Our History

The story of Sports Experts began in 1966. Back then, eight independent businessmen decided to join their forces and businesses to benefit from a greater purchasing power. Their goal: offering better prices to their customers. A year later, a formal association took shape under the name Champion Ltée. At the very first board meeting, the founders determined that their group should bear a different name to best represent their venture, and so Sports Experts was born.

During its first years of existence, Sports Experts welcomed a ninth member. This acquisition allowed the company to offer nine outlets spread out across the Montréal, Saint-Jérôme, Laval and Sorel-Tracy regions. The following year, still wanting to expand its business network, the Sports Experts group entered into an agreement with La Hutte, a French group.

Members’ determination and efforts proved profitable: in 1970, 30 stores displayed the Sports Experts banner.

Thanks to its partnership with La Hutte, Sports Experts became a member of Groupe Intersport, a cluster of European sport stores forming the largest network in the world. This association gave Sports Experts access to high quality products and renowned brands.

Sports Experts continued to grow. In 1980, 100 stores operated under its banner.

AIn the early 1980s, Sports Experts wished to broaden its horizons, but competition was fierce. Arlington/Collegiate Sports and Podium Sports stiffened their resistance while having a substantial market presence. Sports Experts was therefore looking for capital investors to conquer the market.

So, it’s in 1981 that an agreement was reached with Provigo, which was seeking to diversify its activities. After only a few months of negotiation, the food giant acquired Sports Experts.

This was the year that the merger between Sports Experts and d’Arlington/Collegiate Sports took place. This alliance will lead to the creation of the first national sporting goods chain.

A few years later, Sports Experts was in the process of streamlining its Canadian store network in order to better reach its consumers. The company then closed down many small stores to focus on the larger ones (approximately 20 000 sq ft), which will be called Mega Collegiate in Ontario and Mega Sports Experts in the rest of Canada.

In 1991, Sports Experts acquired the first Podium Sports banner, which allowed the company to expand its network with 25 new stores, all located in small towns throughout Quebec.

Sports Experts experienced a significant change as one of Quebec’s flagships was sold to a Canadian company doing business under the name Groupe Forzani ltée and operating several sport stores located mainly in Western Canada. This merger resulted in a company with 162 stores present in all major Canadian urban markets.

In June 2000, FGL acquired the Coast Mountain Sports banner, which specialized in the sale of outdoor equipment, clothing and footwear. That year, only five stores, all located in British Columbia, operated under the banner.

In 2001, building on Coast Mountain’s experience, the Franchise division launched a new banner – Atmosphere – specialized in outdoor equipment, clothing and footwear, which allowed to develop the multi-banner concept.

In 2011, the Canadian Tire Corporation entered into an agreement for the cash acquisition of all shares held by Groupe Forzani, which then owned more than 500 stores operated under various banners, among which Sport Check, Sports Experts, Atmosphere, Intersport and Hockey Experts.

In 2015, Sports Experts and Atmosphere launched a new era of personalized digital sale experience. Flagship stores brought together world-class digital technology, an unparalleled selection of top-brand articles, as well as teams with a thorough knowledge of merchandise and a shared passion for sport. A personalized shopping experience was then offered to customers to bring them closer to the sports and activities they were passionate about. The new store concept used technologies to inform and inspire customers.

That same year, Sports Experts launched its online shopping website.

Conversion of the Intersport banner to Sports Experts, which now has more than a 100 stores in Canada. The year 2017 marks the 50th anniversary of Sports Experts.