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DarkStar50

Total Hockey Files Bankruptcy

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"Mickey Mantle? Is that what you're upset about? Mickey Mantle makes $100,000 a year. How much does your father make? You don't know? Well, see if your father can't pay the rent go ask Mickey Mantle and see what he tells you. Mickey Mantle don't care about you, so why should you care about him? Nobody cares."

 

kgbeast ; switch Bauer for Mickey Mantle.

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Some points are very valid...I have raised on of my boys who is happy as long as he is protected.  So when he tells me he needs something I know its important to get him XYZ.

 

Some of his buddies on the team though...They are crazy consumers.  One dad tells me, he nevr wants to walk into a Total Hockey or other store because his kid will beg for something...anything...even if he doesn't need it.  He feels like he has to get something.

 

Its the way people are raised.

 

I am devastated on this as I've mentioned before Total Hockey is a place I would always stop at as they had good locations around the rinks my kids play and I never had issues with their sharpenings.  BUT I live over 2 hours away from their stores...But had learned the local store that is 45 min. away is not the best deal.  So you almost always plan a trip to hit a total hockey.

 

One thing no one thinks about, but Goalie Gear can really kill you.  All that stock and how often does that turn over?  Total Hockey would do an annual Goalie Demo Days event...which was very cool IMO.

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On 7/9/2016 at 8:15 PM, DarkStar50 said:

Hawk Hockey was a 2500sf store that had so much product, they hung product from the low ceilings

 

Man, that brings me back...  I used to hit my head on stuff walking around in there.  Bought a couple XN10s there, besides other stuff.  That was a great hockey store, miss that place.

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34 minutes ago, tvaughan4 said:

 

 

Man, that brings me back...  I used to hit my head on stuff walking around in there.  Bought a couple XN10s there, besides other stuff.  That was a great hockey store, miss that place.

We had a store like that in massachusetts called sports specialties.  The guy who ran it would say if you find what you're locking for I will give 20% off.  everything in the store was in piles 

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Sounds like my earliest memories of Zwickers back in the 70's. You would go in there and rifle thru boxes of pants or what have you to find your size.

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My first set of hockey gear (around 6 years old, so about 1988) came from what seemed like somebody's basement that had a ton of hockey stuff on department store racks. It was all used gear. I should ask my dad about that. I can remember stuff from when I was 3 so I imagine my recollection of the place is fairly accurate. Though somehow I can't remember what I had for lunch yesterday. 

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It is a tough balance between steady growth and over-extension. I've experienced nothing but fantastic customer service at both the Exton and North Wales TH stores. For me, has been the only place I'll do anything equipment-related in person. Between playing, officiating and coaching, I'm always in need of something hockey-related. With the Exton store being close to where I live and work, I'm probably in there on weekly basis during the hockey season. I hope nothing changes but as a daytime bean counter, I know bankruptcy can have material consequences.

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20 hours ago, chippa13 said:

Sounds like my earliest memories of Zwickers back in the 70's. You would go in there and rifle thru boxes of pants or what have you to find your size.

 

Just think about 10-15 years from now when another generation of hockey players says "oh my earliest memories of hockey gear were when the UPS truck showed up with that first set of Learn to Play gear from Total Hockey !! I was so pumped to open the box I almost cut my thumb off with off a utility knife."

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On July 7, 2016 at 4:03 PM, scottswenson2 said:

All the equipment companies are taking sizable hits on these bankruptcies. Here Bauer's parent PSG loses another $15-20mm (including Easton and Maverik). PSG lost ~$24mm in the bankruptcies of Sports Authority and Team Express (baseball online retailer). These are not trivial amounts for PSG / Bauer whose stock is in the toilet. CCM / Reebok has to be feeling similar pressures from Adidas parent who wants to sell the unit. In the end, these companies will look to offset these pains with higher prices and tighter trade credit (poor mom & pop retailers). That $300 over-priced stick is going to cost a lot more next year.

 

My Pure Hockey experience has been mixed. I think their larger Marlboro, MA and Burlington, MA stores are great - only topped by Hockey Monkey with their indoor shooting rink. Where Pure Hockey struggles is in smaller stores and where they just have bad managers. It totally depends on the store manager and employees he attracts.

Yeah, Pure Hockey's smaller stores are never great. Most of them more know about lacrosse, from personal experience.

