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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Gart Sports Co. Completes Merger

From Staff And Wire Reports

Gart Sports Co. on Friday completed its merger with Illinois-based Sportmart Inc., becoming the nation’s second-largest full-line sporting goods retailer.

With the merger, Gart expanded to 123 stores in 16 states with a combined, estimated $718 million in annual revenues last year. The new business was named Gart Sports Co., and began trading on the Nasdaq exchange Friday.

Both Gart and Sportmart have outlets in the state of Washington.

Former shareholders in Gart Sports Co. hold 72.5 percent of the new company’s stock. Former Sportmart shareholders own the rest.

Sportmart’s headquarters in Wheeling will be closed and operations will be consolidated into the new Denver headquarters. Officials said they did not expect any closures or layoffs.