First quarter result reflects fine Olympics for Forzani

09/06/2010
Canada’s largest sporting goods retail chain, the Forzani Group, has reported a first-quarter profit on the back of strong sales of official merchandise at the time of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.

Team Canada hockey jerseys were the most popular items, spurred by gold medal wins for both the men's and women's teams. The company said sales of all spring categories, such as outerwear, athletic clothing, footwear and hockey equipment, had also gone well. 

Revenue grew 7% to around US $316.2 million, and gross margins rose to 34.8% from 32.4% in the same quarter last year.

Forzani has more than 550 stores across Canada under several banners, including Sport Chek, Sport Mart, Athletes World, Nevada Bob’s and Intersport.