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My first store experiences were in my home town with both a hockey shop In the rink, as well as a half hardware/half hockey shop. The larger stores of today would've been amazing to experience just from the sheer number of choices, but the sharpenings were mostly more consistent back then (mostly from the hardware store guy)

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On July 11, 2016 at 10:03 AM, ZINC said:

Except my  sticks break within a year while my drivers normally last for a decade.

I think you missed the point. I'm not drawing comparisons as to how often people upgrade, switch brands etc. but rather stating that the product cycles are the same ( actually worse) making owning a golf store just as difficult as being a LHS. Companies like Taylor Made, Callaway, Nike, etc. will bring a new club to market every 6-9 months (or it seems) and its nothing more than a new name and new paint, and a slight modification or material. Given that, people wait for the deep discounts. Sounds a lot like the hockey market to me.

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On ‎7‎/‎18‎/‎2016 at 8:10 AM, Axxion89 said:

 

They probably didn't order the skate for you because in 9/10 cases, the customer probably flakes on it & orders somewhere else & now they are stuck with a pair of special order skates & have to find someone else to buy them. If you order online, you get them sooner & if they don't fit, you return them to the store. Also, most Guitar Stores (unless things have changed, GC included) have their salespersons work on commission so of course they are going to fight for you to get something that day, apples & oranges.

I don't understand why the sales rep didn't just take care of that for you on the spot. 

 

"Great, Mr. Customer, we have exactly what you are looking for in our (fill in the blank) store.  We can order that up for you today and you will have it on your doorstep in 3 days.  When it arrives stop on back in our store and we will get those skates baked up and get the first sharpening done at no additional cost.  Now, will you be paying by cash or credit today?" 

 

That simple.  They could turn the computer screen around so you could look at them while you are ordering.  Sale stays in company, could have a code that gives the store credit for the sale.  That never happened to me when I was in a TH.  I remember being in the White Bear, MN store and them not having something in stock there but it was in the Burnsville, MN store.  They could have just sealed the deal right there and had it shipped to my house by entering the order but didn't press the issue.  I ended up buying from TH online site anyways but found it was odd they didn't try to close the deal.  That was my experience.  The staff had always been friendly and helpful but they could have used some training on soft sale closing.

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On ‎7‎/‎21‎/‎2016 at 4:03 PM, OptimusReim said:

My first set of hockey gear (around 6 years old, so about 1988) came from what seemed like somebody's basement that had a ton of hockey stuff on department store racks. It was all used gear. I should ask my dad about that. I can remember stuff from when I was 3 so I imagine my recollection of the place is fairly accurate. Though somehow I can't remember what I had for lunch yesterday. 

 

I remember something similar.  Digging around in the basement stockroom of sporting goods store for a pair of skates in 1979 or so.  I remember them being a pair of Bauer's.  Kids these days won't have the same memories.

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1 hour ago, SCBlueLiner said:

I don't understand why the sales rep didn't just take care of that for you on the spot. 

 

"Great, Mr. Customer, we have exactly what you are looking for in our (fill in the blank) store.  We can order that up for you today and you will have it on your doorstep in 3 days.  When it arrives stop on back in our store and we will get those skates baked up and get the first sharpening done at no additional cost.  Now, will you be paying by cash or credit today?" 

 

That simple.  They could turn the computer screen around so you could look at them while you are ordering.  Sale stays in company, could have a code that gives the store credit for the sale.  That never happened to me when I was in a TH.  I remember being in the White Bear, MN store and them not having something in stock there but it was in the Burnsville, MN store.  They could have just sealed the deal right there and had it shipped to my house by entering the order but didn't press the issue.  I ended up buying from TH online site anyways but found it was odd they didn't try to close the deal.  That was my experience.  The staff had always been friendly and helpful but they could have used some training on soft sale closing.

  That happens all the time any more in just about any environment.  That type of customer service is dying or about dead.

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To be honest, in that scenario, with the benefit of instant satisfaction no longer possible, I'm far more likely to just say "no thanks", then go home and either shop around for pricing or do more research which may or may not lead me to the same product. Especially when you consider that in MY case, I can get it for 20% less and overnight if I buy it online. Getting something immediately in my hands after driving an hour to the store is the only reason why I'd pay more for the same thing. 

