Academy Sports + Outdoors is an American sporting-goods store chain with corporate offices in the Katy Distribution Center in unincorporated western Harris County, Texas, United States, near Katy and west of Houston. For 74 years, it was a privately held company owned by the Gochman family, until its May 2011 acquisition by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. In October 2020, it was listed on NASDAQ.
History
The origin of Academy Sports + Outdoors dates back to 1938, when Max Gochman opened the Academy Tire Shop in San Antonio, Texas, across the street from St. Henry's Academy, a now defunct Catholic high school. After a few years, Gochman began selling military surplus in his shop, and used the name for new branch stores in the Austin area.[5]
1970s-1980s
In 1970, Max's son, Arthur Gochman, bought a chain of six military surplus stores in Houston. At the time, Gochman was a practicing attorney in San Antonio. He had not been formally educated as a businessman, but he had learned much about the surplus retail business from his father.[2]