Bush-Wells Sporting Goods has been named the 2006 Sports, Inc. Store of the Year. Located in Casper, WY, Bush-Wells has been in business since 1963 and joined Sports, Inc. in 1973. Bush-Wells operates a 4500 square foot retail store and their team sales offices, warehouse and screen print / embroidery operation take up another 4,000 square feet. They have 3 outside sales people that sell to schools, youth leagues, recreation departments and businesses.

“Bush-Wells Sporting Goods epitomizes what Sports, Inc. membership is all about. Terry Nelson and Pearly Wells are unwavering in their support for their group. With their membership spanning 33 years, they are in an elite group of our members,” said Dave Salvi, Sports, Inc. CEO.

“Bush-Wells purchased over 100 lines through Sports, Inc. in 2005 and their volume though Sports, Inc. was up 14%,” stated Todd Adams, Athletics Marketing Director for Sports, Inc. “They attend both of our athletics buying shows year in and year out and are a pleasure to work with on the accounting side of things. Their bookkeeper, Karen Stewart, is fantastic to work with.”

SanMar has won the 2006 Sports, Inc. Vendor of the Year award. “We have only been doing business with SanMar since 2002 and it obviously gone very well in order for them to receive this award so soon,” said Adams. SanMar is one of the most widely used programs that Sports, Inc. has to offer. SanMar’s volume through Sports, Inc. was up 36% in 2005 and up 47% at the half way point in 2006.

“Dan Tushar, National Sales Manager, is great to work with and has been very receptive to program enhancements that we have proposed”, stated Adams. “Tressa Clinton is in charge of the Customer Service Team that deals with our membership and they take wonderful care of our dealers. The day to day business that takes place between SanMar and our membership is extremely clean because of the work that they do.” 171 Sports, Inc. dealers used the SanMar program in 2005.

Bill McIver, Holloway National Sales Manager, has been named the 2006 Sports, Inc. Salesperson of the Year. Bill has been with Holloway for 8 years. “Bill is the driving force behind the incredible business relationship between Holloway and Sports, Inc,” said Adams. “Holloway is a consistent Top 10 Sports, Inc. supplier year in and year out because of the way Bill treats our membership and the way he prepares his sales people that work with Sports, Inc. dealers. Our dealers consider Bill a business partner and more importantly, a great friend.” Recently Sports, Inc. has worked with Bill to get more support for Holloway’s wool jacket line. In 2003 only 24 Sports, Inc. dealers booked Holloway wool jackets. In 2006 over 90 dealers booked. “Thanks to Bill’s efforts the business between Holloway and Sports, Inc. will continue to grow,” concluded Adams.