 

That's much more my stubbornness of "if I can't walk out of the store with something after driving all the way up here, I'll just buy it later" than anything to do with price, though. I'm FAR more likely to blow money I shouldn't be blowing if it means I'm driving home with a shiny new whatever in the front seat. 

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All WhateverHockey and HockeyWhatever stores have ongoing discount codes such as summer20 which gives you 20% off online purchase. If they'd honor that in stores, everyone would have shopped in the stores and they would have moved more product that they already invested in. In addotion to that, they should utilize their stores for online shoppers. Instead of shipping from TX somewhere to a customer in Oregon, they should ship it from a store one town over and save on shipping which they pay for. This also would enable the customer to buy online and return to the store like Dick's does. Separating online sales and instore sales can not be good for business today. At the end of the day, you need to move inventory, not seat on it. Mfgs release new crap every year, you have only few months to sell off the stock you bought, after that you'd have difficulty to give it away.

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33 minutes ago, Kgbeast said:

All WhateverHockey and HockeyWhatever stores have ongoing discount codes such as summer20 which gives you 20% off online purchase. If they'd honor that in stores, everyone would have shopped in the stores and they would have moved more product that they already invested in. In addotion to that, they should utilize their stores for online shoppers. Instead of shipping from TX somewhere to a customer in Oregon, they should ship it from a store one town over and save on shipping which they pay for. This also would enable the customer to buy online and return to the store like Dick's does. Separating online sales and instore sales can not be good for business today. At the end of the day, you need to move inventory, not seat on it. Mfgs release new crap every year, you have only few months to sell off the stock you bought, after that you'd have difficulty to give it away.

 

I.E. what TH does......?

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13 hours ago, OptimusReim said:

To be honest, in that scenario, with the benefit of instant satisfaction no longer possible, I'm far more likely to just say "no thanks", then go home and either shop around for pricing or do more research which may or may not lead me to the same product. Especially when you consider that in MY case, I can get it for 20% less and overnight if I buy it online. Getting something immediately in my hands after driving an hour to the store is the only reason why I'd pay more for the same thing. 

 

That's much more my stubbornness of "if I can't walk out of the store with something after driving all the way up here, I'll just buy it later" than anything to do with price, though. I'm FAR more likely to blow money I shouldn't be blowing if it means I'm driving home with a shiny new whatever in the front seat. 

 

I've spent the last 10 years of my professional career focused on shopper marketing for consumer product companies and retailers in various markets. What you are talking about is exactly the way most people are starting to view brick and mortar stores. With the amount of information available on the web the need for retail stores and customer service is going to continue to take a hit. Over the next decade you are going to see more and more companies drastically reduce the number of retail outlets and those that do remain are going to look more and more like showrooms rather than an instant gratification shopping experience. Right now this is going to be mostly limited to high dollar purchases but, as companies continue to evolve their on-line sales strategies you will continue see this change. Also, consider what is happening with Amazon and their use of drones for same day delivery and USPS now delivering Amazon orders on Sunday's. Your instant satisfication may not be instant but saving 20% on an item that is delivered next day or even same day is going to be well worth it to most people

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Does the drone wait for you to try it on and immediately take it back if it's the wrong size?

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I feel the need to clear up some misconceptions about TH and their online vs in-store pricing, as well as their inventory:

 

TH runs all promotions in store AND online.  The codes that are used work for both.  We also match other retailers, in-store and online.  

 

We also have the ability to either:

  • Have an item transferred at no charge/no penalty to the customer from an in-market location (or out-of-market, depending on the situation.)
  • Place an online order for the customer (we log in like our CSRs in St. Louis would and order the item for you)
  • We even give you the option to get it shipped to the store so that you can come in and get your skates fitted and sharpened (you'd be surprised as to how many people, especially those new to the sport, just assume the skates are ready to go and they're skating on unsharpened steel.)  If the skates don't work out, we will also return them for you right then and there.  Or any order you place online - you can return it back in your local TH.

We're currently the only major hockey retailer in the country to have the stores and "online" inventories being one in the same - an omni-channel experience.   We have distribution centers in St. Louis, Denver, Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit and Washington, DC.  Most of them are part of a store.  We have stores with shipping capabilities in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.  

 

And yes, have I shipped skates to a customer who came in our store and got fitted and bought them online?  Absolutely.  I've had several instances in which I helped a customer out and he had no interest in buying them in-store, because he thought he would find a deal elsewhere.  Then realized the skates were the same price everywhere and ordered them through us.  And the same skate he tried on was the same skate he received.  So all of those things that people have mentioned happens to them in their local store still happens in our stores.  

