This issue of Sports News will look at sports speciality stores and some of the factors which enable them to be survive against much larger stores.
Service
Many specialty shops are set up to provide complete servicing of the products they sell. Not only does this distinguish them from general sporting goods stores, it also brings customers back on a regular basis.
Said Marylynn LeMoine, co-owner of Aztec Marine in Phoenix, Arizona, "Service will always be an integral part of the business. We push service more because we're a smaller dealer in this area. The bigger dealers focus more on sales, but for us, service equals over half the profits after the sale." (1)
Aside from product repairs and assembly, specialty stores also offer such services as product guarantees, product try-outs and demonstrations, rent-to-own options, and trade-ins for outgrown children's items.
Playmaker Sports in Grapevine, Texas has carved out a niche equipping local teams with personalized uniforms, hats, and other team apparel. While the store also carries related equipment and accessories, the softgoods account for 75% of its sales. (2)
Staff
Most sports specialty shops employ people who actually do the sports. Said Sam Yago of Pacific Drive, a store in San Diego, California: "We started off as a skateboard and surf shop [in 1987]. Our whole philosophy was: 'We sell what we do.' The shop has been carrying snowboards since 1988--almost right from the beginning. We don't Rollerblade or ski, so we don't sell those things." (3)
Personal identification with the sport also helped Bikes Plus, a Chicago area retailer, become one of Bicycle Dealer Showcase Magazine's top 100 dealers in the country. According to Steve Albertson, president of the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, "Cyclists admire their dedication, because they know they live and breathe it, that they are not just in it for retail sales but that they truly believe in it. Then beyond that, they've made a niche for themselves in their store because of its unique and exciting presentation of the merchandise." (4)
Specialty stores also give staffers flexible schedules to facilitate sports participation. Said Ken Gart (whose family once owned a general sporting goods chain and who now owns several outdoor/ski stores in Colorado), "When you've got a huge company, you're always so tied up with budgets and other stuff. Now we can do weird things-- things you could never do as a big company. Like giving your employees a day off to go climbing or get them lift tickets. We want to encourage them to do these things so they can be experts for our customers." (5)
Even though expertise is emphasized, the best specialty stores are careful not to intimidate new customers. "You need people who can deal with a customer from another country who maybe can't speak English well, or an old grandma, or maybe a roughneck--they have to be able to relate to everybody," said Kent Uyehara about the people he hires to work in his San Francisco-based FTC Skate Shop. (6)
Selection
Virtually all specialty stores try to carry brands and products which cannot be found in chains and discount stores. "As soon as the product goes into the bigger stores, our stock is devalued because they're probably buying it for less than we are, because they're buying fifteen times as much," said Will Murray, co-owner of En Equilibre, a Montreal store featuring snowboard, skateboard, windsurfing, and inline products. "Manufacturers have to make choices and decide what they want their product to look like and who they want to sell it to." (7)
Manufacturers know how important specialty stores are to a product's image. "The product must first be desirable in the core market for it to carry through to the mass retailer. ...
"Ideally we would only sell specialty stores--but we always question whether that will allow enough future growth," noted Mike Bross, former marketing director at Sims, a snowboard company. (8)
Most manufacturers see specialty stores as the only way to get their top-of-the-line products into the marketplace. Said Bross, "For the most part, specialty store staff are more knowledgeable, so they can sell higher-end products that are differentiated by their technical features." (9)
Innovative products bring in one group of specialty store customers; unique products bring in another group. For example, Mark Richards, co-owner of Val Surf (a three-store chain based in North Hollywood, California), noted that, "Skaters and non-skaters are rebelling against mainstream retailers and going to surf and skate shops for different looks." (10)
Moving Comfort (a company that makes women's running and athletic clothing) even brings to its headquarters specialty store representatives from around the country to review its product lines. "They play a critical part in fine-tuning our line each season," said Ellen Wessel, president and CEO. (11)
Specialty stores try to capitalize on shifting market trends before they hit the chains and discounters. Said Bob Anderson, manager of Petersen's Ski & Sport in Salt Lake City, Utah, "You may be losing mountain bike sales to certain customers, but you'll be gaining in-line skate sales. And newcomers to the market, instead of selling them mountain bikes, you may now be selling them BMX bikes." (12)
Similarly, said Dennis Derr, co-owner of Armadillo Sport (a chain of specialty stores in Austin and Houston, Texas which sells inline skates, surfboards, skateboards, and beach volleyball equipment and clothing), "We want people to see things in our stores they've never seen before. We want to be on the very leading edge of trends. We'd rather fail at a guess than be pedestrian. ... We stay on top of the MTV culture because that's the market that's looking for aggressive, extreme pastimes." (13)
Location
Some specialty shops benefit by being in the right place (e.g, in an urban high traffic area, next to a ski slope, across the street from a skate park). Specialty stores can fit into tiny storefronts, in areas where high property values make superstores unaffordable, and in remote areas where there aren't enough people to support a big store.
Here are two examples of snowboarding stores able to capitalize by being located adjacent to ski areas:
Community
Specialty stores which target young customers often see themselves as gathering places. "I've tried to make this shop a place where kids can just come and watch videos, listen to music, hang out. ... we had a DJ in here every couple of days spinning tunes," said Tara Krupka, owner of Beyond Waves, a snowboard store in Santa Fe, New Mexico. (16)
Music is even more important to skateboard stores. "... all the music [we stock] is alternative hardcore and punk. It's the stuff skaters listen to. ... Some surfers come in just for the music--then they end up buying shoes," said Mike Johannes of Beach Plus in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. (17)
Noted Murray of En Equilibre, "We're not a sports store. I have a hard time with those types of stores. We're catering to a certain lifestyle. If you look at the larger stores that carry skis, bikes, and snowboards--they can't capture all those lifestyles in one store." (18)
Some specialty stores reinforce community ties through events. Said Debbie Harksen, co-owner of Brainsport: The Running Store in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, "Over the past five years, we have organized over 26 races, everything from running races to triathlons and have been involved with countless others. We are major fund raisers at events such as the Easter Seals 24-hour relay and Run for Recovery.
"On a more casual, social side the Running Store has also organized the Running Club for runners and walkers at all fitness levels." (19)