Hibbett Sports to Close 175 Stores as British Owner Cuts Costs in America

Hibbett Sports will shutter 175 stores across the country over the next three years as its British parent company slashes costs and reorganizes its struggling North American operations.

JD Sports, which owns the Alabama-based sporting goods chain, announced the closures as part of what it calls an “optimization strategy” for underperforming locations. The move affects roughly 15 percent of Hibbett’s current store footprint and signals deepening trouble for brick-and-mortar retail in smaller American communities where these stores typically operate.

Hibbett built its business serving mid-sized and smaller markets across the South and Midwest — the kind of towns where a sporting goods store closing means one less place for local families to shop and fewer jobs for residents who need them. The company operates over 1,100 locations, many in communities already watching their downtowns hollow out as national chains pull back.

The closures come as JD Sports faces its own financial pressures. The British retailer has watched its stock price crater over the past year amid weakening consumer spending and increased competition from online retailers and discount chains. Cost-cutting at the corporate level now translates directly into empty storefronts in American towns.

For workers at the affected stores, the announcement means uncertainty ahead. Retail jobs have already taken a beating since the pandemic, with automation and e-commerce reshaping an industry that once provided stable employment for millions of Americans without college degrees. Hibbett hasn’t specified which locations will close or how many jobs will be eliminated, leaving employees and their families to wait and worry.

The timing compounds pressure on American households already dealing with persistent inflation and economic uncertainty. When a major retailer closes stores, it’s not just about shopping options — it’s about tax revenue for struggling towns, jobs for local residents, and the slow erosion of communities that feel increasingly left behind.

JD Sports says the closures will focus on underperforming locations, but that cold corporate calculus offers little comfort to towns that will lose one more anchor in their retail landscape. The company plans to complete the restructuring by 2029, a three-year timeline that suggests management sees no quick turnaround in consumer spending or retail conditions.

The question for affected communities: what fills those empty storefronts, if anything at all?

https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/hibbett-sports-owner-plans-close-175-underperforming-stores-major-north-american-reorganization – June 09, 2026