EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ—Dick’s Sporting Goods is buying Golfsmith’s U.S. business for about $70 million, reports Reuters, citing unnamed sources.

Dick’s plans to keep as many as 30 Golfsmith stores in the U.S. open, though it’s not clear whether the sporting goods retailer will re-brand the shops, says the report.

Although the bankruptcy-run auction ending on October 21 must still be approved by a federal judge, according to Reuters, Dick’s “beat out a competing bid from Worldwide Golf Shops and liquidators from Great American Group LLC, who had also planned to [keep open] about 30 Golfsmith stores and shutter the rest.”

Golfsmith has about 90 U.S. stores still open, including four in New Jersey.

Dick’s has three locations, just in Middlesex County alone, and it also runs Golf Galaxy, a chain of its own specialty golf shops.

What’s more, both Dick’s and Golfsmith have stores only two miles down the road from one another in East Brunswick.

The other Garden State Golfsmith locations include Bridgewater, Woodland Park, and Moorestown.

Dick’s also scooped up Golfsmith International’s intellectual property and inventory, sources told the news service. And Dicks’ will reportedly retain about 500 of Golfsmith’s employees. 

There were 109 Golfsmith stores in the U.S. when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month and said in court papers that it would not shutter any of its four Garden State stores.

At that time, the company released a list of 20 stores it said it would close. The Manhattan, and Carle Place, New York shops made the list.

The Golfsmith stores in New Jersey were not on the list and have been operating as usual during the bankruptcy, but it’s unclear what their fate will be if the Dick’s bid is approved.

In June, Dick’s purchased, at auction, the intellectual property of its chief competitor Sports Authority, which filed for bankruptcy in March, for $15 million.

That included website SportsAuthority.com, a loyalty program containing 28.5 million members, and a list of 114 million customer files.

Dick’s and Golfsmith did not respond to requests for comment. 

Business Reporter at New Brunswick Today | dschatz@nb.today

Dave is an award-winning business reporter who has authored over 200 articles for New Brunswick Today.

Dave is an award-winning business reporter who has authored over 200 articles for New Brunswick Today.