Good Sports

Sportsman’s has been a western Pennsylvania stalwart for more than 60 years, and the second generation of Heiders continues the dealer’s tradition of making old-fashioned hard work pay off in modern times.

Opportunity comes to those who knock on doors. That holds true in any business, but the team business often tests the knuckles of dealers. And Sportsman’s has some mighty tough knuckles to prove it.

George Heider understood the importance of pursuing business when he started the company back in 1948. He had just returned from World War II and was working in his mom’s hardware store.
Back then, hardware stores carried more than just nails and hammers. The store also sold fishing tackle, and the tackle rep also sold a line of athletic uniforms. He convinced George that he should visit coaches with the line. George did just that by calling on schools, selling custom athletic uniforms from Powers. George helped build Powers into one of the biggest lines in the business.

“Dad and his sister Mary started all this with little money,” says Greg Heider, who now runs the business with his two brothers, David and Matt. “She did the books and my dad went on the road from Monday through Thursday. On Fridays and Saturdays, he would place the orders and ship the ones that he received.”

That humble start launched the team business for Sportsman’s, one of the largest independent team dealers in the country and still growing with more than $10 million in annual sales.

A decidedly family affair, at 84 George remains involved in an advisory capacity, while Elaine, his wife and mom of the Heider trio, still handles accounting, payroll and payables. David, the oldest at 53, serves as president, while Matt, the youngest at 45, handles operations. Greg, 47, oversees sales and marketing.

“My dad was fortunate enough that he had three sons, all of whom could run the business,” Greg notes.

They grew up in the business, too, working since they were old enough to take on any number of jobs. “I’ve been working here since the mid-70s,” Greg notes. “I’ve done everything from attaching faceguards to painting helmets to packing orders.”

The Heider boys were prepared and ready to take over in earnest in 1995. Since then, they’ve followed in dad’s footsteps by, among other things, knocking on a lot of doors.

“We have been able to grow by practicing good business tactics,” Greg notes. “We’re honest. We treat people the way we would like to be treated. We are reliable. Our reputation means everything, and we work hard to maintain this. We consistently do things to keep that reputation. As Under Armour says, you have ‘to protect the house.’”

David, Greg and Matt do that by making calls to their accounts, primarily schools. Yes, the threesome represent Sportsman’s as the team dealer’s three roadmen, making regular visits to some 1000 accounts throughout the Northeast.

“People are amazed when we tell them how many accounts we call on and the volume of business we do among the three of us,” Greg says.

Football is king for the team dealer that relies on school accounts for 90 percent of its business. Basketball and baseball round out its top three sports. But that doesn’t mean it ignores other avenues. “We sell all the sports — track and field, soccer, lacrosse is coming here, field hockey, and more,” Greg says. “We are one of the last team dealers in the sports medicine field. Most of our day is dedicated to custom uniforms and clothing.”

The Heider boys also know how to seize opportunities. They added reconditioning five years ago, and it’s grown substantially since then. In-house decorating has expanded considerably, too. And the team dealer now represents Porter exclusively in western Pennsylvania.

Today, the team dealer employs 35 people and Greg proudly notes that all of Sportsman’s full-time employees receive health care benefits.

Team Insight caught up with Greg to learn more about the current state of Sportsman’s business and its success and future direction.

TI: Sportsman’s has thrived as an independent in an industry that has seen its share of consolidation. What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a small but independent team dealer?
Greg Heider: There’s nothing but advantages to being family-run. We are able to make decisions quickly with little or no red tape. It’s working well for us.
What do you think of the Collegiate Pacific/Kesslers/Dixie model? Is it a threat to your business?
I think it is too big. I wish them well. All competitors are a threat or a future threat. We are also a threat. We are a very competitive and reliable source for schools to use. Their biggest weakness is those guys all sell the same stuff. There’s no interest for us to join them.

You’ve added to your services in the past few years by beefing up your uniform decorating capabilities, entering the reconditioning business and now working as Porter’s exclusive distributor in western Pennsylvania. What challenges did you face in expanding or launching these? What’s been the outcome?
The biggest challenge is the shortage of hours in the day. Another challenge is finding and training personnel to meet our needs. At the end of the day, profit is the end goal, and we have been satisfied with the bottom line.
We started reconditioning in Fall 2004. Now, we do more than 10,000 helmets, plus 6000 shoulder pads a year. We are looking at ways to expand this but we don’t want to automate it. We want to maintain our quality and service. There’s no shortcut to it. We may end up putting more people to work to handle the business. We want to do this since our area has its share of economic challenges.
We also do some work for other team dealers. In every case, those team dealers have increased their reconditioning business every year they’ve worked with us. Still, 90 percent of our reconditioning work comes from Sportsman’s accounts.
We’ve also greatly expanded our printing capabilities. We do silkscreen. Our embroidery operation now has 35 heads. We do tackle twill. We also do vinyl, but only if the customer requests it or for some sports such as for soccer and volleyball.

