G.I. Joe's was a privately held retail chain for

sporting goods Sports equipment, also called sporting goods, are the tools, materials, apparel, and gear, which varies in shapes, size, and usage in a particular sport. It includes balls, nets, rackets, protective gears like helmets, goggles, etc. Since the p ...

ready-to-wear Ready-to-wear (RTW)also called ''prêt-à-porter'', or off-the-rack or off-the-peg in casual useis the term for garments sold in finished condition in standardized sizes, as distinct from made-to-measure or bespoke clothing tailored to a partic ...

clothing, and

auto parts This is a list of auto parts, which are manufactured components of automobiles. This list reflects both fossil-fueled cars (using internal combustion engines) and electric vehicles; the list is not exhaustive. Many of these parts are also used o ...

; that operated stores in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

region of the

northwestern United States The Northwestern United States, also known as the American Northwest or simply the Northwest, is an informal geographic region of the United States. The region consistently includes the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming ...

. ''Growing Up With G.I. Joe's — From war surplus store in a tent to Pacific Northwest retail chain, how Ed Orkney built G.I. Joe's''
by his daughter Janna Orkney; Columbia Press 2015; . Founded in 1952, the company had as many as 31 stores, located in

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

and

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

. It was based in

Wilsonville, Oregon Wilsonville is a city in Clackamas County, Oregon, Clackamas and Washington County, Oregon, Washington counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. Founded with the name Boones Landing for the Boones Ferry that crossed the Willamette River, the communit ...

. In 2007, the company changed its name to Joe's. In 2009, it filed for

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

and was

liquidated Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end. The assets and property of the business are redistributed. When a firm has been liquidated, it is sometimes referred to as wound-up or dissolved, although di ...

20th-century history

G.I. Joe's began in 1952 when Edward Orkney purchased army surplus sleeping bags and then set up a tent in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, to sell them to the public. Orkney sold out of the sleeping bags and then started selling other army surplus merchandise in a store that then doubled in size by 1956, making it Portland's largest retailer of sporting goods and outdoor gear. During the 1960s, Orkney transitioned the company away from military surplus and towards an eclectic combination of sporting goods, automotive parts, and hardware; the 1970s saw the company become a chain within the

Portland metropolitan area The Portland metropolitan area is a metropolitan area, metro area with its urban area, core in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington (state), Washington. It has 5 principal cities, the largest being Portland, Oregon. The U.S. Office of Man ...

, with its line of merchandise expanding to include

houseware Household goods are goods and products used within households. They are the tangible and movable personal property placed in the rooms of a house, such as a bed or refrigerator. Economic role Businesses that produce household goods are categoriz ...

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and

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

supplies, and apparel. In 1976, Orkney died and his son, David Orkney, took over the business. A distribution center was built in 1979 in Wilsonville, with that facility expanded in 1986.Joe's Sports & Outdoor plans to expand distribution center.
''

Portland Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes ''The Business Journals'', which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States with each market ...

'', August 28, 2007. G.I. Joe's opened its eighth store, located in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

, in 1983. At the time, the company also operated 16 The Jean Machine stores, and the two chains had combined annual revenue of $68 million (~$ in ) in 1982. In 1991 the chain expanded to the

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

market and had increased to 14 stores with revenue of $135 million. The next year David Orkney stepped down as the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

and longtime-employee Norm Daniels assumed the role. The new Seattle store was about the same size as the Portland area stores, but re-focused on two product lines: automotive parts and sporting goods. In 1998, the company made plans to go public by issuing an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

(IPO) of stock to the general public. The plan was to use the cash from the sale of shares to fund an expansion program in order to become more of a regional chain. The company even filed with the

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...

in late 1998 for an IPO, but the next year the plan was withdrawn when the expected unit price of the company's shares was not as high as had been hoped for by the company. By 2000, revenue had increased to $161 million from 17 stores, making G.I. Joe's the 12th largest sporting goods retailer in the United States, and largest in the Pacific Northwest. It was also the 142nd largest retailer overall in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

by revenue in 2000.

