The coming new year will mark the 25th Anniversary of 2nd Time Around Sports. 25 years, to put things in perspective, roughly 50% of our employees were not born when the doors originally opened. Since I'm writing this from a personal perspective I will say this, having been with the team here for the last five years I often marvel at how much the company has grown while still maintaining a commitment to offering low priced options to the Rhode Island (and New England) Sports community.
In doing this we face a daily battle, and we hear it every single day. No matter the amount of Advertising on TV, Radio, in Print, and of course on all varieties of Social Media we hear from at least one person, “I didn’t know you had new stuff too!”
In fact our inventory is comprised of approximately 85%-90% New Equipment. While the used gear offers many money saving options (both selling and buying) I’d like to take some time to talk about the new stuff.
When You See our Ads and the Price is Great, We’re Talking About New.
How do we phrase this? Those $39.99 Wrestling Shoes that retail for $99.99? those are new. That Hockey Stick we have for $149.99 that retails for $299.99 that’s new too. If you see it in one of our Ads it’s brand spankin’ hot off the presses new. Joe, my boss and the owner of 2nd Time Around says, ”Write new.” “But Joe!” I say, “It’s a brand new adidas cleat in the photo.” People will know. “Nope, write new.” “Come on Joe, this is the newest USA Bat on the Market!” “Write new…I want people to know.” And when inevitably the first customer comes in with said Ad and asks, “This price is for used right?” it's not their fault for doubting the low price they see isn't for a used product. And there it is in a nutshell.
Much More than Meets the Eye.
“Staying true to your roots” How do you survive, much less grow year after year. We have worked and worked hard to establish great relationships with Manufacturers big and small. So much so that a project to finish adding their logos to our website keeps going and going. For example next year holds exclusive deals with major companies to bring you even more savings. One of my proudest moments is taking new vendors, customers or partners on a tour of our buildings. Including 10,000 plus square feet of warehouse space packed with New Gear and the hub for our website everysportforless.com goes along with 6,500 square feet of Retail Space that most people don’t know exist and the reaction is always the same. “Wow, you guys have a lot of stuff.”
Sure it’s New, but that doesn’t have to mean expensive.
No matter what sport you play the likes of adidas, Under Armour, Bauer, CCM, Flow, Rawlings, Wilson and Warrior are household names. Sure you can always find the $600 Skates (we have those), the $400 Bats (got ‘em) or the $200 Cleats (guilty) but where we excel is in the ability to bring you all these brands at either discounted or the lowest allowed prices (Yes Virginia, there is a price police). So much so that several years ago we added Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (the real ones, not a ballooned up number) to our price tags because we were afraid that people who shop us exclusively would miss what they were actually saving. With buying power we can bring in all the price ranges and purchase additional discounts so every player of every level has an option.
Purely from the roll of marketing 2nd Time Around Sports I will be the first to admit it is a misleading name. Sure it will always be Rhode Island’s spot for Buying, Consigning and Selling your used gear and saving dough in the process, but it’s also the spot to shop to your hearts content for new Hockey, Lacrosse, Skiing, Snowboarding Baseball, Soccer, or any other sport you can think of.
In 2018 our 25th Anniversary Year we will be launching many great new promotions including an anniversary logo as we continue to grow. You can be rest assured that the products in those promotions are new.
That poor customer we talked about who came in with the Ad? They can easily be forgiven for thinking that great price from a store called 2nd time around sports was used. It’s not, it’s new. Please believe me. It’s in a Blog.