Where do you see the future role of the team dealer headed? How will you face this future?
Team dealers will never be replaced with online or direct sales. They always will be needed to service this segment of the market despite what some other people may think. The customer wants and needs a personal contact and a storefront to buy from and get service. You may represent a powerful brand, but it takes people like us to show, promote and service the brand. Nothing happens in business until a sale is made by us. This will never go away.

Where do you see Sportsman’s in the next five years?
We plan to continue being successful. We also hope to start some light manufacturing of items that have been sourced abroad. (Greg wasn’t about to say what may be in the works, though.) We are in an area hard hit by the closing of steel plants and coal mines. We want to put people back to work.

You have elected not to join or take advantage of the buying groups. Why?
We are very independent people and have strong buying power on our own. We get calls all the time from the major groups but my dad was never a buying group guy. Our volume is large enough in most areas. There’s nothing on the horizon to change our minds about this either.

Sportsman’s is still a family affair. What other family members may emerge or are being trained to succeed you and your brothers to keep the family business going?
There are 12 grandchildren (10 boys and two girls) who can carry on the family tradition. A few of them already work in the warehouse during the summer. That includes one of my boys. He’s 11 and he enjoys working for us in the summer.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to enter the team dealer business?
If someone is interested in entering the team dealer business they should find an established dealer and work with them to eventually take over their territory, school accounts and business. This would be easier than trying to start from zero.

What’s your biggest challenge and how do you overcome this?
Keeping the business from running our family. I try not to let it become too personal. I try not to create more stress. There are lots of highs and lows in this business, so you have to keep your perspective.

What’s your biggest opportunity and how do you seize this?
Our biggest opportunity is finding a new customer. We do this through good, old-fashioned salesmanship.


Greg Heider, VP,  Sportsman’s

Johnstown, Pennsylvania
35 employees/3 roadmen
Territory: Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York

It is the summer of 2009. Was the first half of the year better for your business than 2008?
We are ahead in sales versus the first half of 2008, and we had a nice increase in 2008 as well, so we are thankful. Our dollars have been flat but our unit volume is up.

What has been your high point of the year so far?
Our Web site is up to date with core team items. While we do some e-commerce on this, it serves more as show and tell and for information. Our coaches and athletic directors use our Web site to prepare for our sales calls.

And what has been the low point?
It’s always a challenge to keep us staffed with quality people. We get swamped with applicants. But I must say that there are some good people out there right now.

Tell it to us straight, just how has the economy affected your team business so far this year?
A lot of schools have cut back and schools will not order until the budget is approved. The governor still hadn’t signed the budget by August 6. We are getting orders for mouthguards and medical supplies but everybody is holding off on the bigger stuff. What happens is last minute, so you have to be prepared. Just yesterday (early August), we got an order for 36 helmets. We can bring them in as white and strip them down, paint them and get them out the door in two weeks or less. You have to be ready to turn on a dime to help the schools.

What have you done to respond?
We are working overtime starting at 6:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. in our warehouse and in our lettering and reconditioning departments. We are moving goods in and out of our warehouse as well. Suppliers are doing a good job this year. We are getting between 70-100 UPS shipments a day, plus truck shipments. We break all of these down quickly and then get the work flowing, such as embroidery.

Are schools telling you their budgets are smaller next year, or not? If so, by how much?
Yes they are. Some cuts have been from 10 to 25 percent. Each customer is different. Some have been able to make it up through booster clubs. Others wait until the season starts. Some have cut out big-ticket items such as football sleds. All I can say is not one school out of the 1000 that we service has said they have increased their budget.

Are you doing anything differently to cope?
We are always looking for new business. We also are looking at schools that we currently do business with to tap into all the opportunities. Fortunately, we get a lot of referrals for peripheral clubs within our current school accounts.

Are you vendors helping you out, or not? How so?
No, they are not. The vendors still would like to see sales volume increases. They want bigger upfront orders. That’s just not practical in the economy we are in at this time.

What’s been your biggest surprise so far in 2009?
Some coaches are being more realistic on delivery times.

What’s the most exciting technology you’re selling?
Xenith helmet by far; we are doing well with it. It has merit, especially in fitting. The quality is very high, but it’s not for everyone at $350. The Z-cool shoulder pad technology has sold well, too.

Between now and the end of the year, I expect ____________ to happen?
We are hoping for more orders and a big increase in our reconditioning business.

Are you doing anything to prepare for a different 2010?
Yes we are. We are upgrading our showroom display and looking at some infrastructure upgrades (remodeling), such as a new sales showroom and private offices for the owners. We have a nice showroom now and our building is relatively new (built in 1980) but we have taken most of the showroom and banked it with sales, purchasing and customer service desks.

Finally, fill in these blanks: 2010 will be a good year for me and my business because I am an optimistic person.

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