By Martha McKay, The Record, Hackensack, N.J. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Feb. 11--In 1982, soccer in the United States was sputtering.
Despite superstar players such as Pele, the New York Cosmos professional team was on the verge of folding. And baseball and football fields still dominated most schools and parks of northern New Jersey.
So it seemed like folly to some when former Cosmos goalie Hubert Birkenmeier opened a soccer store on Main Street in Hackensack.
'They would say, 'You guys are crazy,' and they shook their heads,' said Andranik Eskandarian, a former Cosmos defender who bought the store from his friend in 1985. 'You couldn't even find a soccer field in Bergen County.'
But Eskandarian, an Armenian-born soccer star, gambled times would change.
'In my heart, we know this game will get very big. We could see the light, it's gonna come,' Eskandarian said.
And come it did.
Soccer has grown from a few hundred thousand players to 18.1 million last year, according to the U.S. Soccer Federation.
Perhaps even more surprising, especially to those familiar with the commercial decline of downtown Hackensack, is the success enjoyed by Birkenmeier Sport Shop.
Since he bought the store, Eskandarian said he has seen a steady increase in business. Eskandarian won't discuss profits.'I don't want to jinx anything.' But the Montvale resident said the store has given him a comfortable living.
It hasn't all been easy.
After the Cosmos folded, Eskandarian and his wife, Anna, who also works full time for the business, found themselves in a pickle. Much of their sales came from Cosmos-related gear: sweatshirts, jerseys, and other apparel emblazoned with the Cosmos logo.
They knew North Jersey was home to various soccer-happy ethnic groups and so decided to carry international team uniforms.
But it was a decision to stick with high-end soccer gear, in particular footwear, that Eskandarian believes made his store a destination for loyal customers.
In the back of the neatly organized shop are three walls of sports shoes, most of which are made especially for soccer. Customers will find a range of prices.
Eskandarian pointed to a pair of $50 cleats, saying he sells maybe five or six pairs per year. 'These,' he said, hefting a slick pair of red Nikes that retail for $165, 'I'll sell maybe 30 or 40 pairs per year.'
At the height of the outdoor season in the spring, the shop stocks between 300 and 400 types of soccer shoes. In April, said Eskandarian, grinning in anticipation of the World Cup this summer, 'We're going to get World Cup shoes -- $200 -- I'm very excited for those.'
This is not gear for a child player, Eskandarian said. Although the store sells children's soccer shoes and sneakers, it is not something the store emphasizes.
Parents, he rationalizes, aren't likely to travel to his store to buy soccer shoes for the fast-growing feet of a child when they can pick up a reasonably priced shoe at a large retailer.
On the other hand, for an older child getting serious about the sport, the attention, advice, and expertise that both men provide to loyal customers keep them coming back.
These are not your ordinary shoe salesmen.
It's safe to say a customer wouldn't find any two people more steeped in soccer lore and history than Birkenmeier and Eskandarian, known to the soccer-playing world as 'Eski.'
Both were soccer-crazed from a young age, Birkenmeier in a tiny town in Germany where he and his pals would stand on wooden boxes and peek through tavern windows to watch the German national team on TV, and Eskandarian in Armenia.always scolded by his father for ruining yet another pair of shoes kicking a soccer ball around with playmates.
Birkenmeier had some retail experience in Germany before he signed with the Cosmos in 1979. He sank $50,000 into the new venture on Main Street. Although Birkenmeier sold the business to his friend when he left the East Coast to play for a pro team in Chicago, he returned several years ago to help out.
Of those early days, Birkenmeier recalled: 'You could already see the growth of soccer, and you couldn't find soccer equipment anywhere. There was one store in New York City.'
Competition has been on the rise as other soccer specialty stores have opened in the area. Eskandarian doesn't worry about competitors.
'We bring good quality and people come,' Eskandarian said.
The growth of soccer not only helped boost sales, but also changed who shops in his store.
In the first years, women made up about 1 percent of his business, he estimated. Today, they account for about 30 percent, he said.
Despite challenges with parking (customers often hunt for spaces on Main Street), Eskandarian has no plans to leave. 'We've had a lot of offers from shopping centers to move but we are very happy here; we're never going to leave,' he said.
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(c) 2002, The Record, Hackensack, N.J. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
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