This morning we heard the news that Sport Chalet is closing all of its stores and will no longer sell merchandise online. The competitive world of retail sporting goods finally caught up to Sport Chalet, which operates 51 stores in four states. The company was founded on April 1, 1959.

There are (soon to be were) Sport Chalet stores in Thousand Oaks in the Conejo Valley Plaza Shopping Center on Moorpark Road south of Janss Road) and in Oxnard near Fry's.

Although it was a shock, it is not a complete surprise. Sport Chalet, previously a publicly-traded company, was acquired by a private equity group in 2014 for $17 million in cash and the assumption of $50 million in debt. According to a July 1, 2014 LA Times article, the company had reported annual losses every year since 2007. That's quite a long time.