SPOKANE, Wash. -- A longtime downtown Spokane sport retail store is closing this summer.
After 27 years in business, the owner of Sport Town Steve Warwick said he could not keep up with internet sales and the Nike store opening only yards away.
"There is no way you can sit there and compete with Nike everyday when they have the source of inventory," Warwick said.
He knew change was coming after hearing rumors of the store for a couple of years, "I was kind of prepared for it."
He explained that changes in sales came long before the opening of the physical Nike store downtown.
"The Jordans and the Air Forces weren't available to us anymore," he said.
Nike is one of the biggest items they sell in Sport Town and Warwick feared it would be difficult to continue selling.
"The internet has taken a toll on brick and mortar stores," he said.
Online sales have not increased enough for him to keep the doors open. Despite the 48 years in the sport retail industry, "It's time to move on," he said. "I am not going to live forever and I am getting to the age where I would like to slow down."
The store is expected to keep its doors open through July.