Game Over: A New Business Readies to Sprout (Photo)

Goodbye, sports. Hello Sprouts.

With the planned January arrival of Sprouts Famers Market, constructions workers have begun dismantling the iconic sign that's towered above Foothill Boulevard for decades.

In 1959, Norbert Olberz heard about a small ski shop for sale in La Cañada. Olberz and his wife, Irene, drained their savings account and bought the business, according to the Sport Chalet website. During the first year, the couple slept in the back of the shop and took showers at night with a garden hose.

By 2009, Sport Chalet had become a publicly traded company, with multiple stores, and outgrew its space on Foothill Boulevard. The company moved into the then-new Town Center, where it remains today.