Opening Pro Shop - What would you want to see...

[jaahaa 0]

Guys,

We are looking at opening a Pro Shop in our Training Center. We are located just outside of Vancouver. Our idea is to carry higher quality equipment than the Sport Cheks and Canadian Tires. We only have one LHS and their selection is not much better. We would love to hear your input on what you would like to see in "your" local pro shops. Since we have a shooting area and synthetic ice, one thought we had was to demo the stick, just like you would at a golf pro shop, would that be a feature you would be interested in trying?

We look forward to your input!

Cheers

J

[bostonjuniorblackhawks 1]

Shooting area would be a plus for me. One of my lhs's has one but only let's you shoot with balls, which is kinda useless.

If it isn't too much of a problem for you guys, I think it's a great idea.

[stop 0]

Where is your store gonna be? It'd be great to have FBV without having to drive out to Surrey that's for sure. And maybe try to get some pro-stock blades because none of the other stores here really carry any.

[bostonjuniorblackhawks 1]

Where is your store gonna be? It'd be great to have FBV without having to drive out to Surrey that's for sure. And maybe try to get some pro-stock blades because none of the other stores here really carry any.

how many stores carry pro stock blades though? TSR does but it's not a very good selection

[C.SLO5 0]

I think a wide selection of gloves. Most places around me (TX) have a small selection of gloves. Have a lot.

Also a good selection of sticks as well. Keep a few of the same curves/flexes in stock. It irritates me when you go to buy a new stick and they have 1 of them when you want 2.

[stop 0]

I'm not saying a huge selection but maybe some every now and then.

[$m0k3 0]

where are you going to be located?

[fsuhockeystar97 0]

Should probably have a variety of gloves and sticks as stated in a previous post. I would say to have a good bit of skates too. Skates seem to be the hardest part of equipment to fit for, so if you do a good job with it and have a big selection I'm sure people would travel a little bit or go out of there way to come there. And have all different levels of equipment that way you can demonstrate the differences and help people get what they actually need as opposed to what they think they need. You know what they say, variety is the spice of life.

[NextBobbyOrr 0]

I think the biggest plus for me would have to be constantly having your models in stock year round. Like I was looking for skates this year, I couldn't find my model in 3 different stores, I had to go to find another model to buy.

[RussianDangler15 0]

Whatever the colors of the local travel team(s) are make sure you have plenty of gloves and helmets in those colors becuase they will be a big source of buisnes and try to have pro stock sticks.

[NextBobbyOrr 0]

Whatever the colors of the local travel team(s) are make sure you have plenty of gloves and helmets in those colors becuase they will be a big source of buisnes and try to have pro stock sticks.

Oh just an add on to this comment, can you try to do shells? Like the 3 biggest groups in Vancouver, I think are Nswc, Nvmha and Hollyburn. Like the stores around me, don't carry different pant colors. It's just black. It would be really cool if you could just carry some shells. Red, navy, etc.

[SouthpawTRK 1]

Congratulations and the best of luck with your pro shop! Things that I would like to see in a pro shop would be the following:

1. FBV

2. Most current availability of sticks, gloves, helmets (at competitive pricing)

3. Clearance prices on old stock

4. Demo sticks/gloves to try out

5. Wide selection of socks, jerseys (both practice, official, replica)

6. Pro stock selection of equipment

7. Custom team equipment program (Warrior glove program for example)

8. Frequent shopper program (allowing discounts on specific items).

[sickwilly 37]

Best of luck to you!

For me, I'd want to be able to get a good sharpening regardless of who's working. I'd also want to see at least a decent selection of both tapered and standard shafts and blades.

[raganblink 82]

While its nice to have all this stuff, it is also a burden (cost alot of $$$). How much were you guys planning on spending? How much does the other shops in the area carry? Setting up a shop is ridiculously costly. Everything I am saying is assuming your plans for your first year is to do atmost 250K-300K (being upper most limit).

For your opening year only buy the new items from the companies. However there are somethings that I would get no matter what, even if they aren't new items. For example, one95 protective will still sell well this year even though the vapors are the new models. Reebok/CCM helmets will sell well. 4500 and 5100 sell well. etc.

You do not need every model, every company, every color etc. Only the big ass shops need that stuff. Remember you can reorder items if/when you sell out of them. What I am saying is based on my shop's sellls.

Get the main curves in big stock. Sakic (hall), Zetterberg, Lindros (kane). 4-5 twigs in these curves. Drury/Getzlaf/etc don't sell as well so maybe max 2. Eventually you will figure out a ratio that works best for you in your area. For skates, 7.5-10.5 sell most. For bigger and smaller senior sizes, cheaper skates sell better than expensive skates. Get more 7.5-10.5 in general, but, for top end skates especially make sure you're getting more of these in than like 11s or 7s. IIRC the numbers for sells N.A. wide are 70% bauer, 10% easton, 15% ccm/rbk, 5% graf. So make sure you're not buying as many easton skates as you are bauer. Since you're in canada graf probably sells much better than that.

Biggest thing - make sure you don't get gear just so you can have a huge selection. What are your youth/hs/etc colors? Order those in helmets, gloves and pants. If no one uses white helmets I would get a couple of those as well as they'll sell. You don't need every color in gloves. If they want a black glove with orange stripes, they can order it thru you or online. Don't waste your money buying stuff that isn't the colors of your programs. Here we have kids using navy, red, black. A HS team who has us as their closest shop use white helmets w/ black everything else. There are a couple other teams that use white helmets as well. Those are the only colors we carry. No blue, no yellow, none of it. We get requests once in a while to order in something with blue on it, but, considering there are literally 100s of different helmet options (model + size) and same with gloves (model + size) its would not be worth getting it at all.

