Overview
- Mitchell Modell launched MitchellModells.com on Monday to sell non‑licensed, sports‑inspired merchandise, beginning with a limited‑edition New York championship T‑shirt featuring a pigeon design.
- The launch shirt is listed at $20 and donates $5 from each sale to fund free PSA prostate‑cancer screenings, with a stated goal of selling 100,000 shirts to raise $500,000.
- Modell has publicly disclaimed any affiliation with the original Modell’s Sporting Goods or modells.com, which were sold after the chain’s 2020 bankruptcy and later held by third parties including Retail Ecommerce Ventures and Omni Retail Enterprises.
- The new venture is online‑first but aims to reopen physical Modell’s stores by 2030, and Modell said he is exploring a legal name tweak to avoid trademark conflicts with current IP owners.
- The effort draws on local nostalgia after the Knicks’ championship and highlights how the chain’s 2020 collapse—which closed 153 stores—was tied to the rise of e‑commerce, a dynamic that now shapes Modell’s comeback plans and the city’s retail landscape.