Changing Uniforms

Gart Sports Co. (Denver) has announced it will be converting nine former Oshman's stores in California to Sportmart stores and two former Gart Sports locations in New Mexico will operate as Oshman's stores.

The company says the store conversions are part of a brand-leveraging program implemented following Gart Sports acquisition of Oshman's in June.

“Sportmart enjoys very strong name recognition in California,” said chairman, president and ceo Doug Morton. “In New Mexico, Oshman's has been a retail mainstay for more than 20 years.”

With over 175 stores in 25 states in the western U.S. under the Gart Sports, Sportmart and Oshman's nameplates, Gart is the Number Two full-line sporting goods retailer in the country, behind Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-based Sports Authority. The chain is a combination of 40,000-square-foot freestanding superstores and 10,000-square-foot mall stores.