HMonkey & HGiant: in-store vs. online pricing?

[SolarWind 23]

quick question for these in the know: I'll be in South Cal soon and was wondering if there's any point in visiting Hockey Giant/Monkey stores over there in terms of their in store selection and most inportantly pricing being better then their online stores? ie do they usually have any in-store specials or deals that are worth visiting for?

I'd hate to drive there just to find the same stuff they have online at the same prices (plus having to pay tax on top of it) so any insides would be appreciated.

[Thepandamancan 0]

In store selection is very spotty at HockeyGiant Anaheim since most of their supply is in Carlsbad, CA or Minnesota warehouses. They do have a lot of stuff, but when I've gone looking for some specific stuff they told me to look online.

Pricing seems the same, maybe cheaper cause you don't have to pay for shipping but there's still the sales tax to worry about.

HockeyMonkey's in store inventory seems to be a bit better from what I hear, since their store is the warehouse...but again, sales tax is an issue for pricing if you live outside of California.

[IceBuckeye88 0]

I live in the area and here's my take:

Hockey Monkey. The entire online inventory will not be available at the store. Meaning all items, color options, sizes, etc. They also sell baseball, lacross, and goalie out of this location. In short, the entire store is not just for hockey. Monkey's warehouse is in Corona, CA and it's huge. If you are looking for something specific and are concerned they won't have it in the store, call them. They will bring it in for you. It takes a day to do this. When at the store, you may find 'in store' specials not available online. In some cases, there can be significant savings since MAP pricing applies primarily to the web site (at least, thats what the employees said).

Hockey Giant. Their situation is different. They no longer have the fullfillment center in Calsbad. It was moved out east. But they do some of their fullfillment out of the rear half of their Anaheim store. I'm not saying they will have everything from the website in the store, but it's a decent chance they'll have most of it. You may find in store only specials as well.

Hockey Tron. Everything on their website, will be available in their store. It's the nicest store of the 3 (it used to be a high end car dealership). Tron does focus on their own brand, so they don't stock as many brands as the others or most of the ultra high end gear. Like the others, you may find nice in store only specials.

Hope that helps.

[xrickyb86x 1]

Hockey Monkey seems to always have more of a selection of hockey gear. Hockey Giant LOOKS bigger but it's usually walls of the same product over and over. Prices are similar to online but I always had a better experience at HM. I still haven't been to Tron and now I'm in Texas. =(

Oh also, Hockey Giant always seems to be a mess.

[IPv6Freely 2100]

Hockey Monkey seems to always have more of a selection of hockey gear. Hockey Giant LOOKS bigger but it's usually walls of the same product over and over. Prices are similar to online but I always had a better experience at HM. I still haven't been to Tron and now I'm in Texas. =(

Oh also, Hockey Giant always seems to be a mess.

^ Agree with everything said here.

Hockey Monkey has an overall better selection (but may not have every iteration of every product. Eg. they will have most models of gloves, but perhaps not every color. But at least you can try on and then buy on their website (without feeling like an ass, since you're still buying from them afterall). They can also get in pretty much anything you want within a day or two.

Hockey Giant is the opposite. They'll have every color of a couple models. It also drives me FRIGGIN NUTS that very little of their stuff actually has prices on it, so you either have to walk over to their price check kiosk or ask at the counter. (This SUCKED when I was buying a full set of equipment when I got back into the sport...).

I haven't been to Tron yet. Maybe this weekend.

The prices after tax are going to be similar to the prices online plus shipping. For me, if I know what I want, I just buy from their site since I get UPS Ground shipments next business day from them. Unless I'm looking for tape/laces in which case the shipping isnt worth it...

Oh, and I should also mention the people at HM actually seem to care if you need help (especially when they see you looking at skates), but at HG they really dont seem to care less (they also seem understaffed so you could be waiting quite a while to get skates fitted..)

Sorry for writing a short novel...