Hockey Shop Business

[jimmy 194]

Great topic, I always like to hear different opinions from other shop guys on what they go through.

When the shop I work at opened 7 years ago it was a different world. We are inside a 2 surface rink and owned by the rink owner. Back then most of our customers only shoped at the local shop, nowdays almost everyone uses the internet. You just can't stock skates like you used to, we are down to just a few different lines from Bauer/Nike & CCM, just enough for a few different price points. You also have to be smart with your buying $$, if you get stuck with a dud you will loose your ass.

I had a hockey dad this week yell at us as he walked out the door because our Easton Comp stick blades were to damn expensive. They were $1 higher then the big online sites. I get sick of hearing "I'll just go buy it online".

Sharpenings keep us at going. We have a Blademaster and 2 Incredible Edgers. We do a ton of hockey sharpenings at $7 each for 30 Adult League teams, 15 Travel Teams & 15 House teams. For Figure skates we get $10 to $15 depending on the blade. It is California after all, stuff is $ expensive here. We have earned a reputation as the best around. I know that this is a hockey board, but we do a ton of figure skate sharpening. These girls have skates that range from $100-$1000 dollars and they are getting them sharpened every other week. They are demanding customers, so you better be doing good work, but it is a money maker. You also wouldn't believe how many $100 dresses each of these girls buy, insane.

Tape, mouthguards and other small stuff is great. You also gotta carry a decent amount of sticks. People like the selection. This has been one of the toughest years picking out sticks for the booking order, so many different models from each company. Is it worth carrying a bunch of Stealths? Most of ours are still on the shelf, Is $200 and up too much for the hockey buyer nowdays. With almost all of our shop guys and Instructors using Bauer, we sell a lot more Vapor sticks. We still sell a ton of wood sticks got to love the Sherwood 5030 & the Bauer 3030, money.

As for protective you gotta carry Bauer & some CCm/Jofa. BUT, one of our best sellers is the Itech Hockey package stuff. We sell a ton to all the new youth and adult players, great bang for the buck.

A tough business to turn a buck. I bet that you will see less and less Pro Shops in the future. Or maybe a change to just Sharpenings and Tape, LOL.

I know things are expensive in CA, but $15 for a figure sharpening! Man I need to move there.

I charge $5, just like hockey skates. Some of the "big city" skaters have said I don't charge enough for the excellent job I do, but frankly, it's not that much more work than hockey skates. I just can't rip off the poor little cute figure skaters. :-)

[prenny207 1]

I know things are expensive in CA, but $15 for a figure sharpening! Man I need to move there.

I charge $5, just like hockey skates. Some of the "big city" skaters have said I don't charge enough for the excellent job I do, but frankly, it's not that much more work than hockey skates. I just can't rip off the poor little cute figure skaters. :-)

ive heard of places that sharpen only figure skates, and charge around $25 a pair... and these girls will ship there skates over night, get them sharpened, and have them overnighted back!!!

probably close to $100 just to get skates sharpened

[Eazy_b97 1]

We have people from as far as 3 hrs away drive down for sharpenings. We charge $10 cdn. $5 for hockey.

[jimmy 194]

I know things are expensive in CA, but $15 for a figure sharpening!  Man I need to move there.

I charge $5, just like hockey skates.  Some of the "big city" skaters have said I don't charge enough for the excellent job I do, but frankly, it's not that much more work than hockey skates. I just can't rip off the poor little cute figure skaters. :-)

ive heard of places that sharpen only figure skates, and charge around $25 a pair... and these girls will ship there skates over night, get them sharpened, and have them overnighted back!!!

probably close to $100 just to get skates sharpened

I have hockey players all over the country overnighting their blades to me too. The reason is they cannot find a good sharpener where they live and have gotten so frustrated with bad performance they'll do/pay anything to get a good sharpening. I'm sure figure skaters are the same way, especially the competitive ones.

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

I have my first "client" - Duckjob from Anaheim.

I feel bad though, I'm just having him cover shipping both ways!

[asdfa 0]

I know things are expensive in CA, but $15 for a figure sharpening!  Man I need to move there.

