A Matter of Time

The history of sports and sporting goods in America mirrors the history of 117-year-old Hopkins Sporting Goods

Not many businesses have roots planted in three centuries, but Hopkins Sporting Goods does. Hopkins first opened its doors in the waning years of 19th century. Perched on all that history, it’s literally a microcosm of an industry that transformed along with the popular culture and technology advances in design and function.

Today Hopkins Sporting Goods is Iowa’s oldest and
largest sporting goods dealer. General manager Mike McClintock and his staff provide equipment and uniforms throughout the state, with a storefront in Des Moines and a full range of services that include screenprinting, sewing, embroidery, and equipment installation. Its team customers include over 300 schools served by three or four roadmen.

“The business was in the Hopkins family until 1955 when my father’s law partner Steve Hanson bought it,” says McClintock. “My father became part owner in 1965 and bought it completely in 1979. He was a Big 8 football official and loved sports, so it was natural for him to be involved in sporting goods. I started when I was 15 and took over as general manager in 1999.”

Proud of its long history, Hopkins Sporting Goods retains a host of old products, catalogs, photographs and articles, including leather football helmets and baseball gloves, horsehide covered baseballs, running shoes with leather cleats, catalogs dating to 1909, even an Iowa drivers license #14. All that old stuff illustrates how much things have changed and maps how far they’ve come.

At the start of the 20th century, football was still played without helmets, sneakers were produced by small rubber companies making tires, and competitive sports were primarily for the affluent. The only recognized sports brands were Spalding (founded in 1876), Wilson (1914), Rawlings (1887) and Titlelist (Acushnet) (1910).
It is at this time that the WP Chase Co. opened its doors to sell hardware, hunting and fishing gear, soon adding a few athletic items. This was the start of Hopkins Sporting Goods. The company went through several name iterations but the Hopkins brothers were involved from the beginning.

John O. Hopkins liked to point out two notable coincidences in some of his earlier writings:
“… I was born in 1876 which is the same year the A G Spalding company, the oldest sporting goods manufacturing company in the world, was founded. We represent them in Iowa and have for all the years I have been in business. The first and only job I ever held was in 1892 when I was 16 years old delivering goods and doing about every odd job there was to do at $15.00 a month and working anywhere from 12 to 18 hours a day. On this same date the business of which I am head was founded in D M Iowa.”

Hopkins headed to Des Moines in 1899 with $75 in his pocket to join his two older brothers. They pooled their resources and opened a bicycle repair business in a building they rented for $45 a month.

“We made a business of storing bikes for business men at 50 ct. a month with the idea of course of getting their repairs. Also we stored from 100 to 150 bikes which a little more than paid the rent.”
They quickly recognize that running a business requires making tough choices and calculated risks and allocating limited resources. In 1902, the brothers risk everything to buy out the WP Chase Company for $19,000 and $75 a month rent, including a storefront.

“We didn’t have the money to buy it but they were willing to take our note for the amount ... he never expected to get his money but we paid him every cent ... but decide to turn down an offer to buy a Ford franchise as the automobile industry is taking shape in this country. We sold quite a few (cars) but not having the capital to promote them and the Sporting Goods and bicycle business we gave up the cars, although since I have sometime felt if we had stuck with the Ford we probably have done well.”

The rest, as the say, is history. It turns out that, among the three brothers, it was John who had a knack for running the business. He bought out his brothers by 1910 and later took on other partners, but by 1930 he was again the sole proprietor and the business received its present name. At this time, he was also a founding member National Sporting Goods Association, serving as vice president in 1929 and director from 1930-1931.

He guided the business through the Great Depression, working long hours and making hard choices.

“We stuck out our chins and clamped our jaws tight and staid with it. What we determined to do was to make good and keep our name above reproach.”

The war years brought new challenges and shortages, as demonstrated by their 1942-43 catalog:

“We offer you our new 1942-1943 Fall and Winter catalog. You will find many items missing that you could purchase a year ago. We are at war – an all-out war – to provide materials and equipment for our armed forces which is the first duty of every citizen. We are happy to take what is left.”

