Know Your Hibbetts (or Who is Suing Whom?)

Do you know your Hibbetts? It all started with Mr. Rufus Hibbett, a former superintendent of Florence City Schools. From various public sources:

In 1945 Rufus G. Hibbett, a high school coach and teacher in Florence, Alabama, founded Dixie Supply Company, a retailer of athletic, marine, and aviation equipment. When his two sons joined the business in 1952, Rufus changed the company's name to Hibbett & Sons and focused operating strategy on merchandise for team sports. In the mid-1960s, the company further refined its retail strategy and changed its name to Hibbett Sporting Goods, Inc. In 1980 the Anderson family of Florence, Alabama, purchased Hibbett, invested in professional management and systems, and continued to expand the company's store base at a moderate pace. ANCO then sold the company in 1995.

Why is this important now? In 2010, Rufus' grandson Ira Kneeland Hibbett Jr. helped found Hibbett Patient Care, a compounding pharmacy that presumably rakes in the revenue. Who would confuse the two companies? Why would Hibbett Sporting Goods even care?

Apparently it did care and sued HPC last year. HSG claimed a logo conflict. You decide:

Admittedly the two fonts are almost identical, but nothing else is that similar. Was it worth a lawsuit? At bottom is the new HPC font.

Was HSG already aware of possible problems with Kneeland Hibbett and HPC? Who knows, but we would love to see the legal bills on each side.

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From a reader: Colbert County is running a deficit in school funding. Why has there been so little comment regarding the millions of dollars Colbert County would have received if they had taken the offer from ECM/Regional Care years ago ? It would have put at least $20,000,000 in the commission bank, as I understand it. To make matters worse, HK Hospital then essentially gave themselves away to Huntsville Hospital. Since then, all HK has done is spend millions in attempting to block a modern, full service, regional hospital in this area. Where is the outrage?



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