The Finish Line, Inc. (FINL)

The Finish Line, Inc. was an athletic footwear and apparel retailer based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Its stores, most of them in shopping malls, sold running shoes, basketball sneakers and sportswear from brands such as Nike, Adidas and Under Armour. The company also ran an online store and operated the athletic shoe departments inside hundreds of Macy's department stores. It targeted teens and young adults who followed sneaker releases closely.

Alan Cohen and David Klapper founded the company in 1976, and it grew into one of the largest mall-based sneaker chains in the United States, competing with Foot Locker. Its Class A shares traded on Nasdaq under the symbol FINL. At its peak the company ran several hundred stores across the country and Puerto Rico. The company also briefly ran a separate running specialty chain.

Like other mall retailers, Finish Line faced falling foot traffic and pressure from online sellers and from brands selling directly to consumers. The company closed weaker stores and invested in its digital business and the Macy's partnership, but its sales and profits were uneven and its share price fell well below earlier highs. Investors grew concerned about the long-term future of mall-based retail.

In March 2018 JD Sports Fashion plc, a British sports retailer, agreed to buy Finish Line for $13.50 per share in cash, a deal valued at about $558 million. Shareholders approved it and the acquisition closed on June 18, 2018. Finish Line's stock was removed from Nasdaq, and the chain continues to operate as a US subsidiary of JD Sports.