I charge $5, just like hockey skates.  Some of the "big city" skaters have said I don't charge enough for the excellent job I do, but frankly, it's not that much more work than hockey skates. I just can't rip off the poor little cute figure skaters. :-)

ive heard of places that sharpen only figure skates, and charge around $25 a pair... and these girls will ship there skates over night, get them sharpened, and have them overnighted back!!!

probably close to $100 just to get skates sharpened

I have hockey players all over the country overnighting their blades to me too. The reason is they cannot find a good sharpener where they live and have gotten so frustrated with bad performance they'll do/pay anything to get a good sharpening. I'm sure figure skaters are the same way, especially the competitive ones.

figure skaters are probably far more fussy over their skates though, especially considering most of them have compound rockers and whatnot. if i figure skated, i'd want the best possible sharpening, especially since my safety depends on it (jumping, landing etc)

[atomicpunk5150 2]

We use the 1 Incedible edger for Figure skates and 1 is over in the rental area of the main rink. They are nice machines. We use a blademaster (2 wheel/1 cross grind) for Hockey. Our rink owner is obsessed with quality sharpening, he feels it is one of the keys to a shops sucsess. He is very hands on will all training and certifying each sharpener to his high standards. We even had the guy that invented the Incedible edger come to our rink for personnal training for us.

We have people drive from all over Nor Cal to get sharpenings Hockey & Figure. We charge $10 for standard figure skates. We charge $15 for side honed figure blades, they are a PITA. Also these blades run about $500 (Gold Star/Seal) so you better know what your doing, It is a little different then a few passes on a $20 Tuuk/Steel.

We are mostly a hockey shop, but to make extra money you have to tap into other markets. From 5am until 5 pm we have a ton of figure skaters at our rink on both ice surfaces. Then from 5pm until midnight it is all hockey. You have to know your market and know your customers. as their buying habits change (interent) you have to adapt.

I also forgot the other best seller for public sessions: knit gloves, you never can have enough.

Good Topic.

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

Yes, side honed blades are a bitch. I don't have much figure business (as one of the coaches does that for the good skaters, long story) but there are a couple of girls I sharpen for, and one of them has those side honed blades...ugh...

[jjtt99 0]

I guess the ultimate sin is to go to your local hockey shop, use up a lot of staff time getting sized and fitted then buying online.

Seriously, a teammate did that with skates and we all gave him the gears in the dressing room.

Support your LHS!

Cheers,

JJ

[jimmy 194]

I know things are expensive in CA, but $15 for a figure sharpening!  Man I need to move there.

I charge $5, just like hockey skates.  Some of the "big city" skaters have said I don't charge enough for the excellent job I do, but frankly, it's not that much more work than hockey skates. I just can't rip off the poor little cute figure skaters. :-)

ive heard of places that sharpen only figure skates, and charge around $25 a pair... and these girls will ship there skates over night, get them sharpened, and have them overnighted back!!!

probably close to $100 just to get skates sharpened

I have hockey players all over the country overnighting their blades to me too. The reason is they cannot find a good sharpener where they live and have gotten so frustrated with bad performance they'll do/pay anything to get a good sharpening. I'm sure figure skaters are the same way, especially the competitive ones.

figure skaters are probably far more fussy over their skates though, especially considering most of them have compound rockers and whatnot. if i figure skated, i'd want the best possible sharpening, especially since my safety depends on it (jumping, landing etc)

Jumps and landings! You ought to see the guys on my team perform them. Priceless!

Man, I love beer leagues.

[Racer8 0]

^^^

For sure, throw in a few sticks and it is avant garde art at its finest. A five man scrabble of confusion and delay culmanating in the acrobatics of precisely timed "I thought you were going to cut to the center," and "uh, yeah, I was, but just lost an edge." Yes, god bless mens league, without it we'd just be...St. Patrick's day participants. B)

My LHS charges $2 for a skate sharpening. They exist on skate sharpenings, tape, and personality, as has been mentioned.

[Jbone 0]

I think it's just how much money they make on raiing the price of what the products are worth, a guy at my LHS said they buy T-blades for around $13 and sell them for $22.

How much did it cost him for shipping? That alone likely cost $1 per blade. What about customs broker fees and tarrifs? Another $1 per blade. What about interest on loan money to purchase and stock them? How about the employee wages to help the neophyte select radius and hollows? Insurance to cover theft and damage, Rent, electric, phone (to answer calls like "do you have xx t-blade in stock"?

All these add to the wholsale cost of the blade. It cost way more than $13 for a t-blade.

I honestly couldn't tell you about the shipping but I went to my LHS yesterday and asked for some 9's but they didnt have any left so he gave me 2 pairs of 11's for the price of one. So I think they would be around $13.