Manalapan Sports Authority to Close

Manalapan, NJ - The Manalapan Sports Authority has been determined to be one of the 140 stores nationwide that will close as the giant retailer files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Sports Authority announced which specific stores would be closing Thursday, the day after the company revealed it was $1.1 billion in debt. An employee at the Manalapan location said they were not allowed to talk to the press. Store managers were reportedly told Feb. 11 their stores would be closed.

Currently, there are 21 Sports Authority stores in New Jersey. Five will close and they are:

2139 Route 38 in Cherry Hill

300 State Route 18 in East Brunswick

55 US Highway 9 in Manalapan

1327 Centennial Ave in Piscataway

81 Willowbrook Blvd in Wayne (Willowbrook Mall)

Sports Authority revealed the list of the stores on the chopping block in a bankruptcy filing, made publicly available. Liquidation sales at the 140 stores may begin Friday if a judge approves the company's bankruptcy claim, reports USA Today.

An estimated 3,400 of its 15,000 employees will be affected by the store closures nationwide. Sports Authority was once the largest sport retailer in the nation, but has been surpassed by Dick's Sporting Goods. Sports Authority is also losing sales to Amazon.

Photo credit: BrokenSphere - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10847439