starting new skate(baking) business...need help

[kurtandshan 0]

Hi all,

After realizing I cannot find a LHS that has a skate oven anywhere convenient to me. Also, with the large amount of online sales in my area I had an idea to start a new service..skate baking for online sales. I have searched quite a bit and found some answers but the links I found are either too old or don't exist anymore.

Does anyone know how I go about acquiring an oven, and which oven is the most versatile (ie can bake most skate brands) . Also, transportable would be nice because alot of the rinks around here are also not near an LHS with an oven.

Thanks

[kevintung_2k 0]

Blackstone sells one for $2500: http://blackstonesport.com/product_details.cfm?product_id=13

I recommend also sharpening skates to bring in a customer base.

[kurtandshan 0]

Eventually, but right now we have a number of decent sharpeners and each rink has them, but no one has an oven....anymore thoughts people?

any other ideas on ovens? $2500 is a bit too much capital to invest at this point.

[DarkStar50 679]

Charge $50 a bake x 50 pair = $2500, and you have it paid for. Think you can find 50 customers?

[legiahockey 3]

no one i know would pay 50 bucks for a bake. there has to be a cheaper oven

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

The trapezoid ovens are a bit less elaborate and are cheaper than the Blackstone ones.

[IniNew 53]

no one i know would pay 50 bucks for a bake. there has to be a cheaper oven

Maybe you just found the reason none of the shops in your area has an oven...

[DarkStar50 679]

Shops charge more for a baking because of online shopping. Is it worth $50? Maybe, maybe not but when you bring in skates from online shopping the LHS is just trying to level the playing field. Let the fur fly..............

[jrhky36 1]

agree with darkstar on this. we have to support our lhs whenever possible. but there are times when buying online is the only way we can buy something. for a shop to charge 50 for baking is not unfair or even a skate fitting fee, knowning that guy who tried on 20 different pairs of skates and did not buy is going shopping on line thinking he's getting a better deal.

[kurtandshan 0]

I guess I wasn't clear....We have NO LHS near us or with 75miles...unless you call Dunham's Sports a hockey shop. Thus the reason for the fair amount of online purchases.

JR,

I searched trapezoid skate oven and got nothing...can you give me something more to go on?

[kovey10 0]

If you have no LHS near you or within 75 miles, $50 might not be that bad. If youre the only one in the area that will do it or offers the service what choice do people have? Either drive 75 miles or pay the $50 and have you do it, I know the LHS by me does it for $40 if you dont buy the skates there and people go there all the time for baking. I live in an area with a bunch of shops 10 miles away and people are constantly paying to have their skates baked.

If you offer a service that nobody else does or nobody around you does you will get the business, if that many people are buying skates online and need baking they will come to you. From a customers point of view Id pay $50 all day long rather than driving 75 miles to have it done.

[jrhky36 1]

I guess I wasn't clear....We have NO LHS near us or with 75miles...unless you call Dunham's Sports a hockey shop. Thus the reason for the fair amount of online purchases.

JR,

I searched trapezoid skate oven and got nothing...can you give me something more to go on?

dunhams is just a joke period

[Jordan 13]

You could buy a convection oven (of the food variety) that is of very high quality that would work just fine for significantly less than that amount.

[raganblink 82]

Good luck finding an oven from someone. Unless a shop is going out of business, or you want to spend a boat load on blackstone, you're probably not going to be able to get one. CCM and Bauer I know make ovens and they only sell to dealers. So in a sense, become a dealer, and you could buy an oven. Or try to find a shop going out of business or something. Would be ironic in a way, shop that is going out of business b/c of online sales, sells oven to someone to bake skates for people who buy online.

[Chadd 916]

If you live in an area where none of the shops within 75 miles have an oven, there probably isn't enough business to support a skate baking business. Once you cover all of business startup costs and paperwork, then buy the oven you're looking at a lot of bakings at whatever amount you think people will pay. Don't forget to charge sales tax and remit that to the state along with claiming any income you may make. Once you get that set up, I would expect that the rinks would want a percentage, or at least a set fee, to allow you to set up your business in their rink. And none of that covers your time/effort. Maybe there is a niche in the market, but it's a lot of overhead for a minimal return.

[srv2miker 0]

Not to pile on here, but I have to agree - I don't think you'll find enough customers to make this a worthwhile business. To be feasible at all, you'd need to add some kind of sharpening service, and that may only work if there's lots of hockey players and figure skaters around. I say figure skaters because they're usually a little more picky about their blades, and therefore might be willing to visit a shop outside of their arena.

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

Gotta have a background to sharpen high-end figure. Not that it really matters, but it does to them.

[DarkStar50 679]

Gotta have a background to sharpen high-end figure. Not that it really matters, but it does to them.

Sorry, but the first sentence is true and the second sentence is not. Having the background matters when you are sharpening John Wilson Gold Seal blades that sell for $600 a pair. If you don't understand completely what you are doing when sharpening high end figure steel, you won't last a minute in the business. Gold Seal blades and Tuuk blades are galaxies apart in the sharpening universe. Follow that high end figure blade sharpening up with a good 10-15 minutes of hand finished sharpening with bullet stones and you better know what you are doing or you will be bleeding all over the white figure boots. It matters to the elite figure skaters in my shop who does their skates. Your reputation in sharpening high end figure skates is everything.

[kurtandshan 0]

Again, I am not interested in sharpening at this time. There are three rinks within 50 miles of me, each of these does not have a LHS within 75 miles, each of these has a figure skating club, a youth hockey association, and mens/adult hockey. There are other rinks that are farther away from me that also are not served by a LHS. Finding customers to bake skates...beginning of the year, Christmas etc. is not an issue. A majority of the people my boys skate with and against have to purchase online because its the only alternative. what I need I have started businesses and the paperwork and fees here is really not that much. I am more looking to provide aservice then buy a Bentley with the profits.

[Zamboni 6]

There may be no oven within 75 miles of you now-that could change right after you set up. The rink pro shops will realize your next logical move is into skate sharpening so may purchase an oven if they regard you as a threat. Even if the existing sharpening businesses are are assured you won't be competing they may say "wow, $50 a bake! Call that guy going bankrupt in rural Ohio and offer him $250 cash for his oven before the trustees inventory his shops merchandise."

I wouldn't start up unless you find a cheap oven and can run this with no overhead out of your garage.

[kurtandshan 0]

Rink proshops aren't a problem. O f the three rinks I mentioned , 1 rink has no shop at all, just a skate sharpener inside a shed in the rink. The other two are just necessities, tape etc. a few low end sticks, ten year old skates still in the box etc. If you haven't guessed, we are at an extreme disadvantage when it comes to buying good, up to date, quality hockey gear and services from anywhere local...thus the viability of what I am proposing.

[raganblink 82]

may i ask, where the hell are you at??? I don't think I've ever heard of a place with 3 rinks in a close area and no shop.

[titand19 0]

I wish you the best of luck if you decide to proceed with this, but IMO this seems like the small customer base for a not so expensive service might not be worth all the work in the long run.

[kurtandshan 0]

I am in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Iron Mountain to be exact. The next closest rink is 50 miles to the East, and one to the west 50 miles.The closest shops are in Marquette Mi, 75 miles north of me or Green Bay Wi. 90 miles to the south. The first three rinks I noted are seasonal. So you see we are in a bit of a hole when it comes to quality hockey shops.

[jimmy 194]

Also, keep in mind, if after you start your "business", if one of the shops around you gets an oven, you're likely screwed.