Sports Authority's last shot
News item: Sports Authority, once a thriving sporting goods superstore, announced yesterday it's closing all 450 stores . Drowning in $1 billion in debt, the chain -- and its 14,000-plus employees -- are history. And so is its inventory of snake shot. More on this in a moment. By BrokenSphere (Own work) [GFDL CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons More nimble sports merchandisers figured out how to do what Sports Authority couldn't. Dick's Sporting Goods created a somewhat upmarket experience (read: firearms and golf stores-inside-the-store) that Sports Authority couldn't match. And, if you're a die-hard fan of a particular team, there's no limit to the number of online sellers of numbered jerseys. No one wants to see less competition in the marketplace. Competition means pricing strategies that can benefit consumers (who may already be saving for their next pair of $200 LeBrons). But a quick visit ...