Modell's, filing for bankruptcy, will close all its stores, including one across from the Barclays Center

"Gotta Go to Mo's"? Not no mo'.

Modell's Sporting Goods, one of the two stores at Site 5 in the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park footprint, is heading for closure after the chain filed for bankruptcy. A liquidation sale starts today, according to the New York Times, and could take up to 7 weeks.

Modell's (140 Flatbush Avenue, across from the Barclays Center) was a tenant of original developer Forest City Ratner, and thus could not object to plans to build on that site: as approved in 2006, a 250-foot building with nearly 440,000 square feet or, as floated since 2016, a giant two-tower project that would incorporate bulk from the unbuilt B1 tower planned for what is now the arena plaza.

The roadblock for now is P.C. Richard, which owns its store and was awarded, in a lower court decision, promised replacement space in the future tower. (That's under appeal.) Separately, it's facing eminent domain, which hasn't yet moved forward.

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More on Modell's

The company was founded in 1889 and operates in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. CEO Mitchell Modell blamed the final decision on an unusually warm winter, online competition, and the coronavirus, as well as low-performing local teams.

The Times said the firm has 141 stores; CNN reported it has 153 stores and noted other competitors, like Sports Authority, Eastern Mountain Sports, and City Sports have met a similar fate.

Bisnow reported that last year the company was reinvesting and restructuring. The New York Post reported that Modell’s hopes "that JackRabbit — a Denver-based sportswear retailer that bought Olympia sports brand last year — will buy it out of Chapter 11."

That might resurrect sporting goods and many Modell's stores, but does not suggest a long-term solution for the location at 140 Flatbush Avenue.