Finish Line, Inc.

For other uses, see Finish line.

Finish Line, Inc.

Type	Public
Traded as	NASDAQ: FINL
Industry	Athletic footwear and fashion
Founders	Alan Cohen and David Klapper
Headquarters	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Number of locations	656 (May 2011)
Key people	Glenn Lyon, Chairman, & CEO
Products	Clothing and shoes
Revenue	$1.44 billion (2013)
Website	Finish Line, Inc.

Finish Line NASDAQ: FINL is an American retail chain that sells athletic shoes and related apparel and accessories. The company operates 660 stores in 47 states, mostly in enclosed shopping malls, as well as Finish Line-branded athletic shoe departments in more than 450 Macy's stores.

History

In October 1976, three childhood friends: Alan H. Cohen, David Klapper, and John Domont, opened a franchise of The Athlete's Foot in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. Initially, Domont was a silent partner, Klapper ran daily business, and Cohen was involved part-time while he practiced law. By 1981, the owners' were ready to expand beyond the ten franchises in Indiana, but The Athlete's Foot franchise rights ended at the Indiana border. They therefore started their own company called The Finish Line. Cohen, Domont, and Klapper approached another friend, Larry Sablosky, with a partnership opportunity. Dave Fagin, a manufacturer's representative who had been selling products to Cohen and Klapper, was offered the same deal. At this point they opened the first store under the Finish Line brand name in the Speedway Shopping Center Speedway, Indiana.

By 1991, the company had grown to 105 stores located primarily in Midwestern and Southeastern states with an annual gross of nearly $100 million. The company went public in 1992.

Known for its signature "shoe wall", a Finish Line store will show between 600 and 1,300 kinds of athletic footwear, including basketball, running, walking, gym, aerobics, hiking, cross-training and skate shoes, and cleats, casual shoes and sandals. Brands carried by Finish Line include Nike, Jordan, Adidas, Reebok, New Balance, Oakley, Puma, Converse, Lacoste, Saucony, Timberland, Pastry, Brooks, Asics, Under Armour, Skechers, The North Face, K-Swiss and Baby Phat.

Today, approximately 15 percent of all sales come from apparel and accessories. This includes performance and fashion products from Nike, Oakley, Adidas, Under Armour, Sof Sole, professional and collegiate licensed products, t-shirts, shorts, caps, and outerwear from other manufacturers.

Finish Line timeline

• October 1976 – October 1976 - Finish Line opens its doors for the first time as a chain of The Athlete's Foot.
• 1981 – two additional partners, Dave Fagin and Larry Sablosky, are brought on board, and the first Finish Line stores are opened.
• 1986 – The Athlete's Foot franchise expires, and The Athlete's Foot stores are converted to Finish Line.
• October 1991 – 100th store opened. Stores are located primarily in the Midwest
• 1992 – becomes a publicly traded company traded on NASDAQ (FINL).
• July 1995 – 200th store opened.
• November 1997 – 300th store opened.
• February 1999 – record $500 million in sales (for Fiscal 1998).
• July 1999 – first online sales.
• September 1999 – 400th store opened.
• 2002 – Finish Line becomes the second largest athletic retailer (based on sales revenues), and expands the company to nearly 600 Finish Line stores
• 2005 – acquires urban clothing retailer Man Alive with 37 stores in the Midwest. 60 more stores open in the next year.
• 2006 – division opened called Paiva targeting upscale women with 15 stores around the country.
• 2007 – outbids rival Foot Lockers for Genesco, operating Journeys, Hat World, Lids, and Johnston & Murphy. The merger was cancelled in 2008.
• 2007 – closes Paiva's 15 stores to focus on its core concepts.
• 2008 – proposed Genesco merger cancelled after auditors determined the combined entity would not be sustainable.
• 2009 – sells all Man Alive stores to Jimmy Jazz.
• 2016- Finish Line announced it was closing 150 stores due to poor performance in the third quarter sales in 2015. They also announced that they'd replace CEO Glenn Lyon with its President Sam Sato.

Restatement

On March 23, 2005, the company restated its financial results to reflect straight line expense over the lease term including any rent-free build-out periods.