Business and retail news : Lids To Acquire Dowdle Sports' Team Business

Lids Team Sports, an operating division of Indianapolis-based Lids Sports Group, has reached an agreement with Cordova, TN-based Dowdle Sports, Inc., the full line dealer of outdoor and athletic sporting goods, for the assets of its team business. The e-commerce site DowdleSports.com was not included in the deal, and will continue to function independent of LIDS Sports Group.

"With more than 29 years of experience in the team business, deeply rooted in a commitment to providing superior customer service and quality products, Dowdle Sports is an ideal addition to our group,” said Matt Geske, executive vice president of Lids Team Sports. “We are delighted to add this caliber of individuals to our lineup, and look forward to providing better sporting goods solutions for both our new and existing customers through our unique vendor relationships.”

Lids Team Sports’ purchase consists of Dowdle’s entire athletic inventory. The former Dowdle team sales representatives, whose client base consists of the Memphis, Mississippi and Arkansas territory, will now be employed by Lids Team Sports but will maintain their offices in Cordova. They join a league of more than 160 current LIDS Team Sports sales force members with a team marketplace presence in all 50 states. All sporting goods will be transitioned to Lids Sports Group’s 300,000 square-foot production facility in Indianapolis.

“We at Lids Team Sports remain strong in our commitment to be the elite team dealer in the U.S. through the constant evolution of our customer service skills, as well as our expansion in the form of strategic growth prospects. We are very pleased with the growth in our sales force, the successes of our technological advancements and our synergetic cross-promotion opportunities with fellow Lids Sports Group division Lids – and its more than 1,000 retail locations nationwide. All of this benefits the consumer,” said Geske.

Lids Team Sports is a full service team dealer, custom screen printer, embroidery and sporting goods operator based in Indianapolis, Indiana, and a division of Hat World, Inc. Hat World is a niche mall-based retailer of baseball caps and team fan shops operating primarily under the LIDS retail brand. LIDS Team Sports was founded in 2009 and is made up primarily of regional team dealers Anaconda Sports (Lake Katrine, New York), the former Brand Athletics (Tigard, Oregon), and the former Impact Sports (Madison, Wisconsin). What began as a modest 10-state sales territory in 2009 now spans 50 states today. The company provides all-inclusive institutional sporting goods to a broad range of customers throughout the United States, including colleges and universities, high schools, corporations, and youth organizations. The business offers a diverse selection of products – jerseys, warm-ups, fleeces, polo shirts, jackets, t-shirts, shorts, shoes and other team uniform sportswear and a complete line of sporting equipment – and services such as team fundraising support. The company also operates the Internet sites www.lidsteamsports.com and www.anacondasports.com, in addition to a LIDS Team Golf division and a catalog business.

( SportsOneSource Media )