Quote:
Originally Posted by skiiipi
The following is just my guess,
Knowledgeable and passionate staff should be something that PHL can offer, services such as skate punching and fitting will be something that PHL can offer.
Wide assortment of products is a given, considering it will be a 30000 sqft store with nothing but hockey.
In terms of specialized services like glove repalming... I dont think PHL will dab into that market.
Quality skate sharpening, I'm sure PHL will be able to offer.
Generous return and exchange policy will be an advantage of a bigger chain... They can "afford" to take things back stuff that's not technically warranty in the name of customer service.
The one thing I noticed after working in Alberta for the past few years is that people in BC are not as crazy about hockey.... Here in alberta, it seems like every parent genuinely believes that their kid will be the next Crosby. I've never sold so many $500-600 skates in size 1 and 2s and Jr sticks at the $200+ range until coming to Alberta. It really shocks me how much parents are willing to spend in their kids to make them competitive.
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I can buy that. There are many more options in terms of sports here in Van due to milder winters. Also, hockey is expensive as all hell for a kid. I know I won't be pushing mine through hockey unless they absolutely beg me.
In my humble opinion, putting a PHL in what's possibly one of the furthest reaches of the GVRD is going to cause it to fail. In terms of hockey selection- THS/Cyclone/Larry's all carry the top half of each company's product lines, so PHL will likely not have something that you can't get closer. Having more stock is another, but that means customers are making the trek in an emergency situation. Sure PHL can carry more bottom-end gear to fill up the 30k sqft store, but nobody but beginners and financially-strapped parents are buying that stuff.
By not differentiating themselves from Sport Chek/HX and local independant dealers, there's very little incentive to drive to PHL when you can likely get equal-better service closer to more populated city-centers. As everyone else has pointed it, without a defining trait to cause us to want to head to PHL I'll only visit when I'm in the area to see the novelty in such a large store.
It's too bad they couldn't put it in Metrotown or somewhere closer because that would make things more interesting (at least for me).