The company grew consistently following the war as sports participation increased. The year 1955 officially ended the Hopkins era and the company was sold. But the name stays the same and the business evolves to sell more athletic items and less hardware, hunting and fishing. In 1966, the new owners renovated the store to keep up with changing times, including new fixtures, lighting and air conditioning, and it is completed in time to celebrate 75 years in business.

The 1970s ushered in an explosion of change, including new technology, aggressively marketed athletic brands like Nike and Reebok, the appearance of big-box stores, the beginning of offshore manufacturing and a rise in organized youth sports. Despite unsettling economic times marked by recession, skyrocketing interest rates and high unemployment, owner John McClintock bets on the growth of sporting goods and realigns to focus exclusively on athletic equipment and clothing.

“The key to this business is buying,” says McClintock. “A sporting goods store owner must buy the right lines at the right time and in the right quantity if he hopes to have a decent inventory turn and a profitable business.”

By limiting the number of lines, managing inventory costs and improving cash flow, McClintock successfully navigates a tough economy. He also embraces new trends such as the growing popularity of wrestling and girls’ sports.

In 1992, Hopkins Sporting Goods marked its 100th year in business, a major milestone for any company. Rawlings, the world’s oldest sporting goods manufacturer, is on hand to help celebrate, bringing its Rawlings Sports Caravan traveling workshop and museum.

Today, Hopkins Sporting Goods remains a locally owned company, providing one-stop shopping for sporting goods supplies. In a nod to the times, the company has a complete Web site up and running, but it still honors the code to “make good and keep our name above reproach.”

Change continues to define the industry, with a renewed need to deftly manage a challenging economy. But with 117 years under its belt, Hopkins is on solid ground. Its stories provide both a sense that change is inevitable, and a reminder that challenges are opportunities for those willing to work hard.

“It’s something you don’t think about too often but a long history provides perspective,” says McClintock. “We like to joke with Dodger uniforms that we’ve been doing business with them so long that our customer number is 29 with a bunch of zeros in front of it.

“We work hard and our success comes from working with great vendors and having some of the best employees in the business,” he adds. “Part of what you see when you look at all the history is that, when it comes down to it, the most important things about running a business never change.”


THE HOPKINS TIMELINE

Hopkins Sporting Goods has experienced the evolution of sports and sporting goods in America

1892 Hopkins Sporting Goods Opens in De Moines, IA (aka WP Chase for first four years).
1893 First NHL Stanley Cup contested. Annapolis shoemaker provides first helmets for Army-Navy game.
1903 First modern World Series.
1906 SGMA and NCAA founded.
1910 First Drake Relays held in Des Moines.
1914 Thomas E. Wilson enters sporting goods business.
1915-1918 Hopkins sells first football helmets to protect skull, made of soft leather.
1917 Keds introduces first popular sneakers
1923 Original Yankee Stadium opens. Orville and Wilbur Wright fly. Converse makes All Star “Chucks.”
1929 NSGA founded by sporting goods dealers, including John O. Hopkins.
1930s Football helmets become mandatory.
1936 Modern running shoes worn by Jesse Owens and the U.S. market for sneakers grows.
1937 Dow Chemical develops plastics.
1939 John T. Riddell Co. introduces first plastic football helmet, adding mask in 1943.
1942 Golden Anniversary of Hopkins Sporting Goods Co.
1946 NBA founded.
1948 First logo on a football helmet — a Rams horn painted on a pro leather helmet.
1955 John Hopkins retires.
1965 Hopkins Sporting Goods store re-modeled by new owners, Hanson and McClintock.
1967 Hopkins celebrates 75 years in business.
1970s Taiwan, China, South Korea, Japan and India begin producing sporting goods/apparel.
1970 First New York City Marathon run.
1972 Nike “swoosh” unveiled.
1974 Cowhide replaces horsehide (had been used for 100 years) as baseball cover.
1980 Hopkins sells athletic equipment and clothing exclusively.
1992 Hopkins celebrates 100 years.
2000 New millennium sees industry triple since 1970s, growth of organized youth sports.
2010 Hopkins Sporting Goods featured in Team Insight, set sights on 100 more years.

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