Kevin and Chad Olson have hit a homerun with team sports merchandise. Their Pro Image retail operation is 210 franchises strong, and kids are the heavy hitters.
A big share of the sports apparel business at retails is going to the pros, The Pro Image that is. Just last year the 210-unit Pro Image franchise racked up retail sales near the $80 million mark selling licensed sports products ranging from baby bibs to $80 sweatshirts.
The stores, which are in 48 U.S. states, range in size from 1,200 to 1,500 square feet and are located primarily in shopping centers. While the Bountiful, Utah-based company is semi-national, per-capita, the strength is in the West.
There are also stores in Canada and one in West Germany. Fifty stores are planned to open in the next year. Within the next five years, the company plans to have a total of 600 Pro Image stores up and running. What's more, some 500 inquiries a month come from parties interested in a franchise startup.
One reason suppliers say Pro Image is successful is that it pays special attention to its customers. 'The fact that they're a smaller specialty store (means) they can better serve their consumers,' says Wendy Meyer, sales manager for Mighty Mac, a supplier of embroidered and quilted apparel. 'And since they're smaller, the consumer is not overwhelmed with product all over the place.'
Training is also a key to Pro Image's growth, according to Mike Habib, regional sales manager at Salem Sportswear, a supplier of activewear. 'Pro Image has done very well to educate their people,' he says. 'And they know how to carry the right products.'
Seven years ago when Kevin Olson opened a kiosk devoted to licensed sports products in Salt Lake City's ZCMI Center shopping mall, the apparel he sold - mostly caps, jackets and T-shirts - wasn't on the cutting edge of fashion.
'Our basic business back then was mesh baseball caps with adjustable straps,' says his brother, Chad Olson, the chief executive officer of Pro Image. 'Now you can hardly find those kinds of hats because kids want wool twill coordinated ones that are quality. Our products have changed to become more fashion oriented.'
According to Kevin Olson, now Pro Image's president, much of the store's success is kids' driven. In fact, it was his sons who prompted him to leave his job as an Amtrak clerk and form the franchise chain. He opened the first store after he was unable to find a Dodgers cap for his son outside of the ballpark when he was on a trip in Los Angeles.
In the 1970s, licensed sports apparel was focused more on children, but took a downturn in the 1980s in favor of the adult market. Now, says Kevin, the focus is back on kids. At Pro Image, 25 percent of the business is done in kids', he says.
Pro Image recently opened a section in some of its stores dedicated to infants' and toddlers' wear, and plans are in the works for a freestanding Pro Image Kids shop, which is targeted for a December debut. As for the store's children's sections, they're called Oh So Cute. The section was designed not to attract sports-fanatic fathers, but mothers and grandmothers, who are, surprisingly, Pro Image's core customers. 'We named the section what we did because so may mothers and grandmothers would walk into the section and say, |Oh so cute,'' Kevin Olson says.
Eventually, he hopes to have the 'Oh So Cute' section in every store, but since each franchise maintains control over much of its product selection, some stores' demographics make them impractical candidates for the concept. In Canada, for example, National Hockey League motifs are a strong seller. 'In Canada, the NHL is just a popular as the National Football League in the United States,' he says. 'The youth there love hockey so much.'
However, as far as across-the-board trends in the children's apparel, Kevin Olson says that kids want to dress like adults, and manufacturers are becoming more astute at supplying that product. And rather than buying children's sized clothing for their kids, many parents are opting for smaller adults' sizes.
'So many juveniles are wearing adults' sizes,' he says. 'They like the larger look because it's fashionable to wear baggy clothes.'
Pro Image children vendors include Apex, New Era, Nutmeg Mills, Starter Corp. and Sports Specialty.
Other items that are attractive to children are those that are decorated with players and teams that continue to grab the limelight.
Chicago Bulls' Michael Jordan continues to sell well on children's clothing, but Bo Jackson of the Chicago White Sox may be losing popularity because of injuries that have kept him off the playing field, Kevin Olson says. And parental concerns can sometimes get into the way of a licensed products success.
'Last year, Hose Canseco [of the Oakland A's] did pretty well, but a lot of parents pushed their children away from him because of his poor attitude off the field,' Kevin Olson says.
Football teams that should be hot this year are the Dallas Cowboys and the Atlanta Falcons. He adds that the interest in Cowboy products is because the team appears to be on a come back. But the Atlanta Falcons' product-appeal will probably be because of the logo and the attractive colors of black, silver and red. The National Hockey League's San Jose Sharks image is another to watch because of its appealing logo in teal, silver and black.
Even Minor League Baseball teams can have successful licensed products if they have the right colors and designs, according to Kevin Olson. Major League Baseball just launched a line of Minor League products with DeLong.
'It really depends on the teams and the colors, because these are more fashion items,' he says. 'Children aren't going to want the Toledo Mudhens because of the team, but because they like the colors and the logo.'
Additionally, home-team loyalty isn't necessarily what drives customers to seek out licensed sports paraphernalia. 'Most cities don't have professional teams.'
One of the advantages Pro Image offers its stores is that it can help the stores remain current to industry trends. 'But what we really offer them is product availability and purchasing power,' Chad Olson says.
He says that independent sports-oriented specialty stores often have trouble getting the hottest properties from large companies because they want to service their largest retailers first. 'Manufacturers can sell more of the products than they produce, so they service their largest accounts first.'
In one instance, some of the individual Pro Image stores were having difficulty receiving Nike products. 'But when Pro Image stepped in, we pressured them somewhat to sell to our 210 stores collectively,' Chad Olson says.
To help its stores maintain an even flow of products, Pro Image has set up a distributing company called TPI. It allows franchisees to take advantage of discounts the company has arranged through suppliers and to special-order products that a store may not stock.
Pro Image also steps in to teach franchises how to set up their stores. 'We take them through a three-week training session giving them ideas of what they should have in their stores and how to adjust it to their regions,' Kevin Olson says. 'We can also give them advice about what is hot around the country and what products to stay away from.'
During the recent economic downturn, many independent stores have been wiped off the retail map. And according to Chad Olson, the outlook for their future remains glum; that's where Pro Image steps up to bat with its acquired expertise. 'Most independents are only able to learn from sad experiences,' he says. 'Our goal is to help franchises stay out of bad stories.'
