流言傳了幾周，美國運動用品連鎖專賣店Sports Authority終于還是遞交了破產申請，成為過去十年破產的最大零售商之一。

申請破產時，Sports Authority的資產高達10億美元，資產規模在十年間破產的零售商之中位列第七，排在電路城（Circuit City）、Linens & Things和General Atlantic & Pacific Tea（A&P）等零售業巨頭之后。

Sports Authority破產案比較耐人尋味，因為其所在的市場實際上在增長。在美國，運動用品的人氣一直在上升。很多美國人即使不鍛煉身體也喜歡穿運動衫、運動鞋，戴運動帽。

但運動用品的高人氣激化了市場競爭。美國零售百貨巨頭塔吉特和科爾百貨等零售商開始出售運動用品加入爭奪戰。耐克和安德瑪等運動用品制造商又在轉變銷售策略，越來越重視通過旗下電商平臺等渠道。加拿大瑜伽服品牌Lululemon等制造商在完全通過自家專賣店銷售。

種種因素導致Sports Authority難以競爭。

我們整理出近些年零售業十大破產案，按照企業剛向法院申請破產時的資產規模排序。數據來自追蹤美國企業破產數據的網站BankruptcyData.com和法院文件。

1）電路城

申請破產年份：2008年

破產時資產：37.5億美元

電路城曾是美國最大電子產品零售商。2009年，該公司尋找買家維持經營失敗后宣告破產。隨著亞馬遜等電商崛起，沃爾瑪和塔吉特之類巨頭又積極出擊，電路城未能迅速應對，靈活調整，最終轟然倒下。

2） Linens & Things

申請破產年份：2008年

破產時資產：17.4億美元

Linens & Things在被私募股權公司Apollo Global Management收購后負債形勢惡化，無力承擔債務。之前Linens & Things曾擁有570家家居用品連鎖店，年銷售額高達27億美元。申請破產后，Linens & Things轉為純線上品牌，近三年前被賣給另一家私募股權公司凱雷集團旗下投資機構Galaxy Brand Holdings。

3）General Atlantic & Pacific Tea （A&P）?

申請破產年份：2015年

破產時資產：16億美元

2015年7月，General Atlantic & Pacific Tea （A&P）根據《美國破產法》第11章條款遞交破產申請，也是五年內第二次申請破產。此后，該公司將旗下多家店面賣給競爭對手Acme和Stop & Shop。近幾年，A&P客戶流失，低端產品有沃爾瑪、好事多和塔吉特等零售巨頭競爭，高端領域又有全食超市挑戰。破產法院至今仍未就A&P破產案作出裁決。

4）Radio Shack

申請破產年份：2015年

破產時資產：15.9億美元

隨著電子產品消費者轉向網購和數字技術興起，曾擁有4000家門店的RadioShack苦苦掙扎多年，最終于2016年2月申請破產。歷史長達94年的“老字號”曾售出首臺面向大眾的電腦，卻以不光彩的方式黯然謝幕。2016年2月末，美國聯邦法官批準了Radio Shack的破產方案，據此分配清算資產，償還債權人債務。

5）百視達

申請破產年份：2010年

破產時資產：15.4億美元

美國影視出租連鎖店百視達曾是美國城市商業區的常客。面對Netflix等新興的在線視頻服務供應商，其競爭之路步履維艱。2011年，百視達被衛星廣播服務供應商Dish Network 收購，兩年后宣布關閉剩下的300家美國門店。

6）Borders

申請破產年份：2011年

破產時資產：14.2億美元

連鎖書店Borders遲遲未能適應電子書潮流，連用戶界面友好的電商網站都沒搭建。這些致命的錯誤導致Borders在銷售大戰中敗給亞馬遜，落得破產收場。相比之下，另一家零售書店Barnes & Noble表現較好，推出了電子書閱讀器品牌Nook，最終因紙質書銷售回暖而獲益。

