Sports Specialists Ltd. (SSL), the specialty ski and snowboard marketing, purchasing and merchandising group, announced the recipients of its 2019/20 ‘Supplier of the Year’ awards.
Hestra earned Supplier of the Year for softgoods, Dynastar/Lange/Look earned the award for hardgoods and Salomon Snowboard earned the award for snowboard supplier. The awards were presented during the closing meeting of the group’s Winter Sports Market specialty buying group show.
During the award ceremony, SSL Committee Chair Kelli Pilla of Ski Haus in Salem, NH, and Wendy Jonon, softgoods merchandise manager for SSL, both presented the softgoods award to Dino Dardano, president of Hestra.
Dardano commented “On behalf of the entire Hestra team, it is an honor to be recognized by our SSL partners as the 2020 Softgoods Vendor of the Year. Our goal as a team has always been to craft the best gloves, build strong partner relationships and provide the highest level of customer support. This award demonstrates that these efforts are recognized, and we are exceedingly grateful. Though this fall season was challenging, it is quite refreshing to realize the continued support we have within the group. We are thankful for the relationships we have forged over the past 15 years and will continue to work hard to continue delivering exceptional products, support and service to the SSL group and retail community overall.”
SSL Committee Chair, Parker Rice of Equipe Sports of Rawsonville, VT, Vice-chair, Michael Strachan of Cole Sports of Park City, UT and SSL’s Hardgoods Merchandise Manager, Tyler Lockard, presented the awards to Jeff Fox, Salomon Snowboard Category Manager for North America and to both FrancoisGoulet, president of Group Rossignol and Dennis Gaspari, VP of sales & marketing for Dynastar/Lange/Look.
Fox commented “We, at Salomon snowboards, are excited and honored to receive this award. Our partnership with SSL has been a huge focus over the last few years as they are the leaders in the Specialty Snow business. This means so much to us as it demonstrates the hard work and dedication of the Salomon snowboard team alongside SSL. Our gratitude goes out to the entire SSL group for making this possible.”
The Supplier of the Year awards program was developed to recognize partner companies and their efforts in developing products, marketing strategies and customer service programs to help specialty retailers continue to be successful in an increasingly complicated and competitive marketplace.
“Consumer shopping practices have changed and will continue to change, and suppliers are pursuing omnichannel competitive approaches to reach their consumers,” said Dave Nacke, president & CEO, SSL. “Now, more than ever, is the right time to recognize suppliers who go out of their way to support specialty retail. The ones who talk, listen, identify ways to help, and actually execute on their ideas. Specialty retail is all about the best possible customer experience and remains the best option for a skier or snowboarder to get the best advice and interact with the store and the brands. It is truly a pleasure to work hand-in-hand with companies who understand and support that. SSL doesn’t award Supplier of the Year honors every year, only when a company really stands above their peers. To have three companies earn this recognition really makes the 2019/20 winter season very special.”
