Hibbett Sports, Inc. seems to be gaining big from the several store closures that have hit the retail world over the last several months.
The American sporting goods retailer has just witnessed a better-than-expected third quarter – all thanks to permanent store shut downs of most of its apparel and footwear rivals.
Hibbett recorded adjusted profits of US $ 24.9 million for the quarter that ended 31 October 2020. The adjusted profit was US $ 5.8 million during the same period last year.
The revenue for the quarter saw a jump of 20.3 per cent to clock US $ 331.4 million – more than the analysts’ prediction of US $ 286.42 million.
Hibbett also saw the sales of its physical and digital stores do well in Q3. While the physical stores saw a jump of 17.5 per cent, online business too surged by a whopping 50.7 per cent.
Talking about the good performance, Michael Longo, President and CEO, Hibbett Sports, said that the surge in sales was not only due to the store closures of its competitors, JCPenney and Stage Stores, but also due to accelerating consumer adoption of e-commerce.
This has helped the retailer to gain an upper hand both in its fashion and athletic segments.
Notably, during the first lockdown, Hibbett Sports earned lots of customers after it kept its stores open unlike its competitors. Going forward, the retailer hopes to retain the customers it gained.
With over 1,000 stores in 35 states, the retailer generated revenue of US $ 1.08 billion in 2018.
