DarkStar50

Well, he won't be allowed to jump the line when he needs his skates sharpened in a rush, will he? How far is it to St. Louis? 'Cause if he has a problem with the skates..................

Take his credit card number before ordering. It's a special order, you are married to it. NOTE: if it is an item you do not normally stock. Same thing happened to me. Guy orders size 230 RBK steel. I don't get his CC #. I call him when the steel comes in. "OH, we bought new skates. I don't need the steel anymore." Any questions? And size 230 RBK steel is not something that will check out soon.

Don't apologize. Until they spend one day working in a LHS/Pro Shop, they really don't have a clue what it's like to deal with John Q. Public. Lee-Bro gets it.

The fee is credited towards your purchase if you do not purchase at that time. This is clearly stated on the signage regarding the fee. I think the fee clearly separates those with intent to buy from those who are "tire-kickers". If we do not have a skate in stock after measuring, we let the customer know up front the situation. If there is no skate in stock, of course, we are not charging a fee. We have an extremely educated staff with a lot of experience. At the same time, in the rink pro shop, we run a tight staff with customers coming in like surges at different times depending on the games, practices, etc. It is important to help those people who have to get on the ice in a game or practice immediately that skate regularly and often in our building from those "customers" that are doing research. The importance of helping someone at once that is ready with cash in hand at the register is paramount to the person just looking to try on gear and tie up a salesman. No matter how that sounds, this is a business. With regards to skate baking and other services, I have to charge now to insert blades on shafts, as well. Guys buy them at Modells or online and then want us to pull out their busted blade and insert the one they bought elsewhere. This is a service and now I can't help that customer at the register ready to buy because I'm in the service room for 10 minutes changing a mangled busted blade in the shaft. I encourage people to go to Home Depot and buy a heat gun. We did. Everybody wants something for nothing. Sorry, that's not the way it works.

We started a $20 fitting fee just a few months ago. I wish we had done it sooner. Even just $20 separates the prospects from the suspects. There is no such thing as over-charging for a skate bake. It's a service and the shop owns the machine. Just factor it into the price of buying your skates online if you insist on having them baked.

Well, if you start buying gear at the LHS, instead of just trying it on and leaving, the staff will get to know you. They will remember you as the guy who buys gear here, not as the guy who just tries stuff on and never buys anything.

This is a take-off on the old favorite: "Do you have white friction tape?" Yesterday a customer asked for a roll of the invisible tape. I sold him clear.

White stitching?

Yes and navy, not black. I like the gold palms.

I agree that sometimes the condition of the skates factors into the charge. Trying to fix/repair/replace holder on some guys skates is like trying to raise the Titanic. If you haven't taken care of your skates, I am not Jesus. I cannot bring your skates back from the dead.

X95 with shortened cuff and fingers

That would be a 7, not a 1.

It had been awhile since this thread was active. I didn't want to start a separate thread and hear the fanboy bs. If any mods feel the need, be my guest. Your LHS dilemma is shared by many. Carry on and have a good night.

I thought the comments were interesting and valid from the members. Considering that Bauer offers custom OPS and custom skates to those that want/need, I was interested in those members that might have had an interest in custom Bauer 4-rolls. Right now Eagle and Warrior are the only two North American companies offering this option. As a dealer seeing orders for custom Eagles and Warriors(I am not soliciting, seeking, or wanting members business. Go to your LHS!), I know this business is out there. I know members here as well as my customers will spend $250+ on custom gloves. I know they will wait 8-10 weeks to have these custom gloves delivered. My question was just to see if guys truly had interest if Bauer offered this route. While an Eagle top end is $200 retail and Warrior goes higher on retail Franchise, Bauer could perhaps be offering custom gloves at $100 more than a retail 4-roll. Would guys pony up the dough if they could get exactly what they wanted in a custom Bauer 4-roll? That is about as simple as I could put it. Speculation, prospecting, who gives a rat's ass. Take it for what it's worth and move on.

If the point ever makes its way back around it will be due to the conversation started here on pg 131 regarding if there was interest in Bauer offering a custom 4 roll glove package. You may carry on with your agenda now.

And then there is validation. Just another word and I digress. "What you don't know, you don't know." DW

This isn't speculation. This is prospecting.

Eagle offers shorter fingers, -1/4", - 1/2" as an option. I did that recently on an X95 glove, shortened the fingers. You have to be exact with the measurement when requesting it. No returns on customs!

I just saw that done on Backstrom's cuff on his X:60 Caps gloves at the Bauer event. Short, tight fingers, too.

I think a custom option would include the palm. On team order 4-Roll, 12 pair minimum per style, I have ordered both standard retail palm and single layer pro palm for different orders. The single layer pro palm is great for feel and flexibility.

Well, they are aware of it now.

Given the prices Warrior and Eagle get at retail for custom gloves, would guys here pay in that neighborhood for custom 4 Rolls from Bauer? Imagine a glove customizer on Bauer.com and the ability to choose options as Warrior and Eagle do. Anyone interested? Just curious.

Customer calls on phone: Do you have Vapor X:40 in size 8? What width, D or EE? Customer: what width? Oh, it doesn't matter.

chrisk, thank you for sharing that experience. It is why we do what we do in the shop setting. You are 100% right, how are you going to get that shared experience with your son from online shopping. I used to work in a full line sporting goods store as well. Your story reminds me of the same situation with the dad buying his son his first baseball glove. These are Kodak moments. Now while everyone always talks about the online price being less money, where is the promise that it will stay that way forever? Oh, there isn't one, is there? Once enough traditional LHS have been crushed and put out of business, the big boys will find it very easy to call the shots on retail online pricing. They will have carpetbombed the landscape and destroyed their traditional competition. Be careful what you wish for. It might come true.