Academy Sports + Outdoors Promotes Matt McCabe to Chief Merchandising Officer

McCabe joined Academy in 2016.

Academy Sports + Outdoors has promoted Matt McCabe to the role of EVP and chief merchandising officer, effective June 25.

McCabe replaces Academy’s former chief merchant Steve Lawrence, who stepped into the CEO role at the start of the month as part of a planned succession. McCabe will head up merchandising, planning and allocation and business needs related to private product development. He will report to Lawrence.

McCabe joined Academy in 2016 as VP of divisional merchandise manager, athletic and licensed apparel. He served the SVP and general merchandise manager of footwear for Academy since September 2017. Before joining the sporting goods retailer, McCabe served as VP of Golfsmith International. Prior to that, he worked in merchandising roles at The Bon Ton Department Stores, Bachrach, Sears & Roebuck Co. and more.

“I’m humbled and excited for the opportunity to lead our merchant organization into the future,” said McCabe in a statement. “Under Steve’s leadership, we established a clear market position with strong and localized assortments, value-based differentiation, and refined our merchandising strategies and processes, and I am confident that we can continue to accelerate our growth and take market share in key categories as we help customers have fun out there.”

At its investor day in April, Academy announced a goal to achieve $10 billion in revenue by 2027, with a net income margin of 10%. This goal will be accomplished by opening new stores and investing in the company’s omnichannel and existing business.

In June, Academy reported sales and earnings that were below expectations in the first quarter as consumers pulled back on big ticket items like kayaks and fitness equipment and gravitated towards value. Net sales were $1.38 billion in the quarter, down 5.7 percent from the same quarter last year. Adjusted diluted EPS was $1.30, down 24.4 percent from the prior year. Comparable sales declined 7.3 percent.

The weaker results sparked Academy to lower its guidance for the fiscal year. For 2023, the retailer now expects net sales for the year to land between $6.18 billion and $6.37 billion, compared to a previously issued guidance of between $6.5 billion and $6.7 billion. Adjusted earnings per diluted share are expected to be between $6.80 and $7.50, compared to the previously issued guidance of between $7.00 and $7.75.