Maricopa’s Big 5 Sporting Goods store, which has been open at 41800 W. Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway since January 2017, will close permanently in just two months.

In the meantime, starting now, the company is liquidating its Maricopa store, which means it’s dribbling down prices to net big discounts for local customers here in the home stretch.

And the athletic gear retailer promises: “We’re not going away.” (Provided you’re willing to drive 18 miles to better-faring stores in Ahwatukee or Sun Lakes.)

Big 5 print media director Stephanie Loud sent this statement to InMaricopa this morning:

“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the closing of our Big 5 Sporting Goods store in Maricopa. For nearly EIGHT years, we have had the privilege of serving this wonderful community of Maricopa, and we are deeply grateful for your support and loyalty.

As we prepare to close our doors, we want to ensure a smooth transition for all our customers. Our final day of operation will be Saturday, Nov. 9 and until then, we will continue to offer our services and products during our Store Closing Sale now in progress. You will save in every department, so we suggest you visit the store and take advantage of the significant discounts we are offering.

The good news is we’re not going away. The rest of our over 40 stores in Arizona will still be there to continue serving all your sporting goods needs!

Warm regards,

Big 5 Sporting Goods”

Priced out of town

“Rent” was the reason for the closure given by a store employee who asked not to be identified during an interview Aug. 14.

“The rent increased significantly,” said the staffer.

The Maricopa store’s staff learned the news that the El Segundo, Calif-based company was closing the store late last month.

The closure affects 15 employees who will be “absorbed” by other Big 5 stores, the source said.

“We’d love to find property in town but that’s for people who get paid a little more than I do,” the store employee said.

The staffer said the move out of the building constructed in 2016 should be complete by Thanksgiving.

Sources familiar with the building said it would become a school for children with autism and ADHD, but that could not be immediately confirmed.

Big 5 is the only sporting goods store in Maricopa.

Tricky business

Big 5 last August announced it would shutter four stores by the end of the year. In an April 30 investor report, the company said it would close four more stores in 2024, including its Maricopa installation, but open five new ones.

The retailer operates 424 stores with 41 in Arizona and the rest in California, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Idaho, Texas and Wyoming.

Big 5 Sporting Goods Corporation stocks today were down 71 percent since Jan. 1. Investors are earning a 12-cent dividend per share.

Investors late last year questioned if “the end of Big 5 Sporting Goods” was near, with one investor stating “sporting goods are the first thing people cut out when they’re tight for cash” in a floundering consumer economy.

One financial analyst at that time suggested earnings per share would eventually rise if investors remained patient. An investor Aug. 2 said that the “strategy has not aged very well.”