Thomas Mitchell
Audio By Carbonatix
Joann Fabrics. Bed, Bath & Beyond. Big Lots. When will the big-box closures stop in Denver?
Not at the Bigs, apparently, because Big 5 is leaving us, too.
When the sporting goods retailer announced it was closing five stores in Colorado — locations in Cañon City, Fort Collins, Wheat Ridge and two in Denver, including the one on Southern Colorado Boulevard I often shop at — as part of seventy closures nationwide, it felt like a small piece of me had passed away. Another one of the fluorescently-lit retailers of our childhoods is disappearing, taking its day-of convenience, moderate coupons and twenty-year-old music playlists with it. Sure, a few Big 5 stores in Aurora, Colorado Springs and elsewhere will stay open, but do we really think this seventy-year-old chain will still be around when the 2020s end?
I’m already grieving.
Big 5 was the only sporting goods store in my rural Arizona hometown. My dad bought my first baseball glove at Big 5 — a beautiful Mizuno that sat under my bed for a week until it was worn in — and more than half of the kids I knew got their gym shoes there, because ordering the new Kobe’s and T-Mac’s from the Eastbay catalogue wasn’t in most of our budgets. My brother worked at Big 5 in high school and college, and would often bring home a piece of highly coveted Quench gum from the counter. (“QUENCH: thirst-quenching gum for active people.“)
Big 5 used to be considered the more affordable sporting goods store, the sporting goods store for places that didn’t have them. But as Amazon’s and Dick’s Sporting Goods take over, middle-class retailers like Big 5 are dying out in bigger cities that offer more competition and convenience.
In Colorado, you can find more Dick’s locations than ever, as well as a Scheel’s or two. But what about the people who don’t want to walk through a mall or ride an indoor Ferris wheel, and just want a pair of cleats for football season or a brand-new frisbee because it’s nice outside? We claim to hate that megastores are taking over, yet that’s all we have left for so many things.
Big 5 wasn’t even a local or independent outfit, but those are basically ancient at this point in the world of sporting goods — and it feels like basic retail in general is on its last legs. I haven’t been able to find a pack of white T-shirts in central Denver since 2018. And where am I supposed to buy a basketball?
Perhaps it’s the classic tragedy of trading lower prices for the morals we pretended to grow up on: you know, things like supporting neighborhood businesses or valuing local jobs over mail-order comfort. Maybe it’s a matter of regional desire, too, because I can find plenty of high-end windbreakers and jackets for sale in RiNo or the Golden Triangle.
Sports Authority closed nationwide, including a notable store at the Sports Castle in downtown Denver, in 2016. Nearly ten years later, a national bicycle and ski retailer hopes to make the Sports Castle its flagship. Ski and snowboard equipment stores like Christy Sports, Larson’s Ski & Sport and Broadway’s own Denver Ski Company are also relatively easy to find around Denver.
Not only are outdoor sports like bicycling, fishing, skiing and even golf more popular for adult recreation in Colorado, they’re also more profitable, with equipment regularly priced in the hundreds or thousands. My humble Big 5 may have a good assortment of starter sets, equipment for children and generic gear for fishing, golf or hiking, but specialty stores and big-boy chains have too much to offer in Denver, and at too low of a price compared to Big 5.
There are still plenty of places to ironically hear that “pave-paradise-put-up-a-parking-lot” song while I walk through the aisles. But fewer and fewer exist as online delivery picks up the pace, and how many stores smell like rubber cleats, or sell those classic baseball T-shirts I like?
Well, after a quick Google search, it looks like those baseball shirts are $5 cheaper at Dick’s.
Maybe I’ll see if Amazon can do same-day delivery, and avoid the drive.