 

Keep in mind, I'm not an idiot; for as much as we would hope, the experience we provided wasn't consistent in all of our stores.  It's obviously something you try to achieve but there are several anecdotes in this thread from customers that say otherwise.  I always did things by the book, and it was the best book I ever read in this business.  There is one thing that has not been mentioned here: we never intended to be a discount hockey store.  As long as everything worked correctly, you wouldn't be stuck with last year's merchandise that you then had to blow out.  And typically our stores were purged of whatever was left from the previous year (similar to what Bauer is doing with their OTM stores.)  But the sheer amount of product out on the marketplace forced everyone to go down that road.  And at that point, there really is no coming back.  So for those who lamented that we never had the best deals, that might be a true statement.  But it was in a way that we had current product in store all the time.  That's smart business.  If you want to buy closeouts and then sell those, that's smart business too.  But buying items at full boat then have to take hits on the margin isn't.

 

There is a lot of assumptions and misinformation in this thread about how we failed.  But what is truly killing me is how we are being painted to be some sort of industry villain when we have 32 physical locations to walk into.  Yes, did the industry change?  Yes, did it put the mom and pops out of business?  Yes, is there plenty of blame on both sides to pass around for that?  But some retailers saw how the game was being played and decided to play.  Some retailers chose to strategically sprinkle stores where it was attached to an even bigger warehouse.  Some chose to have multiple brick and mortar stores.  And some chose to have just warehouses (which somehow, those guys have skated away from any negative mention in this thread)

 

It's unfortunate what happened to us.  Some are mentioned, some are twisted around and some haven't been mentioned.  We certainly were on the right track, and it ended up not working out.  I'm very optimistic about where this is going, and I will continue to do what I do best, regardless of which company's name is on the shirt, building facing and paycheck.  

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19 hours ago, Zac911 said:

  That happens all the time any more in just about any environment.  That type of customer service is dying or about dead.

 

I will say...I love going into Total Hockey and always have.  I have been in all of their stores in Chicago and St. Louis.  Some stores work better than others and some just have different stuff (I.E. Goalie stuff).

 

In the past some stores had gone online to search for items I was looking for and most times they just didnt have what I was looking for (stick/flex & curve) to match...(this is where having access to the catalogs here is so hlepful to even know what lines have what curves at what flexs...the avg consumer has no idea about how limited they can be).

 

My Daught has been a goalie and Total Hockey is the preferred store as they have alot of inventory and with being able to look online...you know where to drive to, or request it from.  Nowhere else can you shop this way in any shopping experience I have seen before.

 

Golie Stuff is a limited item, especially when colorways get involved in the purchasing decision.  We always started at Total, but if you need something that weekend...and they are out then you have to look at the other stores.  Jerry's is in Chicago and so is Gunzo's...but Total is the only one where you could shop online and know we are gonna go to Store A and see if you like Reebok or Vaughn or Bauer Catchers.  You cannot shop goalie Gloves online and understand how the breaks differ, but also how the gloves work.

 

But I am a low paid Dad, trying to do alot for the kids...BUT having my fingers crossed.

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3 hours ago, JR Boucicaut said:

Keep in mind, I'm not an idiot; for as much as we would hope, the experience we provided wasn't consistent in all of our stores.  It's obviously something you try to achieve but there are several anecdotes in this thread from customers that say otherwise.

 

I have always been happy with Total Hockey and have visited all the stores in St. Louis and Chicago & Ann Arbor.  I have had a few situations with some staff, but never anything to even think remotely poorly on Total...Ever because far and away I have had awesome service from staff while visiting the stores.

 

The biggest run in was turning in a Broken stick...I had on eo fhte sherwood 5030 composites and the guy at the counter was debating with me that I was trying to turn in a wooden stick and not a composite...even though it had a label of COMPOSITE right on the shaft.

 

Recently went into another and we where meeting up with others at the store before camp and when we walked in and said hi to our freinds the first thing from the staff was...I suppose your Chicago fans as well.  Which drew me to laugh & then respond, yeah...where are the hawks jerseys?

 

Not every store is gonna be perfect and Hockey is a tough sale on some.  My Boys may like a staffs personality, where my daughter did not like the guy helping with goalie stuff, but I liken that to not working with too many girls with goalie masks and my daughter not being very vocal about stuff at the time.

