Hibbett Sports owner plans to close 175 underperforming stores in major North American reorganization
Hibbett Sports will close 175 stores around the U.S. over the next three years as its parent company, JD Sports, looks to reorganize its footprint.
JD Sports acquired Hibbett in 2024 in a deal valued at around $1.1 billion, with the acquisition viewed as enhancing JD's presence in the North American footwear market. Hibbett had 1,169 stores in 36 states as of May 2024, according to the press release for the deal.
Now, the company is moving to reduce its store count as part of a cost-cutting strategy.
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A customer looks at shoes for sale at a Hibbett Sports location in Richmond, California, US, on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
JD Sports CEO Regis Schultz said on the company's fourth quarter earnings call that its "second key strategic initiative is driving store productivity and optimization of our store estate. Our net store movement last year was a reduction of 39 stores, demonstrating our fewer, bigger, and better store strategy."
"In North America, we will leverage group best practice to optimize EBIT store footprint and profitability. As part of this, we will close around 170 underperforming EBIT stores over the next three years," Schultz added.
JD said that at the start of its fiscal year in February 2025, there were 999 Hibbett stores and that figure declined to a total of 982 when its fiscal year ended in January 2026 as the group consolidated its operations after the Hibbett acquisition.
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JD's CFO Dominic Platt added that the group is planning to open about 20 new JD stores as well as converting between 70 to 80 Finish Line stores to JD locations in North America.
After factoring in JD Sports' plans in Europe, the group expects its total store count to "stay broadly flat for the year," Platt said.
JD Sports' stock is down about 1.7% year to date and is around 1.8% higher over the last year.
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A Hibbett Sports location in Richmond, California, US, on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. British sportswear and sneaker retailer JD Sports Fashion Plc agreed to buy Hibbett Inc. for about $1.1 billion to speed up its US expansion. Photographer: David Paul
The news comes as Hibbett's retail footwear rival, Foot Locker, announced store closure plans last November following its $2.4 billion acquisition by Dick's Sporting Goods in September 2025.
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The company didn't specify how many Foot Locker locations would close, though nine Dick's locations closed in 2025, along with about 11 Foot Locker-owned stores and four licensed stores.