Hibbett Sports 2011 Annual Report Download - page 10

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6
We strive to hire enthusiastic sales people with an interest in sports. Our extensive training program focuses on product
knowledge and selling skills and is conducted through the use of in-store clinics, DVDs, self-study courses, interactive group
discussions and Hibbett University designed specifically for store management.
Our Store Concepts
Hibbett Sports
Our primary retail format is Hibbett Sports, a 5,000 square foot store located primarily in strip centers which are usually
influenced by a Wal-Mart store. In considering locations for our Hibbett Sports stores, we take into account the size, demographics,
quality of real estate and competitive conditions of each market. Of these stores, 589 Hibbett Sports stores are located in strip
centers, which include free-standing stores, with the remaining 190 stores located in enclosed malls, the majority of which are the
only enclosed malls in the county.
Hibbett Sports stores offer a core selection of quality, brand name merchandise with an emphasis on team sports. This
merchandise mix is complemented by a selection of localized apparel and accessories designed to appeal to a wide range of
customers within each market. We strive to respond quickly to major sporting events of local interest. Such events in the last few
years included Auburn University’s and The University of Alabama’s historic football seasons and ultimate victories in the Bowl
Championship Series (BCS) National Championship games as well as the successful seasons of the Texas Rangers professional
baseball team, the New Orleans Saints professional football team and the University of Kentucky college basketball program.
Sports Additions
Our 16 Sports Additions stores are small, enclosed mall-based stores, averaging 2,500 square feet with approximately 90%
of merchandise consisting of athletic footwear and the remainder consisting of caps and a limited assortment of apparel. Sports
Additions stores offer a broader assortment of athletic footwear, with a greater emphasis on fashion than the athletic footwear
assortment offered by our Hibbett Sports stores. All but two Sports Additions stores are currently located in enclosed malls in which
Hibbett Sports stores are also present.
Sports & Co.
We operate three Sports & Co. superstores that were opened between March and November 1995. Sports & Co.
superstores average 25,000 square feet and offer a broader assortment of athletic footwear, apparel and equipment than our Hibbett
Sports stores. Athletic equipment and apparel represent a higher percentage of the overall merchandise mix at Sports & Co.
superstores than they do at Hibbett Sports stores. Sports & Co. superstores are designed to project the same in-store atmosphere as
our Hibbett Sports stores but on a larger scale. We have no plans to open any superstores in the future.
Team Sales
Hibbett Team Sales, Inc. (Team Sales), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, is a leading supplier of customized
athletic apparel, equipment and footwear primarily to school athletic programs in Alabama and parts of Georgia, Florida and
Mississippi. Team Sales sells its merchandise directly to educational institutions and youth associations. The operations of Team
Sales are independent of the operations of our retail stores. Team Sales does not meet the quantitative or qualitative reporting
requirements of the Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 280, Segment Reporting.
Our Expansion Strategy
In Fiscal 1994, we began to accelerate our rate of new store openings to take advantage of the growth opportunities in our
target markets. We have currently identified 350 to 375 potential markets for future Hibbett Sports stores within the states in which
we operate. Our clustered expansion program, which calls for opening new stores within a two-hour driving distance of an existing
Hibbett location, allows us to take advantage of efficiencies in distribution, marketing and regional management. It also allows us to
build on our understanding of merchandise selection for that area. We believe our current distribution center can support over 1,200
stores.
In Fiscal 2012, we expect our net store openings to accelerate somewhat over Fiscal 2011. We have identified potential
markets but have experienced difficulty in securing suitable real estate or leases within the targeted market over the last few years.
Although new construction store sites continue to be a challenge to find, we have been able to capitalize on prime locations left
vacant by franchised and entertainment-related business closings. While we expect new store growth at a faster pace than the last
few years, we still anticipate that the current economic environment, particularly in the commercial real estate market, will continue
to make it harder to open our stores at our historical rate of growth. Because of the slowdown of new store openings, we have turned
our focus somewhat on expanding high performing stores and have seen successful results from this strategy.