 

We loved getting on the ice for Goalie Demo Days to really get an idea of how the things work ON ICE

 

Bottom Line is no one can understand how much Total Hockey has really worked on being the Hub for Equipment Shopping...

 

EDIT...also forgot...how many Hockey Shops have Wi-Fi so while your waiting you can be online?

 

 

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Maybe this has been mentioned but it definitely bears repeating.  

 

One of the saddest things about this is the loss of a great supporter of both youth hockey and USA Hockey.  I am a president of a MN youth hockey association and over the years we have received untold number of donated rental sets and other support from Total Hockey that we have used to outfit kids who otherwise couldn't afford to try that first year of hockey.  Once they try it, they come back, and TH deserves a TON of credit for everything they have done.  Say what you want about petty crap like mismanagement of stores or whatever, but don't lose the forest for the trees.  Furthermore, open any USA Hockey magazine and notice who is the primary outfitter of USA Hockey - yeah, it's Total Hockey.

 

This is a major loss for youth hockey, and therefore for the future of the game.  Go to any mite practice around the state of Minnesota, and you will likely see many kids, especially rookies, carrying their gear in Total Hockey bags.  Guess what?  Those were likely donated to that association by TH.

 

Thank you, Total Hockey.  You definitely made a mark on the game, and for that you should be celebrated.  

 

I shudder to think what your absence will mean for the future of a getting-harder-by-the-year environment to attract new players.

 

Nothing in my post meant to denigrate other retailers.  Only to point out what a great ambassador TH has been for the sport - at the end of the day, that's what matters.

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14 hours ago, JR Boucicaut said:

I feel the need to clear up some misconceptions about TH and their online vs in-store pricing, as well as their inventory:

 

TH runs all promotions in store AND online.  The codes that are used work for both.  We also match other retailers, in-store and online.  

 

We also have the ability to either:

  • Have an item transferred at no charge/no penalty to the customer from an in-market location (or out-of-market, depending on the situation.)
  • Place an online order for the customer (we log in like our CSRs in St. Louis would and order the item for you)
  • We even give you the option to get it shipped to the store so that you can come in and get your skates fitted and sharpened (you'd be surprised as to how many people, especially those new to the sport, just assume the skates are ready to go and they're skating on unsharpened steel.)  If the skates don't work out, we will also return them for you right then and there.  Or any order you place online - you can return it back in your local TH.

We're currently the only major hockey retailer in the country to have the stores and "online" inventories being one in the same - an omni-channel experience.   We have distribution centers in St. Louis, Denver, Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit and Washington, DC.  Most of them are part of a store.  We have stores with shipping capabilities in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.  

 

And yes, have I shipped skates to a customer who came in our store and got fitted and bought them online?  Absolutely.  I've had several instances in which I helped a customer out and he had no interest in buying them in-store, because he thought he would find a deal elsewhere.  Then realized the skates were the same price everywhere and ordered them through us.  And the same skate he tried on was the same skate he received.  So all of those things that people have mentioned happens to them in their local store still happens in our stores.  

 

Keep in mind, I'm not an idiot; for as much as we would hope, the experience we provided wasn't consistent in all of our stores.  It's obviously something you try to achieve but there are several anecdotes in this thread from customers that say otherwise.  I always did things by the book, and it was the best book I ever read in this business.  There is one thing that has not been mentioned here: we never intended to be a discount hockey store.  As long as everything worked correctly, you wouldn't be stuck with last year's merchandise that you then had to blow out.  And typically our stores were purged of whatever was left from the previous year (similar to what Bauer is doing with their OTM stores.)  But the sheer amount of product out on the marketplace forced everyone to go down that road.  And at that point, there really is no coming back.  So for those who lamented that we never had the best deals, that might be a true statement.  But it was in a way that we had current product in store all the time.  That's smart business.  If you want to buy closeouts and then sell those, that's smart business too.  But buying items at full boat then have to take hits on the margin isn't.

