CRYSTAL LAKE – A redesigned Sports Authority along Route 14 in Crystal Lake will have a grand reopening event Aug. 29, after another Sports Authority a mile east closes for good Saturday.
Managers at the Sports Authority – Crystal Lake East store, 4804 Cog Circle, confirmed the sporting goods store will close, as part of a consolidation with the nearby Sports Authority – Crystal Lake West store, 6000 Northwest Highway. Employees at the east store will be transferred to other locations, the managers said.
The managers weren’t authorized to discuss the consolidation. The Sports Authority corporate office in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Sports Authority – Crystal Lake West store will unveil its redesign with discounts and other events during a grand reopening event, starting at 8 a.m. Aug. 29.
Separated by one mile, both Sports Authority stores coexisted for years and survived the late 2000s Great Recession.
The East store, a former Sportsmart that opened along Cog Circle in 2001, became a Sports Authority in 2005 after a merger between the two companies, according to Northwest Herald archives.
The West store has operated at its current location since the late 1990s.