7）Sports Authority

申請破產年份：2016年

破產時資產：10億美元

2006年，私募股權集團Leonard Green & Partners以13億美元杠桿收購將Sports Authority收入囊中。此后，Sports Authority努力重組大部分債務，清理資產負債表，最終走上通往破產的道路。2016年3月，Sports Authority表示，會關閉旗下463家門店之中的140家。資產負債表整頓可能幫助該公司給予剩余門店亟需的投資。其競爭對手Dick’s Sporting Goods也可能獲益，因為據稱該公司有意收購部分Sports Authority擬關閉的門店。但同年5月，因未能與債權人和貸款方達成一致，Sports Authority表示將關閉所有門店。

8）Sbarro

申請破產年份：2011年，2014年再度申請

破產時資產：4.9億美元

2014年，Sbarro三年內第二次遞交破產申請。在此之前，這家知名意大利快餐連鎖店飽受債務困擾，其在美國多家商場的門店客流量下降。同年6月，Sbarro剝離部分債務后輕裝上陣，還宣布推出讓顧客自制披薩的新業務，地點在旗下提供再加熱披薩服務的連鎖店，這也是效法競爭對手Chipotle的路數。

9）Friedman’s

申請破產年份：2008年

破產時資產：4.48億美元

本世紀以來經濟衰退導致中檔珠寶商Friedman’s陷入困境，客戶紛紛撤銷不是特別需要的鉆石等訂單。債權人依據《美國破產法》第十一章規定，對擁有455家門店的Friedman’s提請非自愿清算，而后強迫執行破產程序。最終，該公司宣告破產。

10）Brookstone

申請破產年份：2014年

破產時資產：4.07億美元

Brookstone是一家特色產品零售商，以出售按摩椅和旅游電子產品聞名。因債臺高筑，該公司于2014年申請破產保護。不過跟很多破產的零售業同行不同，Brookstone已經渡過難關，目前仍以連鎖店形式經營，門店超過200家。（財富中文網）

Sports Authority finally filed for bankruptcy after weeks of speculation and with that, the chain joined the ranks of the largest retail bankruptcies the industry has seen in the past decade.

With assets of up to $1 billion, the athletic gear retailer will land in the seventh spot in a tally led by Circuit City, Linens & Things, and General Atlantic & Pacific Tea (A&P).

The bankruptcy filing of Sports Authority is interesting because it actually participates in a growing pocket of the broader retail industry. Athletic gear popularity has increased as more Americans wear sneakers, athletic tops and t-shirts around town, not just for the purpose of working out.

But that success had led to more competition. Retailers like Target (TGT, +0.45%) and Kohl’s (KSS, +1.82%) have entered the space by moving to sell more athletic wear. Meanwhile, manufacturers like Nike (NKE, +1.16%) and Under Armour (UA) have increasingly focused on selling their gear through their own channels, including their e-commerce platforms. Other players, like Lululemon, completely sell their gear through their own store channels.

All of those factors made it difficult for Sports Authority to compete.

Here is a look at the 10 largest retail bankruptcies in recent years, as ranked by assets at time of the initial court filing. Data is from BankruptcyData.com as well as court filings.

1) Circuit City

Shoppers leave a Circuit City outlet running a store closing sale in Greensboro, North Carolina, U.S., on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2009.

Photograph by Jim R. Bounds — Bloomberg via Getty Images

Year: 2008

Assets: $3.75 billion

Circuit City, once the top U.S. electronics retailer, went out of business in 2009 after failing to find a buyer that would keep it going. The company was ultimately felled by its inability to respond as quickly and deftly to the rise of online retailers like Amazon.com (AMZN, +0.19%) and aggressive incursions by mass merchants like Walmart (WMT, -0.24%) and Target (TGT, +0.45%).

2) Linens & Things

Customers walk away after shopping at the going-out-of-business sale at Linens 'N Things November 21, 2008 in Miami, Florida.

Photograph by Joe Raedle — Getty Images

Year: 2008

Assets: $1.74 billion

The 570-store housewares chain went under after private equity firm Apollo Global Management (AGM, -4.22%) saddled it with more debt than it could handle. Linens & Things, which at one point had annual sales of $2.7 billion, later came back to life as an online only brand. And nearly two years ago, it was sold to Galaxy Brand Holdings, an investment vehicle owned by private equity firm The Carlyle Group (CG, +1.84%).

3) General Atlantic & Pacific Tea (A&P)??

