Academy Sports + Outdoors history

1939 - Academy Tire Shop begins selling military surplus.

1945 - Max changes store name to “Academy Super Surplus.”

1956 - Max moves his business to Austin, Texas and expands to four stores.

Academy Sports & Outdoors came into existence in 1970, when Arthur Gochman and his business partner purchased Southern Sales, a Houston-based army-navy surplus chain comprised of six stores that were by that year no longer making any profit.

Gochman bought out his partner in 1973 and changed the company's business name from Southern Sales to Academy Corp.

In 1978, the younger Gochman gave up his law practice and moved to Houston to assume active control of the company and complete the overhaul of its basic merchandising policies.

1980 - Sports and outdoor items including fishing, camping, and sporting goods are introduced to the product assortment.

1983 - Academy runs its first multi-page newspaper ad during the holiday season.

1984 - Athletic brands Nike and Adidas are added to the product assortment.

Max Gochman died in 1985, and Arthur Gochman took over his father's four Austin stores, refurbishing them in Academy's new image as sporting goods megastores.

Starting in 1986, Academy also adopted an EDLP (EveryDay Low Pricing) sales philosophy, rejecting the widely used deep discounting of select items to attract customers.

1990 - With 28 stores, Academy relocates its corporate office and distribution center to Katy, TX.

1991 - Academy exits military surplus business.

It opened its first store outside Texas in Edmond, Oklahoma in June 1994, then added a store in Lafayette, Louisiana the following November, thus ending the company's exclusive Texas identity.

By 1990 Academy had grown to 18 stores. It also began a period of more rapid expansion, jumping to 34 stores by 1995, the year after it first moved into two adjoining states.

1996 - David Gochman, Arthur’s son and Max’s grandson, becomes president and CEO. Academy Sports + Outdoors opens its first Alabama location.

By 1997 women's purchases accounted for 44 percent of Academy's annual sales, up from 30 percent two years earlier, prompting the company, for the first time, to run print and TV ads aimed specifically at women customers.

1998 - First Florida location opens.

One selected location outside its current four states is in Franklin, Tennessee, where the company hopes to open a new store in the summer of 1999.

2000 - 50th store location in Temple, TX opens.

2003 - First Arkansas location opens.

2005 - First Missouri and Georgia locations open.

2007 - Rodney Faldyn is named President.

2009 - Second distribution facility opens in Twiggs County, GA.

In 2011, Academy Sports + Outdoors was acquired by KKR. Just months after acquisition, the brand launched an e-commerce store and became a multi-channel retailer.

2012 - Academy Sports + Outdoors opens its first North Carolina and Kansas locations.

2014 - Academy Sports + Outdoors opens its first Indiana and Kentucky locations.

2015 - J.K. Symancyk is named as CEO & President.

2016 - Academy Sports + Outdoors opens its first Illinois location, and adds its third distribution facility in Cookeville, TN.

2018 - Ken C. Hicks is named as Chairman, President and CEO. Academy Sports + Outdoors opens 250th store location in Mansfield, TX.

In 2019, the first "next gen" store opened in Richmond, Texas.

2020 - In October, Academy completed its Initial Public Offering, and is listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market exchange under the ticker symbol "ASO."