Sports Experts is a major Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 sports retailer franchise

Franchising

Franchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....

 primarily located in Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, and part of the Forzani Group

Forzani Group

The Forzani Group Ltd. is a Calgary, Alberta based national sporting goods retailer in Canada. It operates under five corporate banners: Sport Chek, Atmosphere , Sport Mart, National Sports and Athletes World...

.

Sports Experts was independently founded in 1967, but purchased by Provigo

Provigo

Provigo is a grocery retailer based in Quebec, Canada, consisting of over 300 stores and franchises throughout the province. A majority of the stores are located in the Montreal area. It is owned by Loblaw Companies Limited. Provigo is similar to Ontario's Your Independent Grocer/Zehrs banners, as...

 in 1981. Sports Experts' breakthrough success came in 1985 when it merged with sports retailer Arlington Sports, a sporting goods chain that already had established a presence in many major Quebec and Ontario shopping malls. The combined company took on the name Sports Experts Inc and the Arlington locations were converted into the Sports Experts banner. In 1994, Provigo sold Sports Experts to the Forzani Group.

The bankruptcy of Eaton's

Eaton's

The T. Eaton Co. Limited was once Canada's largest department store retailer. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an Irish immigrant. Eaton's grew to become a retail and social institution in Canada, with stores across the country, buying offices across the globe, and a catalogue...

 in 1999 and the abandonment of shopping malls by supermarket chains in the early 2000s gave the opportunity for Sports Experts to move many of its stores to larger mall spaces and to introduce Atmosphere, its sub-banner which specializes in outdoor sports clothing.

Sports Experts currently has 71 stores nationwide, 62 of which are in the province of Quebec.