 

There is a lot of assumptions and misinformation in this thread about how we failed.  But what is truly killing me is how we are being painted to be some sort of industry villain when we have 32 physical locations to walk into.  Yes, did the industry change?  Yes, did it put the mom and pops out of business?  Yes, is there plenty of blame on both sides to pass around for that?  But some retailers saw how the game was being played and decided to play.  Some retailers chose to strategically sprinkle stores where it was attached to an even bigger warehouse.  Some chose to have multiple brick and mortar stores.  And some chose to have just warehouses (which somehow, those guys have skated away from any negative mention in this thread)

 

It's unfortunate what happened to us.  Some are mentioned, some are twisted around and some haven't been mentioned.  We certainly were on the right track, and it ended up not working out.  I'm very optimistic about where this is going, and I will continue to do what I do best, regardless of which company's name is on the shirt, building facing and paycheck.  

 

I just wanted to chime in briefly and echo what JR was getting at, that for the most part, TH tried to do right by its customers.  I have so many anecdotes to mention, but I'll present one that probably gets to the heart of both what JR is getting at and what some others are commenting on.  When the only Michigan TH was in Troy, I would drive about an hour, past 3 or 4 other hockey retailers, to get the service JR and that TH store provided.  When I thought my 9 yr old son needed new skates, I drove him up to TH to have JR fit him and get his first pair of junior skates as he was currently in youth 13s.  JR wasn't there, but a younger kid was.  They young kid helped me out.  I suggested a skate (new RBZs) and junior size 1. He had my son try them on and a couple others, and after about 30-40 min, we settled on the RBZs in size 1.  As I was leaving I asked them to hold the skates, because I really wanted to get JR's opinion on the fit.  So, we went home and drove back the next week (spending another 2 hr in the car).  JR was there and sat down.  He pulled the RBZ size 1s out and put them on my son's feet and immediately said, "forget it", these aren't the skates for your son.  He then asked if we had his old skates and had me bring them in.  After looking at the fit, he told me we had at least another few months left in those skates and probably one more youth size before he would need size 1s and they wouldn't be RBZs.  So, I left the shop planning on spending a couple hundred bucks on skates and not actually spending anything.  So, TH lost a couple hundred dollars that day, but has made many more than that since then by making a loyal customer.

 

My points of this story are 1) retail outlets hire young guys that may not have a wealth of experience.  Fitting skates takes experience and any retailer is going to have some kids who may not get it right.  I worked in specialty retail when I was younger and got it wrong a few times as well.  In a sport such as hockey, if you don't have the knowledge or expertise yourself, you need to be discriminating.  2)  The reason I drove past several local retailers to go to the Troy TH was because the same issue existed at those shops as well, and many of them had older, more experienced employees who still got it wrong too.  I trusted JR over a lot of other local, very experienced individuals.  3)  The more experienced people at the TH stores are very good.  I know MANY of them and since there is one much closer to me now, I don't need to drive an hour each way anymore.  There are 3 or 4 employees at my local TH whom I trust without question now and all of the employees are good people even if not as experienced.  In my experience, they all provide great service to customers and try to help out, some are simply better than others. 

 

Finally, as I say, there are 4 or 5 employees at my local store that I trust without question.  I get perfect, consistent sharpening from them everytime. Each have their own characteristics, but they take the time to do a good job and are as consistent as possible between humans in something as "artistic" as sharpening.  That being said, when I'm out in the hockey community and vouching for TH sharpenings to those who ask, I invariably encounter an individual who will counter my good comments saying TH employees, the ones I know, are terrible.  In my opinion, this is not possible.  I have never gotten a sharpening as bad as most other local shops that I will not mention.  In fact, between the two who normally do my skates, I have NEVER had a bad, inconsistent sharpening and yet, others will assert they are terrible and inconsistent.  Again, I can't believe this is possible having watched both of them sharpen while I am hanging around.  This indicates to me that there are two things that are possible, 1) some people's taste is so bad that they perceive a good sharpening as bad or 2) some people just don't like TH and spread bad info.  To me, option 2) is most likely.  This is unfortunate, but probably a fact of life.

 

Anyway, I don't see JR as much as I used to since there is a TH around the corner that I go to now, but I always sing his praises if somebody asks for a good person to go to if they are in the Troy area.  Further, in my experience TH is the best hockey retailer in SE Michigan.  I don't have as much experience around the rest of the country, but around here, they are the best.  On the corporate side, they do me right with rewards and online sales, etc.  I am hoping and praying that things work out and the stores and people stay around when this all shakes out.  I'm willing to pay a bit more for great service and expertise.  Regardless, there are several TH employees I call friends now. 

 

 

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