“The best sporting goods show ever,” was the comment the Sports, Inc. office heard over and over again at our recent Athletics show in St. Charles, MO. “We invited 100 suppliers to the show and over 450 store owners, buyers and sales people from 189 member locations were in attendance,” said Todd Adams, Sports, Inc. Athletics Marketing Director. “Our shows have always been successful but this show stands out from them all. Almost 900 people met and worked over the 2 day show. Our order volume was up over 30% compared to our 2006 June show.”
The Sports, Inc. office did not charge vendors booth fees and also increased the size of the show attendance / participation check each member received at the end of the show. “These new show features are part of a long term incentive package we are creating,” said Nancy Wilson, Sports, Inc. Vice President. “We have always strived to keep our buyer to vendor ratio high to create the best order writing experience for our members and vendors.”
At the St. Charles show Team Distributors was named the 2007 Sports, Inc. Store of the Year. Located in Annapolis, MD, Team Distributors has been in business since 1973. They have 4 outside sales people focusing on the team business.
“Team Distributors has only been a Sports, Inc. member since 2002 but in a very short period of time they have become one of our most supportive members,” said Adams. “Norman and Chuck Phillips are first class people and their store has a fantastic reputation in their market and the industry. Their sales people are very professional and Mary Debottis, their bookkeeper, is great to work with. Mary was one of the first people to try our online claims center and actually helped with the testing.”
