96%/4% split between retail/online. Its slogan was "Gotta Go To Mo's." Modell’s filed for bankruptcy protection in 2020 and the company eventually resorted to liquidating its remaining 134 store locations. In August 2020, Modell’s was relaunched as an online retailer by a company called Retail Ecommerce Ventures, which bought the rights to several other retail brands that were recently disestablished.

History

The chain was founded as a single store by Morris A. Modell in 1889 in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, making it possibly the third oldest sporting goods store in North America (after James F. Brine's in Massachusetts and

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

's Burghardt Sporting Goods). Modell, a Jewish immigrant from

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

, opened the first location on Cortlandt Street in Lower Manhattan (the Modell

pawn shop A pawnbroker is an individual or business (pawnshop or pawn shop) that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral. The items having been ''pawned'' to the broker are themselves called ''pledges'' or ...

chain in Manhattan and Brooklyn was founded by Morris's brother George in 1893 as a spinoff. The two companies operate separately). Through the years, it has remained a family-owned business, passing through four generations of the Modell family. While best known as a sporting goods retailer, Modell's also operated a chain of "full-line" discount retailers in the New York-metro area known as "Modell's Shopper's World" (and for a short time as "White-Modells") from the mid-1950s up until 1989, when the company decided to focus on its sporting goods operations partly due to increased competition in the discount retail market.

William Modell William D. Modell (May 13, 1921 – February 14, 2008) was an American businessman who chaired the Modell's Sporting Goods retail chain. Early life Modell was born on May 13, 1921 to a Jewish family.Crohn's and Colitis Foundation along with his wife, Shelby Modell. Modell's operated 152 stores at its peak mainly in New York,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, and

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. In recent years, the chain expanded to

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, the

as well as

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, and

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

. Their flagship store was at 234 West 42nd Street near

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...

. CEO Mitchell Modell was featured on an episode of ''

Undercover Boss ''Undercover Boss'' is a reality television series franchise created by Stephen Lambert and produced in many countries. It originated in 2009 on the British Channel 4. The show’s format features the experiences of senior executives working u ...

'' that aired on November 2, 2012 in which he went in disguise into his own stores to see things from an employee point of view. Two years later, he was accused in a February 2014 lawsuit by rival Dick's Sporting Goods of entering a Dick's store in disguise to gain access to their retail secrets. The lawsuit was quickly settled out of court for undisclosed terms by April. Independent retail analysts and attorneys suggested that Modell visited the store on a whim, rather than as part of some plot to steal information. In the early 21st century, Modell's faced declining sales which Mitchell Modell has blamed on increased competition, poor performance by professional sports teams, and increased temperatures caused by

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

. In May 2019, Modell lent the company $6.7 million to avoid bankruptcy; in February 2020 the company announced that it intended to close 24 stores. However, in March 2020, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and announced that it would liquidate its 134 remaining stores, with Tiger Capital being appointed as the liquidator. The liquidation began on March 13, 2020. All their stores were closed by the end of August 2020. Modell's_Sporting_Goods_(48236938796)

Hilco Streambank announced that on August 4, 2020, it would auction Modell's intellectual property, including customer data and the marketing jingle. Hilco Streambank also placed the stalking horse bid at $1.965 million. Modell's was acquired by Retail Ecommerce Ventures (REV), a holding company founded by Alex Mehr and Tai Lopez, for $3.64 million. The acquisition, finalized on August 14, 2020, includes the brand name, trademarks, domain name, and the "Gotta Go To Mo's" jingle. The Modell's website relaunched in 2020.

Local sports affiliations

Modell's had local specialized offerings and programs such as Team Weeks, which assists local schools, leagues, and non-profit organizations. Modell's sponsored many professional sports teams in their U.S. East Coast market area, including the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

, Boston Celtics,

Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The ...

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

, New York Giants, New York Jets, New York Knicks,

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia Phillies,

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

, Philadelphia 76ers,

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Well ...

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, a ...

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

, as well as numerous minor league baseball teams. Some writers attributed at least some of Modell's problems during the 2010s due to the poor performance of New York sports teams in that decade, and the difficulty in selling their merchandise.

Art Modell Arthur Bertram Modell (June 23, 1925 – September 6, 2012) was an American businessman, entrepreneur and National Football League team owner. He owned the Cleveland Browns franchise for 35 years and established the Baltimore Ravens franchis ...

, who owned the NFL football teams

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

and then Baltimore Ravens, was the grandson of the founder of Modell's Sporting Goods, Morris A. Modell, but had nothing to do with that company. A perceived affiliation was hoped to be useful when Modell Sporting Goods attempted to penetrate Maryland markets in 2004 — a spokesman stated, "I think that Art Modell having brought a team to Baltimore that won a Super Bowl championship can help in some ways" — but the expansion was ultimately not successful.

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

Official site
Shops in New York City Economy of the Northeastern United States Sporting goods retailers of the United States Online retailers of the United States 1889 establishments in New York (state) 2020 disestablishments in New York (state) American companies established in 1889 American companies disestablished in 2020 Retail companies established in 1889 Retail companies disestablished in 2020 Companies based in Manhattan Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020