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Sportsland and Sportswest

Posted: 23 Mar 2009 02:08
by marshd1000
In the 1970's and into the 1980's I remember a chain of sporting goods store in the Pacific Northwest called Sportsland and Sportswest. They all eventually went under the Sportswest name. But they were the sporting goods division of the Pay 'n Save Corporation. From what I know, Sportsland came first. Does anyone know when Sportsland was started? Also was it created by Pay 'n Save or was it just acquired by them? I do know that Sporstland was part of Pay 'n Save when the first Sportswest store was opened by Pay 'n Save at Totem Lake Mall in Kirkland, WA. I actually also remember the second Sportswest store was in Burien, WA and the third was at Westwood Village Mall in West Seattle. Eventually Pay 'n Save opened more Sportswest and Sportsland took on the Sportswest name. When Pay 'n Save was broken up, Sportswest was sold to Big 5. At that time I remember reading that Sportswest was going to stay open in Alaska. So does anyone know the history of Sportsland/Sportswest and how long did they stay open in Alaska?

Re: Sportsland and Sportswest

Posted: 23 Mar 2009 13:07
by Brian Lutz
I know the Totem Lake Sportswest store opened in 1974, which is when the rest of the upper half of Totem Lake Mall opened, and I have a couple of things in my research folder on Totem Lake about it, but the photos I took of the newspaper are too blurry to really read (this was before I really figured out how to get clear photos off the microfilm consistently.) Once I can get my camera situation sorted out again I'll go back and take another look at this stuff. The former Sportswest store at Totem Lake Mall is still operating as a Big 5 today, although much of the rest of the mall (especially the lower half) has declined significantly around it. The redevelopment plans for the property seem to have fallen by the wayside as the mall's owners (DDR/Coventry) have taken huge losses on the real estate crash, and the mall has been recently put up for sale. I do not recall reading anything about the Totem Lake Sportswest store being the first to use that name though.

In fact, when Totem Lake Mall was opened, most of the major stores were Pay 'n Save brands. These included a Pay 'n Save drugstore, Lamonts, Sportswest and a Schuck's Auto Supply in the parking lot (which is still there.) The Pay 'n Save store eventually became a Payless, then a Rite Aid, then moved out to a freestanding store a block away a couple of years ago. The Lamonts became a Gottschalks after the bankruptcy, and lasted a couple more years before closing, and the store is now vacant.

Re: Sportsland and Sportswest

Posted: 23 Mar 2009 19:07
by marshd1000
I just recall seeing ads for Sportsland that said that the ad items were also good at Sportswest at Totem Lake. As new stores were built, they were built as Sportswest and both banners were prominent in the ads. Eventually I remember the Sportsland banner becoming Sportswest.

Re: Sportsland and Sportswest

Posted: 23 Mar 2009 19:09
by marshd1000
Brian Lutz wrote:In fact, when Totem Lake Mall was opened, most of the major stores were Pay 'n Save brands. These included a Pay 'n Save drugstore, Lamonts, Sportswest and a Schuck's Auto Supply in the parking lot (which is still there.) The Pay 'n Save store eventually became a Payless, then a Rite Aid, then moved out to a freestanding store a block away a couple of years ago. The Lamonts became a Gottschalks after the bankruptcy, and lasted a couple more years before closing, and the store is now vacant.
I think that there was also a Ernst-Malmo there too, wasn't there?

Re: Sportsland and Sportswest

Posted: 23 Mar 2009 19:27
by Brian Lutz
marshd1000 wrote:
Brian Lutz wrote:In fact, when Totem Lake Mall was opened, most of the major stores were Pay 'n Save brands. These included a Pay 'n Save drugstore, Lamonts, Sportswest and a Schuck's Auto Supply in the parking lot (which is still there.) The Pay 'n Save store eventually became a Payless, then a Rite Aid, then moved out to a freestanding store a block away a couple of years ago. The Lamonts became a Gottschalks after the bankruptcy, and lasted a couple more years before closing, and the store is now vacant.
I think that there was also a Ernst-Malmo there too, wasn't there?
Correct, there was an Ernst/Malmo store there up until that chain went under. In fact, from what little I've been able to interpolate on the history of Factoria Mall so far, there was a fairly similar arrangement going on there (a Pay 'n Save on one side, an Ernst on the other, and a Lamonts in betweem, with a SportsWest/Big 5 in the parking lot in a freestanding structure and a Schuck's across the street (although that may have come later on, as the 1980 HistoricAerals image doesn't show it.) In that mall, the Pay 'n Save is still there as a Rite Aid, and the Big 5 is still operating as well, and the former Ernst store eventually got turned into an Old Navy.

Re: Sportsland and Sportswest

Posted: 12 Mar 2019 17:49
by mrpete
I started at the Sportsland store in Crossroads in 1976. I became a Store Manager at Aurora Village and then Totem Lake. The Pay n Save Corp paid for my UW tuition! I have a lot of fond memories of the company and people who worked there. I continued with the Big 5 group for about 6 years but it wasn't the same.

The stores had numbers and I can remember some, 371 I think was originally Roosevelt, then moved to Lynnwood. 372 was the First Sportswest at Factoria. 373-Renton, 374-Crossroads, 375-Aurora Village, 376-Totem Lake, 377-Westwood, 379-Burien, 380 Sea-Tac Mall, 381-382-383 in Alaska. Can't remember Ballard store, also U-Village for a while.

Lots of fun and I think I could have worked a good while longer. Cheers! Mr Pete