The Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame Committee has elected five new Hall of Famers. Roger Atkin, formerly of NFL Properties; James W. Cabela, Mary A. Cabela and Richard W. Cabela of outdoor retailer Cabelas; and Konstantin (Conny) Klimenko of Sevylor, Inc. were elected to the Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame induction will take place Tuesday, May 24, 2005, during the 41st Annual NSGA Management Conference & 7th Annual Team Dealer Summit, which will be held at the new JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa in Tucson, Ariz.
Since 1956, the sporting goods industry has honored its pioneers, innovators and leaders, and the election of the Class of 2005 brings the total number of Hall of Famers to 124.
The Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame Breakfast is co-sponsored by W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc., Mizuno USA, New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc., and Southern Athletic. All Conference/Summit attendees are invited to the Hall of Fame Breakfast, which will be held Tuesday, May 24.
“Election to the Hall of Fame is the highest honor one can receive in the sporting goods industry,” said Hall of Fame Committee Chairman Mickey Newsome, Chairman, President & CEO of Hibbett Sporting Goods, Inc. “These inductees meet the high standards to which all Hall of Famers are held.”
Roger Atkin / NFL Properties
Long recognized a pioneer and innovator in sports licensing, promotion and marketing, Roger Atkin served the industry for 30 years as Vice President of NFL Properties. Joining NFL Properties six years after its founding, Atkin developed a diversified group of licensees to provide team-identified products to a cross-section of retailers and NFL fans.
He initiated and assisted licensees in developing new products. He established product quality contract standards, and his persistence led to the implementation of a trademark protection program.
Atkin refined and broadened the development of the “Team Shop” concept to assist licensees in expanding distribution and give retailers a vehicle to merchandise and promote team-identified products. In 1978, Atkin created the Super Bowl licensing program, the first in professional sports. He developed the locker room “Championship” merchandise concept that was the forerunner to the multi-billion dollar post-game programs of today.
Industry respect for his knowledge and expertise earned him an invitation to address the U.S. trademark Association on the subject of the then-uncharted waters of “Sports Licensing and Trademark Protection.” The U.S. Olympic Overview Commission and the North American Soccer League also sought his counsel.
Roger and his wife Eloise reside in Lansdale, Pa. They have three daughters and eight grandchildren.
James W. Cabela, Mary A. Cabela, Richard N. Cabela
Few, if any, businesses today survive the kitchen-table dreams of their founders, especially in the outdoor industry where businesses come and go with the changing seasons.
Yet, the company known to its customers as the “Worlds Foremost Outfitter®” has done just that survived, grown and prospered from simple beginnings to become the largest mail-order, retail and Internet outdoor outfitter in the world.
Cabelas was born somewhat inadvertently in 1961 when Dick Cabela (current Chairman and Director) came up with a plan to sell fishing flies he purchased while at a furniture show in Chicago. Upon returning home to Chappell, Neb., Dick ran a classified ad in the Casper, Wyo., newspaper reading “12 hand-tied flies for $1.” It generated one response.
Undaunted, Dick formulated a new plan, rewriting the ad to read “FREE Introductory offer! 5 hand-tied flies…25¢ Postage…Handling” and placing it in national outdoor magazines. It didnt take long for the orders to being arriving from sportsmen and women around the country.
Initially, Dick and his wife and company co-founder Mary were able to handle the growing business with the help of temporary typists hired for mail, label and catalog preparation.
However, by the fall of 1962, they realized the demands of their new venture needed full-time attention. Dick urged younger brother Jim (current Vice Chairman and Director) to join the new company, which he did in 1963. They did not take any salary from the company in the early years, instead investing in more mailings, new equipment and bigger facilities.
By 1964, the company moved from the kitchen table to the basement of Dick and Jims furniture store and then on to various buildings in Chappell. In 1969, the company was operating from a 50,000 square-foot building in neighboring Sidney, Neb.
The company produces 60 different catalogs a year, including specialty books on archery, fly-fishing and boating. More than 100 million catalogs are mailed each year. The retail division operates seven stores throughout the Midwest.
In 1985, Cabelas Outdoor Adventures was born, booking worldwide hunting and fishing trips.
Another chapter in the companys history was written last June when Cabelas made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange.
Conny Klimenko / Sevylor, Inc.
Konstantin (Conny) Klimenko, President of Sevylor, Inc., was born in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, which was then part of the Soviet Union.
He fled to Germany at the end of World War II with his family, but his father was forcefully repatriated to the USSR. Conny did not see his father again for 45 years, until August 1990 when he found him in the western Ukraine city of Lutsk.
Conny made a well documented trade with the local authorities of two above-ground swimming pools for a private apartment for his father, then 94 years old.
Conny was educated in Germany, graduating with a BA in business, as well as receiving a diploma in textile and retailing in 1955. He is fluent in English, German, Russian and Polish.
He came to the United States in 1957 and secured a job as a shipping clerk for Klepper Folding Boats, the venerable German kayak maker. The next year, he and a former manager of the company left Klepper to form Kayak Corporation of America and soon was named junior partner. That same year, the company became the exclusive U.S. distributor of the French Sevylor products.
In 1969, when the Kayak Corporation was taken over by Great American Industries, Klimenko moved to Los Angeles and became VP of West Cost Operations for a new company called Recreonics Inc. Kayak Corporation, with the exclusive Sevylor contract, was one of the cornerstones of the company.
In 1973, Great American closed Recreonics, and Sevylor began distributing its own products. Conny was appointed President & CEO of Sevylor USA, a post his has held for 31 years.
In 1982, Sevylor France was taken over by Zodiac Corporation. Klimenko kept his title with Sevylor USA, but he also was made VP of Zodiac, a member of the Board, and Director of the Leisure Division. In September 2003, Zodiac sold Sevylor USA to NVI, a California company. Today, Conny is President & CEO of Sevylor Inc., a new company but with the same product line.
