Sporting & Recreational Equipment Retail Industry Competitors

If you're into living a healthy sustainable lifestyle, Gaiam is your kind of company. The name Gaiam (pronounced "guy-um") is a combination of Gaia (the Earth goddess) and "I am." The company's more than 10,000 products (7,000 are proprietary items) include environmentally friendly paraphernalia divided into five categories: Sustainable Economy, Healthy Living, Alternative Healthcare, Personal Development, and Ecological Lifestyles....

AcuSport has a different idea of defending your home turf. The company is a leading distributor of firearms and related outdoor products through seven regional offices including Atlanta; Arlington, Texas; Bellefontaine, Ohio; Billings, Montana; Philadelphia; and Sacramento, California....

Campers ready to brave the Californian wilderness can find supplies for their next trip at Adventure 16. The company operates a chain of retail outdoor outfitters in Southern California. It has about half a dozen locations, plus a wholesale division that specializes in accessories for backpacking, camping, climbing, and adventure travel....

If you love going out into the great wide open, under a sky of blue, you just might want to visit Altrec.com, an Internet retail company that offers equipment, gear, apparel, and accessories for camping, backpacking, hiking, running, winter sports, and other outdoor activities....

Ski bums don't have to go far from the slopes to get their skis as long as the Internet's nearby. Backcountry.com is an online retailer of outdoor and backcountry gear. The company sells products for activities such as skiing, backpacking, camping, snowboarding, rock climbing, kayaking, and mountaineering....

Camfour is taking careful aim and hopes to hit its target bottom line. The company sells firearms, ammunition, and related accessories to independent retail sporting goods stores and dealers throughout the US. Product categories include air guns, new and used handguns and long guns, scopes and sights, reloading supplies, and powder....

Camping World thinks the world of camping, especially if it's done with an RV. The company sells RV accessories and supplies through its Web site, catalogs, and more than 50 stores in nearly 30 states. Its inventory is usually not found at general merchandise retailers....

Campmor takes its name seriously and seriously implores you to take to the outdoors and camp more. A leading manufacturer of outdoor apparel and equipment, the company is best known through its catalogs and Web site (campmor.com), though it does operate a single retail store in Paramus, New Jersey....

Christy Sports isn't some girly group of ponytailed cheerleaders. It's the largest specialty ski and snowboard retailer in the Rocky Mountains. With more than 40 retail stores in skiing hot spots like Snowmass, Crested Butte, Steamboat Springs, and Vail, the company sells skiing, snowboarding, snow-shoeing, mountain biking, and golf equipment along with shoes, shirts, gloves, and bags to carry it all....

Dover Saddlery is an upscale specialty retailer and direct marketer of equestrian products. The company's specialty is English-style riding gear, and its selection features riding apparel, tack, and stable supplies, as well as horse health care products. Its brand-name products include names such as Ariat, Grand Prix, Hermes, Mountain Horse, Passier, Prestige, and Smith Brothers....

Ellett Brothers is a middleman for mountain men and other outdoor enthusiasts. The wholesaler supplies over 50,000 products for hunting, shooting, camping, archery, and marine sports to small sporting goods retailers. Sales efforts include telemarketing and catalogs used by its retail customers; it also offers catalogs customized with retailers' names....

Gander Mountain has got the gear to get you out of the office and up the mountain. The company operates about 115 outdoor sporting goods stores focused on hunting, camping, and fishing in some two dozen southern and midwestern states. In addition to outdoor equipment and related accessories, the stores also sell apparel and footwear, as well as all terrain vehicles (ATVs) and gear....

Hicks may be in the sticks but they've got the supplies sporting goods retailers need. The company distributes marine, fishing, hunting, archery, and other outdoor products to retailers nationwide. Its bi-annual trade show draws more than a thousand retailers nationwide to look at boats, guns, fishing tackle, bows, arrows, and other outdoor goodies....

Holiday Diver urges those who enjoy getting wet while going down under to swim over to its Divers Direct Web site. The online store sells everything to dress the diver enthusiast from head to fin. In addition to scuba gear, the company also sells shoes, jewelry, and sunglasses....

JD Sports Fashion (formerly The John David Group) wants everyone to be a sport, or at least dress like one. The retailer operates about 430 sport and athletic-inspired fashion apparel and footwear stores in the UK under the JD Sports, Size, Bank, and Scotts banners....

Lipsey's fancies itself a bit of a hot shot. The company distributes firearms to federally licensed dealers nationwide. It sells regular, lefty, and youth models of shotguns, handguns, rifles, and revolvers by manufacturers that include Ruger, Beretta, Browning, Glock, North American Arms, and Winchester....

Chicago may be hog butcher, tool maker, stacker of wheat, player with railroads, and freight handler to the nation but it's also boat accessorizer, gun seller, and fishing tackle distributor to the nation's sporting goods retailers. Maurice Sporting Goods, based in poet Carl Sandburg's hometown, is the country's largest wholesale supplier of fishing, hunting, and boating accessories....

Olympia Sports may not make you an Olympic athlete but they can provide the gear if you want to try. The company operates more than 150 sporting goods stores in eight northeastern states. Olympia carries sports equipment, fitness equipment and apparel, athletic shoes, casual wear, and sports accessories from brands like Bauer, Louisville Slugger, Reebok, Teva, Columbia, and PUMA....

Get online, and interact with the outdoors. Outdoor Interactive, founded in 2000, is an online retailer that sells more than 100,000 items such as marine electronics, optics, clothing, boots, cutlery, archery equipment, leather goods, camping equipment, sportsman gifts, and other sporting goods....

Patagonia is at the peak of outdoor apparel marketing, selling rugged clothing and accessories to mountain climbers, skiers, and other extreme sports lovers and environmentalists willing to pay extra for the product behind the brand name. Besides the well-known Patagonia (outdoor gear and apparel), the company also sells gear from sister companies Lotus Designs (paddling gear), Water Girl (women's sportswear), and Great Pacific Iron Works (outdoor gear and apparel retailer)....