Sports Authority is scrambling to close the doors on most or all of its stores by the end of the month, according to multiple store employees and managers, an abrupt move that comes amid a fight over cash between lenders and suppliers, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Managers have been instructed on procedures for wiping the computers, locking up and walking away, as the dying athletic gear seller prepares for the final stage of its bankruptcy. A lawyer and officials of the Englewood, Colo., company didn’t respond to requests to discuss the accelerated shutdown plan, including questions about whether any stores would survive into August. In a May 25 letter to customers, Chief Executive Michael Foss said that the stores would be closed by the end of August. The end could be nearer than that for most Sports Authority stores, said store managers who were summoned to a conference call last week. Sports Authority and the nearly 14,000 jobs it once supported is essentially done at the end of July, they were told.
