Dick’s reportedly plans Norwalk store

The vacant Sports Authority retail outlet on Connecticut Avenue in Norwalk may become the latest local outlet for Dick’s Sporting Goods.

The announcement of a new Norwalk store for Dick’s was first reported in The Hour, which cited an unnamed “external publicist” as confirming the planned opening of new store “with no other information forthcoming.”

Dick”™s, which has yet to make any formal announcement on the matter, operates 11 stores in Connecticut, with its Danbury outlet as its sole Fairfield County location.

After years of financial losses, Sports Authority filed for Chapter 11 in March, but then reversed course and liquidated its assets in a bankruptcy auction in May. Dick”™s paid $15 million for the company”™s brand name and additional intellectual property, and spent an additional $8 million to acquire the leases to 31 Sports Authority”™s stores, including the Norwalk location. Sports Authority also operated  stores in Danbury and Bridgeport, which remain vacant.