The Elk Grove and Visalia stores, both more than 42,000 sf, represent some of the latest moves in Sport Chalet's plan to grow in other parts of the state besides Southern California as well as other states. In addition to Elk Grove and Visalia, as part of its fiscal 2005 expansion the company has opened a new store in the Sacramento area community of Roseville, plus one in Pleasonton in the East Bay area near San Francisco, as well as another Southern California location at the Santa Anita Mall in Arcadia.

The Visalia and Elk Grove openings follow five other expansions in the past several quarters by the company, which ends its fiscal year on March 31. "Our growth strategy had historically focused on Southern California, but now includes opening new stores throughout California and Nevada as suitable locations are found," the chain said in a recent SEC filing. Sport Chalet already has two stores in Las Vegas and also has said it plans to move into Arizona. The Arizona expansion will kick off with an initial opening of four locations in the Phoenix area in fiscal 2005-2006.

With the opening of the five new stores in fiscal 2005, Sport Chalet will set a company record for new store growth in one year. Along with the expansion, its plans call for retrofitting and remodeling four stores during fiscal 2005 to conform to the Sport Chalet format that has evolved over the years, which is a location of 40,000 to 45,000 sf that showcases each product category with the feel of a specialty shop. The 2005 retrofits will follow what were the first two full-scale remodels of older stores, the Marina del Rey and West Hills locations in Southern California.