A&P Supermarket, is shown at 230 Saw Mill River Road, Yorktown Heights, N.Y., Dec. 10, 2010. A&P is expected to file for bankruptcy.

Photograph by Bloomberg/Getty Images

Year: 2015

Assets: $1.6 billion

The supermarket chain recently filed for Chapter 11 protection for the second time in five years and sold the bulk of its stores to rivals Acme and Stop & Shop. The grocer was hurt in recent years by companies like Walmart, Costco (COST, +1.02%) and Target stealing consumers on the lower end of the price spectrum, and Whole Foods (WFM, +0.00%) on the higher end. The A&P case is still making its way through bankruptcy court.

4) Radio Shack

A RadioShack store in 2015, the last time the company filed for bankruptcy protection.

Photograph by Joe Raedle — Getty Images

Year: 2015

Assets: $1.59 billion

After struggling for years as electronics shoppers shifted online and digital technology emerged, the 4,000-store RadioShack filed for bankruptcy on February, marking an ignominious end for a94-year-old retailer that had sold the first mass-market computer. Last week, a federal judge signed off on Radio Shack’s Chapter 11 plan, which distributes proceeds from the company’s liquidation to creditors.

5) Blockbuster

Photograph by David Friedman — Getty Images

Year: 2010

Assets: $1.54 billion

Blockbuster, once a fixture in America’s shopping and strip malls, struggled to compete with the emergence of Netflix (NFLX, +1.82%)and other video-on-demand services. Blockbuster was bought by Dish Network (DISH, -0.78%) in 2011, but two years later the video-rental company said it close its remaining 300 U.S. stores.

6) Borders??

UNITED KINGDOM - FEBRUARY 25: Customers browse in a Borders bookstore in a mall on Liverpool Road in the borough of Islington, London, U.K., Saturday, February 25, 2006. Photographer Adrian Brown/Bloomberg News (Photo by Adrian Brown/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Photograph by Adrian Brown — Bloomberg via Getty Images

Year: 2011

Assets: $1.42 billion

The Borders bookstore chain was slow to adapt to the e-books phenomenon — or even to build a user-friendly e-commerce site — fatal mistakes that saw it lose sales to Amazon (AMZN, +0.19%) and ultimately led to its collapse. Barnes & Noble (BKS, -1.87%) fared better, launching the Nook and eventually benefiting from the revival of print book sales.

7) Sports Authority??

Photograph by Karen Desjardin — Moment Editorial/Getty Images

Year: 2016

Assets: $1 billion

Owned by private equity group Leonard Green & Partners after a leveraged buyout for $1.3 billion in 2006, the company is entering bankruptcy in a bid to held shed much of its debt and clean up its balance sheet. It will close about 140 of its 463 stores, a move that will likely help rival Dick’s Sporting Goods. It could also help Dick’s open new locations in underserved markets. Dick’s reportedly is interested in buying some stores in bankruptcy court. Meanwhile, a cleaner balance sheet could help Sports Authority make much-needed investments in the company’s remaining stores.

8) Sbarro

Photograph by Alex Wong — Getty Images

Year: 2011 and again in 2014

Assets: $490 million

The food-court fixture filed for bankruptcy protection in 2014 for the second time in three years after choking under too much debt and declining traffic at many U.S. malls. That June, Sbarro re-emerged with a smaller debt load and a plan to let customers make their own pizzas at a chain known for reheating pizza, taking a page out of Chipotle’s (CMG, +0.71%) playbook.

9) Friedman's

Photograph by Yves Herman — Reuters

Year: 2008

Assets: $448 million

The recession was a hard time for mid-tier jewelers, with consumers pulling back on items they didn’t really need (i.e., diamonds). Friedman’s, which had 455 stores, was hit by an involuntary Chapter 7 liquidation filing at force, later changed to a Chapter 11 proceeding. But ultimately, Friedman’s went out of business.

10) Brookstone

A Brookstone store is seen at Rockefeller Center in New York City.

Photograph by Mario Tama — Getty Images

Year: 2014

Assets: $407 million

Brookstone, the specialty retailer famous for massage chairs and travel electronics, filed for bankruptcy protection in early 2014, hurt by high debt. But unlike many of its bankrupt retail peers, the company has pulled through and continues to operate as a chain with over 200 stores.