PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A Maine-based sporting goods chain that once had more than 200 stores on the East Coast is shuttering its remaining 35 stores.

The company confirmed the stores would close by the end of September and that liquidation sales had begun at all locations.

Olympia Sports was founded in 1975 by Edward Manganello, who opened his first store at the Maine Mall in South Portland. By 2013, it had 226 locations from Maine to Virginia, the Portland Press Herald reported.

Denver-based running and active lifestyle brand JackRabbit bought the company in 2019.

JackRabbit, owned by a private equity firm, was sold in December to North Carolina-based Fleet Feet. An email to Fleet Feet on Saturday was not immediately returned.

Ryan Belmore is the owner and publisher of What's Up Newp. He took over the publication in 2012 and has grown it into a three-time Rhode Island Monthly Best Local News Blog (2018, 2019, 2020). He was named LION Publishers Member of the Year in 2020 and received the Dominique Award from the Arts & Cultural Society of Newport County the same year. He has been awarded grants for investigative and community journalism, and continues to coach and mentor new local news publications nationwide. Ryan...