Selling: The Shop Floor Trading Intelligence
Shop name: Pain and Glory Sports Location: Maidstone, Kent Owners: Dean Rogers Website:
www.painandglory.co.uk Date opened: 2001; relocated and rebranded in 2009 Buying Group Affiliation: None Number of staff: 3 Speciality: Football, rugby, boxing and kick boxing equipment, t-shirt printing
Specialist Sport
Company: Zsig Founded: 1989 Sport: Mini tennis Key Equipment: Mini tennis rackets, balls and net systems Website:
www.zsig.com
1. Tell us about your business?
Sometimes we must all wonder why we enter into having our own business especially in these hard times. There is no doubt that over the last 20 years the business of sport retail has changed and many independents have disappeared perhaps due to the growth of companies like Sports Direct. In our first store like other independents we were stocking trainers, tracksuits, polos, t-shirts, football boots, etc featuring all the latest designs and colourways from Nike, adidas, Puma, Umbro and the rest, which is all really nice but it became difficult to compete with the multiples on price and forward ordering every quarter, so two years ago we made changes.
2. What recent success have you had? We don’t sell any fashion, trainers or even club shirts; we specialise in football kits and equipment to local clubs, which is very competitive but it’s a bulk purchase. Last year we decide to add Errea to our range which has been a great success. Rugby has been slow but the fruitions are now starting to come good, but our most successful move has been into boxing and kick boxing. Not many independents even think about stocking these products but with both sports on the increase and boxercise classes appearing in many sports centres it’s a great product set to have in store. We even launched our own brand, King Boxing, which is growing year-on- year and is sold through various independents. The most high-profile boxer we have using the product is David Haye and his coach Adam Booth; they were seen using our pads on Sky Sports before his fight with Harrison. It seems they have been buying our products for at least two years. Another boxer who uses our gloves for training and sparring every day is Savannah Marshall who will be representing Great Britain at the London Olympics. It’s very rewarding when you see a brand you have started and equipment you have designed being used by top athletes, which brings me back to the beginning, why did I enter into the sport retail business? To make money obviously, but to make a difference, supply quality products and give a first class service, which as an independent we must not lose sight of.
3. What will be the biggest challenges over the next 12 months?
Even with all that good work so far the business could collapse due to the economy. The next 12 months will be a challenge as, at a time when you want to keep prices down so you can maintain your profits, material and product costs are increasing in price. We have to make changes to our King Boxing range as currently all our gloves, head guards and pads are leather. In the autumn a new range of PU products will be launched which will be available at a cheaper price point. Hopefully in the not too distant future, King Boxing, like David Haye, can be a world heavyweight brand.
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www.sgb-sports.com
Zsig says: The Zsig brand has an established reputation in the tennis coaching world for innovative, quality equipment. Zsig was chosen by the LTA to produce and supply all the coaching equipment for the Tennis Foundation’s prestigious School s Project, and has so far distributed kit to over 10,000 primary and secondary schools throughout the UK. As a brand with a depth of professional coaching knowledge, we make sure we’re on the other end of the phone to our retail partners to
answer any questions on suitability of a particular product. If there’s a customer in the shop asking which mini tennis ball plays well on grass, they call us. Retail partners also like the fact that we manufacture many of our products in the UK, and run a ‘revamp, repair or replace’ service for our net systems.
The Zsig-brand range of mini tennis and badminton coaching equipment includes: mini tennis and coaching tennis balls, mini tennis rackets and net systems; badminton rackets, shuttlecocks, net systems; coaching aids; fitness and training aids; and early years coaching equipment. We’re currently developing new areas and constantly developing new products.
Grassroots sports are a
developing area, so the demand is there and there’s always a need for local supply. And sports like mini tennis appeal to coaches, clubs, schools, local authorities, nurseries and parents. Zsig isn’t a traditional sports company though, and we work with like-minded key retail partners in a flexible and supportive arrangement with no minimum order quantities and fast delivery from our manufacturing base and warehouse. We understand that display and storage is valuable.
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