June 2013, Ottawa, Ontario

Canada’s most celebrated specialty sporting goods, fashion and athletics retailer, Sporting Life proudly announces the acquisition of the iconic Ottawa ski, snowboard and specialty sport retailer Tommy & Lefebvre.

Sporting Life, multiple winner of the Snowsports Industry of America’s retailer of year, and a 35 year industry veteran, says incorporating the expertise of the Tommy & Lefebvre team will strengthen the overall national presence of the Sporting Life brand in several categories and allow it to enter the Ottawa regional market with a strong market share, trained experienced sales force and invaluable local knowledge.

Tommy & Lefebvre will continue to operate for at least the next year with its current management and sales force. When Sporting Life Lansdowne opens in the Fall of 2014, the team at Tommy and Lefebvre will join the Sporting Life family in the new 43,000 square foot Sporting Life location now coming out of the ground.

Brian McGrath, Chairman and co-founder of Sporting Life notes that both the Sporting Life and Tommy & Lefebvre teams are inspired and excited for the opportunity to exceed the expectations of Ottawa area customers for many years to come.

“The hallmark of our business is our ability to provide an extensive product mix at a competitive price, knowledgeable personal service on the sales side and further provide tech support and service for all the equipment in the store,” said Brian McGrath.

”Sporting Life and Tommy & Lefebvre have been friends in the industry for over 34 years now. We saw more of an upside for customers and for us if there was a way to work together by merging their family into ours rather than be competitors in a business we both love.” Natalie Tommy, Vice President of Tommy & Lefebvre echoes McGrath’s sentiments.

“We are excited to become part of the Sporting Life family. They share our same core values of community support, extensive product selection, and their legendary personal service” Tommy said. “They are also progressive ecommerce retailers and most of the equipment and apparel mixes will be available online, something our customers have been asking for. Sporting Life will deliver everything we strived to be and everything we have dreamed of for our customers. We look forward to a seamless transition towards Sporting Life’s Fall 2014 opening day!”

The new Sporting Life store will be opening up in Fall of 2014 at Holmwood and Bank offering shoppers an extensive mix of hard goods athletic gear for the snowsports, outdoor enthusiasts, cyclists, racquet sports, athletic training combined with a unique blend of fashion – casual and sport that has made Sporting Life famous. It is expected to house over 200,000 skus.

“We are proud to be bringing our most exclusive brands as well as those brands that set the international trends such as Moncler, Spyder, Barbour, Ralph Lauren, The North Face, Canada Goose and Nike just to name a few” said Patti Russell, co-owner and principal softgoods Director. “We will endeavor to search for brands that are new to Ottawa and our customers.”

Kevin Pidgeon, President of Tommy & Lefebvre is excited about Sporting Life’s passion for community support in addition to the new retail opportunities and shopping experiences the acquisition will bring to the region.

“This is a very exciting time for our fans and customers. This acquisition will allow us to take our customer’s retail experience to the next level, while continuing to be the clear market leader in the sporting goods retail marketplace” Pidgeon said. “Part of the unique offering that Tommy & Lefebvre has become legendary, is it’s community involvement and support of such great community organizations as The National Capital Outouais Ski Team, the Ottawa Senator’s Foundation as well as many other community, ski, bike and tennis organizations in the region. We are thrilled that Sporting Life shares our passion for continued community involvement.”

ABOUT SPORTING LIFE

Sporting Life -famous and successful because of its excellent customer service was founded in 1979- and still managed today by co-owners Patti Russell, Brian McGrath and David Russell. There are currently over 600 employees in four stores – three in the Greater Toronto Area, one in Collingwood and now it’s latest addition, Ottawa. Its flagship store is located at 2665 Yonge Street in Toronto. Sporting Life – A Fairfax Com¬pany is currently expanding and looks to opening stores in major Canadian cities across our country.

ABOUT TOMMY & LEFEBVRE

Tommy & Lefebvre was founded in 1958, by World Cup skiers and Olympians, Art and Andy Tommy and joined in subsequent years by Reg Lefebvre. Several members of the Tommy families were National Alpine Ski Team members and pro athletes. In 1985 Natalie was named Vice President and in 1994, after Arts death, Kevin Pidgeon, Arts son in law, became the President and together they run and manage the business for Marilyn Tommy, Odette Lefebvre and the Trust of Marion Tommy. Tommy & Lefebvre has three locations and 150 staff with its 24,000 square foot flagship is located at 464 Bank St, Ottawa, Ontario.

For further information or interviews, please contact:

David Russell – President, Sporting Life Inc.
tel. 416-485-1685  |  david.russell@sportinglife.ca

Brian McGrath – Chairman, Sporting Life Inc.
tel. 416-485-1685  |  brian.mcgrath@sportinglife.ca

Patti Russell – Co-owner and principal softgoods Director, Sporting Life Inc.
tel. 416-485-1685  |  patti.russell@sportinglife.ca

John Roe
Director of Marketing, Sporting Life Inc.
tel. 416-673-0840  |  john.roe@sportinglife.ca

Kevin Pidgeon
President, Tommy & Lefebvre
tel. 613-236-9731  |  kp@tandl.com

Natalie Tommy
Vice President, Tommy & Lefebvre
tel. 613-236-9731  |  nt@tandl.com