Dallas company buys Har-Bell Athletic Goods

Har-Bell Athletic Goods has sold to Dallas-based Sport Supply Group Inc. after 41 years of local ownership.

Publicly traded SSG (Nasdaq: RBI), which also recently acquired sporting goods companies in Florida and Indiana, was looking to expand its reach in the Midwest. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"The Har-Bell sales force can leverage the infrastructure, technology and support backbone that SSG provides, and SSG benefits from the personal relationships Har-Bell has built over many years in the business," SSG CEO and Chairman Adam Blumenfeld said in a news release.

Har-Bell customers will see few changes, former owner Bryan Tucker said, other than faster order times and a larger variety of sports equipment and uniform products - about 22,000 to be exact. The downtown Springfield business will, however, close its retail storefront later this year. Retail sales account for a small percentage of Har-Bell's sales, and foot traffic is slow, Tucker said.

Tucker hopes to clear out his inventory by Sept. 1. At that time, he'll begin searching for a buyer for his two-story building at 315 Park Central West. The 100-year-old building was last appraised for $211,900, according to the Greene County Assessor's office.

Har-Bell will continue to carry some basic sporting good supplies that local customers might need in a pinch, such as scorebooks, baseballs and field paint.

Tucker and two customer service representatives are transferring over as SSG employees, as are Har-Bell's sewing and trophy department employees. One bookkeeper has been let go, and one other employee retired, according to Tucker.

About 70 percent of Har-Bell's sales are to schools - Tucker counts about 175 southwest Missouri school districts as customers - and the remaining 30 percent is in team and retail sales. Customers will continue to be served by the same Har-Bell representatives, Tucker said, and he himself will re-enter the sales field and happily give up the trials of business ownership.

"I'm glad to go back out into the community, visit schools and serve them personally," he said. "It's still us calling on you and servicing you. I'm just letting someone else handle the headaches."

Tucker came to Har-Bell in 1987 as a retail floor manager and purchased the company about four years ago from Bob Horton, now executive director of Urban Neighborhoods Alliance.

Har-Bell will work in tandem with SSG's Kessler division and will be called Har-Bell Kessler for a year or two, Tucker said. It'll likely drop the "Har-Bell" from its name later.

SSG shares closed Tuesday at $10.35, compared to a 52-week range of $4.53 to $12.53.