Unicorn Sports Center, equipping soccer players since the ‘70s, is closing its doors
To the best of her memory, Charlotte MacLean has never played soccer. She’s never angled her foot to slip a shot past the goalie, ricocheted a ball off her head or exulted with teammates around a newly won trophy.
“When we were in Scotland, it was strictly a guys’ game,” the co-owner of Unicorn Sports Center said Tuesday in her venerable Huntington Beach store. “Parents did not allow their girls to even go and watch soccer games.”
A move across the Atlantic — and a little entrepreneurial spirit — took care of that.
MacLean, who immigrated to the United States in 1959, ended up watching a lot of soccer games in her new country. For that matter, she helped plenty of people, girls included, suit up for the field. Unicorn Sports Center, which opened in 1976, has been a go-to place for decades for local teams, from AYSO to high school, seeking uniforms and equipment.
Now, MacLean and her husband, Jim, are ready to blow the whistle. Unicorn will close by the end of December, with the owners forecasting Monday or Tuesday as their last day in the shop. In the meantime, the MacLeans are offering 50% off on all their stock. This week, the shelves were noticeably barren in places.
Unicorn has carried other sports equipment over the years, but the owners have always considered soccer their specialty. According to Charlotte, that focus came out of necessity.
“When we moved here to Huntington Beach, our kids were little, of course,” she said. “And we went looking for some soccer wear and shoes and all that for them, and there just was not a soccer store. So we were, at that time, looking for a business. We were looking for a location. And I wanted a business where the kids could come after school, so I was going to do something like arts, crafts, something like that.
“And then we found that there was no soccer store, so we just turned it around.”
Unicorn, which is now in a small strip mall at 6488 Edinger Ave., first opened near Springdale Street and Warner Avenue. The MacLeans still have a black-and-white photo of them and their three children outside the store on opening day.
By now, Charlotte said, the store has fourth-generation customers, and some have stopped by in recent days to offer thanks and goodbyes.
When we moved here to Huntington Beach, our kids were little ... . And we went looking for some soccer wear and shoes and all that for them, and there just was not a soccer store.
— Charlotte MacLean
Mark Di Lauro, the commissioner of AYSO Region 55 in Huntington Beach, said Unicorn had been an ally to his group for years, providing package deals for balls, cleats and shin guards.
“You don’t see a lot of soccer-only-type stores,” Di Lauro said. “That’s what made Unicorn so unique.”
With retirement looming, Jim MacLean announced some simple plans as he worked the counter Tuesday: “Get some traveling. Play some golf.”
Golf, and not another sport?
“No soccer,” he said, smiling. “No.”
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Unicorn Sports Center
Address: 6488 Edinger Ave., Huntington Beach
Hours: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursdays; closed Fridays; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays through Tuesdays
Information: (714) 847-1112
