Hibbett cuts “Sports” from corporate name in line with greater fashion focus

Birmingham, Alabama-based retailer Hibbett Sports, Inc. announced on Thursday that it has changed its corporate name to “Hibbett, Inc.,” effective immediately, in order to better reflect the company’s shift towards athletic-inspired fashion.

“Over the past several years, we have transitioned our corporate strategy to emphasize the athletic-inspired fashion merchandise that our customers covet,” explained the company’s president and CEO, Mike Longo, in a release. “Our new corporate name of Hibbett, Inc. better reflects our consumer centric Toe-to-Head focus that leads with in-demand footwear and provides cross-category connectivity to our apparel and accessory offerings.”

According to the retailer, despite the change in name, it will continue to offer products for team sports in a number of its stores, as well as through its omni-channel platform, although its focus will now be on athletic-inspired fashion footwear, apparel, and accessories.

As revealed by Longo in Hibbett’s Invester Day presentation on Thursday, the company has been implementing its transition away from sporting goods toward a more fashion-focused assortment for several years now.

“This move allowed the company to enhance a selection of premium brands, for example, Nike, Jordan, Adidas, Puma, Levi, Grindhouse, and others; which meant that we moved into a space that allowed us to begin offering a hard-to-access compelling assortment of hard-to-get product,” said the CEO.

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