G.I. Joe's changes to Joe's

On February 5, 2007, G.I. Joe's was sold to Gryphon Investors in a

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

dealJoe's names new president.
''

'', January 14, 2008. that was later reported to be for about $50 million. In March 2007, the newly acquired company announced that it was dropping the "G. I." from its name to become simply Joe's in order to better reflect its product line, which had not included military surplus in many years. The name change took effect on April 1, 2007. Also that year, the company opened its 28th store, and first in Idaho with a store in Meridian, and announced plans to build a new distribution center at its headquarters in Wilsonville. The company was a regular presenting sponsor of the annual C.A.R.T. race in Portland before the event ended after the 2007 race. In January 2008, Hal Smith replaced Norm Daniels as the company's CEO. The company hit a high of $274 million (~$ in ) in revenue for the sales year ending in 2008.

Demise

December 2008 sales dropped off by 10%, partly due to winter snowstorms in the Northwest that paralyzed major cities as Christmas approached. Joe's then fell into violation of several loan covenants with its main lenders. Despite some efforts by the owners to infuse capital into the company, the lenders declined to restructure the loans and loan more money to Joe's. On March 4, 2009, the chain filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

reorganization with hopes of selling the company. Although the company had hoped "that some portion of the business could survive", "insufficient sources of capital" meant that the company had to accept a bid from a liquidator, Gordon Brothers. The company began liquidation sales on April 10, 2009, and all stores were closed by the end of May with 1600 employees laid off. In June 2009, a general contractor for Dick's Sporting Goods announced it would begin renovating the former Joe's location in

Hillsboro, Oregon Hillsboro ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon and is the county seat of Washington County, Oregon, Washington County. Situated in the Tualatin Valley on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area, the city hosts many High tech, high-te ...

, into what will be the second Dick's Sporting Goods in the state. Dick's later took over five other former Joe's locations in Oregon, and along with the Hillsboro site, all had been part of the plan by the former managers to resurrect a small part of the company. Another Joe's in

Meridian, Idaho Meridian is a city located in Ada County, Idaho, Ada County, Idaho, United States. The population was 117,635 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Idaho, 2nd most populous city in the county and Idaho a ...

, was acquired by Dick's in January 2010 for a March opening.

Restart attempt

In January 2010, former Joe's executives established a small storefront in a strip mall in the Portland suburb of

Bethany Bethany (,Murphy-O'Connor, 2008, p152/ref> Syriac language, Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܥܢܝܐ ''Bēṯ ʿAnyā''), locally called in Palestinian Arabic, Arabic Al-Eizariya or al-Aizariya (, "Arabic nouns and adjectives#Nisba,

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of Lazarus (name), L ...

, in attempt to start a new version of the old company, but using the original G.I. Joe's moniker. Within six months, the attempt had failed after the former executives, a group that included the son of the G.I. Joe's founder Edward Orkney, were sued for trademark infringement by UFA Holdings, the company that had acquired the right to the name and related trademarks such as "Seize the Weekend". The former executives had thought they had legal standing since the UFA wasn't actively using the name.

Online subsidiary

In addition to the retail stores, G.I. Joe's operated an online subsidiary called Joe's Direct. Joe's Direct was created in late 1998 when Timberline Direct, a catalog and electronic commerce firm based in

, was acquired by the company for $5.4 million. The online presence was operated by GSI Commerce, and was sold to Canada-based UFA Co-operative Limited. As of June 2010, UFA uses the domains it acquired to redirect traffic to a website for its U.S. sporting goods business, Wholesale Sports.

History book

''Growing Up With G.I. Joe's'' was published in November 2015 by Columbia Press. It was written by Janna Orkney, the store founder Ed Orkney's daughter, and tells the story of G.I. Joe's founding and growth.

References

External links

Growing Up With G.I. Joe's Blog''Growing Up With G.I. Joe's''
— ''book by Janna Orkney''. {{Authority control Defunct retail companies of the United States Automotive part retailers of the United States Sporting goods retailers of the United States Defunct companies based in Oregon Companies based in Wilsonville, Oregon American companies established in 1952 Retail companies established in 1952 Retail companies disestablished in 2009 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009 1952 establishments in Oregon 2009 disestablishments in Oregon