Sports Division was one of the biggest sports

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 t ...

ers in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

during the 1990s. The company was set up by

Sir Tom Hunter Sir Thomas Blane Hunter (born 6 May 1961) is a Scottish businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Sports Division Tom set up his first business after graduating from the University of Strathclyde as he was, in his own words, "unemployab ...

in 1984 to sell trainers, initially from the back of a van. Hunter subsequently borrowed £5,000 from his father and a further £5,000 from

RBS RBS may refer to: Organisations Banking * The Royal Bank of Scotland, a retail banking subsidiary of NatWest Group ** RBS International, the offshore banking arm of NatWest Group Education * Regent's Business School * Rotterdam Business School ...

to set up Sports Division. In November 1995, Hunter, along with business partner Philip Green, purchased larger rival Olympus Sports from Sears, and integrated them into the Sports Division brand. In 1998, following a dramatic reduction in sales, Sports Division postponed coming to the market as planned. In July of that year, the business was sold to its main competitor,

JJB Sports JJB Sports plc was a British sports retailer. On 24 September 2012, shares in JJB Sports were suspended, and the firm called in administrators. On 1 October 2012, it was announced that Sports Direct had purchased part of the business, includ ...

, for approximately £295 million.

References

1984 establishments in the United Kingdom 1998 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Clothing retailers of the United Kingdom Sporting goods retailers of the United Kingdom Retail companies established in 1984 Retail companies disestablished in 1998 Defunct retail companies of the United Kingdom {{UK-retail-company-stub