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What stood out for me at the PHL in Vaughan was their Rapid Shot machine. How do people try out sticks before they buy them now? Stickhandle a street hockey or smart hockey ball around? How many sticks have you purchased because it felt good in the store just to realize you hated it on the ice?
I believe there are only two places locally that will let you shoot before you buy. Hockey Shop and Base. The advantage of having a Rapid Shot machine over Hockey Shop and Base's setup is it'll spit out a performance report for each session. Rather than buying a stick just based purely on gut feelings, the raw numbers can help in the purchasing decision. Who else has these machines locally? Rogers Arena and NSWC? Neither sells gear.
On top of the people they hire, if PHL can bring a similar experience to shopping at Golf Town I can see them being pretty successful.
1. Let the customers try before they buy
2. If they are fitted for something and end up not liking it, 30 day grace period for returns even if they used it
3. Trade in promos
4. Lessons (like others mentioned, the parents of elite level kids will spend the money on as many camps/lessons/ice times as possible)
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