Don't waste your money on startups. Miken, Ballistik, they're not worth it when you are starting. You need to spend all your money the big4. If you become eagle/vaughn dealers, remember what i said about colors.

Its really hard to say like what you guys should get not knowing your area. You should really make sure you scout yourselfs well before you drop hundred thousand or so on gear. There's a proshop that closed down the street. They were a little more expensive than us but that's not the reason they went out of business, no easton sticks, and old rbk/ccm sticks up the ass in weird curves that they thought were good sellers.

Its going to be expensive and a lot of work but its hella fun.

As for stuff like the above mentioned? Shooting areas are awesome. Considering what the other guy said a FBV wouldn't be a bad idea for your sharpener. You could get a ROH blademaster for pretty cheap. Anymore questions I can help you. Oh yeah, try to stay within 5-10% compared to your online, and if possible, just match prices with everyone else in the area (if not go lower if you can afford to do so). Enjoy finding unique ways to store your gear. And I'll just repeat again, you can reorder. You don't need everything to come in at once for the whole year.

[shotty 7]

gear cleaning, stick repair service, heat press, a good selection of sticks, lots and lots of accessories. basically with a pro shop you want people to come for the little things at first while you build up trust. you're not going to steal business from cyclone taylor until you have thier kind of inventory and reputation.

[17D1998 1]

I would like

1. eagle gloves (impossible to find in Montreal)

2. REAL clearance on old stuff

3. t'blades (ahah it seems most shops are starting to boycott t'blades)

4. guys that actually know what they're talking about

I think that's about it

[Chadd 916]

Having been in your position not too long ago, make sure you don't overextend yourselves and don't go chasing low profit sales. Every market is different, make sure you know yours and where you will be in the local market hierarchy.

[DarkStar50 680]

I hope you have a lot of $$. You're going to need it. Make sure you have a fridge and microwave so you can eat. You won't be getting a one hour lunch break. Good luck!

[xrickyb86x 1]

Woodies fly off the shelves down here to all the beer leaguers. Just a suggestion.

[Axxion89 32]

Best of luck to ya but the main things I would want are good employees over anything else, thats going to give you the most sales and long term sustainability. Everything listed above is great but if you have employees who are rude or not very knowledgeable you will gain a bad reputation and lose customers really fast. In addition, find a good distributor to save money and increase your margins. Doing so will give you an advantage over your competition.

Just a few more tips:

Be proactive with items in your store. If you follow the competition you will lose.

Try your best to eliminate overstock. Find out your demand and calculate accordingly. Doing so will leave your store with more space and you will again save more money.

Be consistent with your service!!! Don't be known as the store that can either be hit or miss, consistency will keep you in business.

Hope this helps!

[shooter27 117]

Get the main curves in big stock. Sakic (hall), Zetterberg, Lindros (kane). 4-5 twigs in these curves. Drury/Getzlaf/etc don't sell as well so maybe max 2. Eventually you will figure out a ratio that works best for you in your area. For skates, 7.5-10.5 sell most. For bigger and smaller senior sizes, cheaper skates sell better than expensive skates. Get more 7.5-10.5 in general, but, for top end skates especially make sure you're getting more of these in than like 11s or 7s. IIRC the numbers for sells N.A. wide are 70% bauer, 10% easton, 15% ccm/rbk, 5% graf. So make sure you're not buying as many easton skates as you are bauer. Since you're in canada graf probably sells much better than that.

Great advice, but I think which curves sell well is really dependent on what is popular in a particular area. Get an idea of what other stores do and don't have and why they don't have it (e.g. out of stock or never ordered it). I know plenty of shops that always sell through stock of the Drury/Getzlaf type heel curves, but have racks of the more standard mid curves sitting on the shelves tying up working capital.

[epstud74 24]

If you're just starting out and have limited space to work with in a pro shop within a rink I'd suggest this

1. Competent sharpening service ( there never are any at the rinks) This could go a long ways with clientele

2. Modest collection of shafts along with one piece sticks. Not everyone prefers an OPS.

3. A price point stick or two to go along with top of the line sticks

4. A decent selection of skates and competent skate fitters

5. a decent mix of price point and top of the line gloves (a lot of people do not care to spend $100 on a pair)

6. Stock up on mouth guards and laces. (Get the good stuff)

Establish yourself as a competent fitting and sharpening specialist and offer competitive prices on gear. Do not overstock and force yourself to sell dead stock for full price. Stock mouth guards and laces. Kids will get to the rink and find that they've forgotten their mouth guards and/or have broken laces.

[Drewhunz 3]

I would like

1. eagle gloves (impossible to find in Montreal)

2. REAL clearance on old stuff

3. t'blades (ahah it seems most shops are starting to boycott t'blades)

4. guys that actually know what they're talking about

I think that's about it

If you have option 4, you don't need option 3.

[raganblink 82]

If you have option 4, you don't need option 3.

:lol: i shiver whenever i hear those.

[Tubesteak 1]

I like the stick demo idea a lot. It'd be great if you offered competent skate profiling and FBV sharpening as well. In my area no one does a custom radius or has an FBV set up so I'm forced to mail my steel.