A Family Affair

Bartley’s Sporting Goods celebrates 100 years as a Florida retailer and team dealer

Step into Bartley’s Sporting Goods, one of the oldest businesses in Fort Myers, FL, and you’ll probably feel at home. From the distinctive grape Nehi “Bartley’s scent” to the retro cash register, Bartley’s is comfortably reminiscent of the old corner store. In this place, business is personal and people still sit and stay awhile.

“Our store may not look like much from outside, but come in the front door and it’s homey. Our customers love it,” says Loring Strickland, granddaughter of the founder of Bartley’s Sporting Goods. Strickland and her husband Steve have owned the business since 1980, running it with the help of five employees, including daughters Shelby and Ashley, son-in-law Johnny, and Faye and Mike, who have become part of the family. This 100-year-old family business runs like a well-oiled machine, though every once in a while the parts rub and squeak.

“There are times when it’s too much family, but we wouldn’t have it any other way,” says Strickland. “It’s a great group and you can count on everyone to do the right thing.”

In the store’s showroom, baseball gloves hang around, a picnic table invites customers to gather to socialize or do business or both, and the smell of grape Nehi has become the store’s signature. A full decorating service in the back represents the heart of the business, which is 85 percent team. “It doesn’t matter to us if it’s the big leagues or Little League,” says Strickland. “We get it done and make our customers happy. It’s what we do.”

Bartley’s history spans a century that saw the sporting goods industry morph from neighborhood merchant to big box stores to cyberspace. But Bartley’s never left Main Street. In fact, for its first 85 years it never left the Hendry Street downtown location, although it moved four times to different rented buildings. Then in 1995, the family purchased a freestanding building at its current location on Cleveland Avenue.

“Since we moved here our business exploded, ” says Strickland. “This building has better parking and increased visibility for our customers, and more room for computers and decorating machines for our team business.”

Coincidentally (or not), the current location is just steps from her grandfather’s home. “My grandfather’s house was the last remaining house on Cleveland Ave until it was moved in the 1970s,” says Strickland. “I remember his house as a child and get a sense he still has a foot in the door here.”

“Pay my bills. Trust my customers with consideration, and spend a little time with them.” — Henry Bartley

Henry Bartley opened his retail establishment on the corner of Bay and Hendry Streets in 1910. The tiny wood frame building housed a bicycle shop, and for three decades Bartley’s sold bicycles, fishing tackle and radios. Although the original name is not known, the store became Bartley Tackle and Supply and remained so until recently.

“We’ve been using the name Bartley’s Sporting Goods for a long time, but it wasn’t until we moved that we officially changed the name,” says Strickland.

She remembers grandfather Henry as a “rather ornery old guy.” Scrappy and tenacious, he survived the Great Depression by stocking anything he thought he could sell, even penny candy, and for a time was more of a general mercantile business. In better times, Henry liked to golf at Fort Myers Country Club, where he could “knock the heads of four-foot rattlesnakes with a golf club,” and captain the unique battery-powered cruiser of the prodigious inventor Thomas A. Edison, who summered there.

“Each new generation has brought new ideas and new energy.” — Loring Strickland

In 1940, Jimmy Bartley joined his father’s business, helping with repair work on fishing tackle, tennis racquets and outboard motors. “Uncle Jim worked side-by-side with my grandfather for years and was the most delightful man ever,” says Strickland. Henry remained active in the store until age 86 and passed away two years later. After that Jim ran the store alone, literally closing up at noon to go home for lunch, as none of his four daughters had interest in the business.

When the 1970s saw the advent of brands such as Nike, Adidas and Reebok, Bartley’s team business was born. “Bartley’s was Nike’s 473rd account and we put Nike cleats on all our football players. They took us to the dance, but they won’t go home with us,” referring to the fact that they no longer carry Nike products.

The Stricklands took on half ownership of the company in 1980 when Steve’s minor league baseball career was derailed by injury, and they then bought out the remaining half when Uncle Jim retired in 1987. Before long Steve recruited Loring to join the business, and they updated the store and began focusing on school teams.

Decorating quickly became a prominent part of their soft goods business, with tackle twill, embroidery, screenprinting, and manual sewing and repair services on premises.

“Steve convinced me that it was necessary for us to do our own decorating production so we could better control the process,” says Loring. “It was definitely the right decision.”

Today Bartley’s solid niche in team embraces the side of the business that requires a lot of handholding and last minute work. “We excel at getting people out of jams, whether they need quick turnaround T-shirts, a glove repair, or piping sewn onto pants for tonight’s game,” says Strickland.

Beyond the gamut of local high schools, leagues, and travel teams, Bartley’s does work for Fort Myers’ Gulf Coast University and handles the needs of the Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins when they’re in town for spring training. “We do a lot for the Red Sox, from names on uniforms for non-roster players to personalized cuffs for a franchise player,” says Strickland. “It’s all about relationships and they are great people.”

A pillar of the community, Bartley’s current location is front and center for Fort Myers’ annual Pageant of Lights Parade. It has become a tradition for Bartley’s to host a BBQ at their store for hundreds of people. “The nighttime parade celebrates Thomas Edison’s birthday, starting downtown and passing right in front of our store,” says Loring. “It’s a big deal around here and a great opportunity for us to thank our customers.”

While the online sales have changed the team business, Bartley’s has embraced the Internet as a resource for ideas, even referring customers to look online or telling coaches and athletic directors to buy on line if they find a better price.

“We won’t sell something that we lose money on, but our customers trust us to give the best price we can,” says Strickland. “Our experience shows us that teams that go online for the bottom line dollar don’t see the bigger picture until something goes wrong. We get the details right. We care about the Bartley’s name and if something goes wrong, we make it right. Our customers know we have their backs.”

With tighter school budgets and difficult fundraising, Bartley’s works with teams to make their dollars go further. “We’re all in this together,” says Loring.

Bartley’s has chosen to remain independent rather than join a buying group and has refused to give in to vendors that require minimum booking orders. “I know my customers, and I know what I can sell. I don’t want someone telling me who I have to buy from or how much I have to buy,” says Strickland, revealing the tenacity of her grandfather.

“Just like my grandfather, we take care of our customers and pay our bills. We enjoy our business and it keeps us going.“ — Loring Strickland

On August 12, 2010, Bartley’s will celebrate 100 years the only way it knows how — surrounded by family, friends and customers. All are invited to stop by for a BBQ at the store and gather at the picnic table. Every customer will be given a Bartley’s 1910-2010 recycled tote bag and T-shirt — screenprinted on the premises, of course.

Festivities will exude the welcoming spirit that their customers love and come back for it. Like the grape Nehi scent, it’s signature Bartley’s.

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