Trinh takes reins of Source for Sports as pandemic plays with sales trends

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/08/2020 (1847 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The new owner of Source for Sports in Steinbach is both a familiar face to customers and someone experienced enough to navigate disruptions in the retail industry caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

George Trinh became the store’s new owner on July 1 after 18 years working alongside Curt Guenther, who retired after 33 years running the store.

“The transition was pretty smooth,” Trinh said. “Curt and I have a really good relationship.”

When Guenther purchased the store, in 1987, it was called Merit Sports and located in Clearspring Centre. In 1991, he joined Sports Distributors of Canada Ltd., an Ontario-based buying group that developed the Source for Sports brand in 1997. The store moved to its current location on Highway 12 in 2002.

Guenther said it was reassuring to step away from the store knowing Trinh was in charge.

“Since he’s been there so long he knows a ton of the customers. He can sharpen skates, he can fix bicycles.”

Trinh was a Grade 10 student when he was first hired at the store. A natural athlete, he played several team sports throughout high school and at Providence College, where he studied business administration.

When it came time to choose a career, taking on more responsibility at the store seemed like a no-brainer. He later leapt at Guenther’s offer to buy into the business as a part owner.

Trinh, 40, is the son of Vietnamese refugees who arrived in Canada from Indonesia. Grace Mennonite Church sponsored the family in the early days of Mennonite Central Committee’s refugee sponsorship program.

Trinh said he enjoys going to work each day. In the world of sporting goods, “there’s always something new. It’s fun to be on the forefront of that.”

He believes that what sets Source apart from the competition is staff who know their stuff.

“Our big thing is that we have experienced staff—experienced players, essentially—that do the sports that we sell things for.”

Source for Sports stores are also independently owned and operated, giving them the flexibility to stock what locals want.

“Every store really caters to their demographic and what they can sell around here,” Trinh said.

Case in point: the Source on Pembina Highway doesn’t carry bicycles, which are a huge part of the Steinbach store.

The bike repair department proved to be a lifeline this spring. Trinh said fixing bikes allowed the store to remain open as an essential transportation business.

Still, enduring COVID-19 has been difficult. For eight weeks, only Guenther and Trinh worked at the store. Guenther recalled one day when sales totalled $200, barely enough to cover the utility bill. Skate sales plummeted from 30 or 40 pairs a day to zero.

Trinh said total sales are down about 30 percent since the pandemic began, though federal wage subsidies and reduced overhead provided some relief.

“We’re certainly not where we were last year or the year before. You just deal with it and move on. All things considered, we’re in a pretty good position.”

While some items are gathering dust, other items have flown off the shelves. Chief among sales trends during the pandemic has been a return to pedal power.

“Bike repair was huge,” Trinh said. “People were pulling out bikes, as they say, from grandma’s shed and getting them going.”

Demand for new bikes and rollerblades also spiked. The store quickly ran out and couldn’t reorder.

“All the suppliers were out as well,” Trinh said.

Currently, bike parts are at the top of his wish list. On Monday, yellow tags reading ‘parts on order’ hung from the handlebars of some of the bikes in the store.

Fitness equipment, from dumbbells to jump ropes to tension bands, was also a hot seller as people exercised at home.

Tennis racquets and running shoes were also popular. With league play cancelled, Trinh said activities that could be done alone or with a partner surged in popularity.

While many people were working from home this spring, Trinh said that didn’t translate into more sales of ‘athleisure’ apparel like sweatpants.

In late June, baseball resumed, but produced one-quarter of the store traffic it usually does.

As fall approaches, hockey training camps and team practices are gradually resuming, but a question mark still hangs over minor league play.

“Parents are a little bit hesitant to buy new gear for their kids if there isn’t a season,” Trinh said.

He said he continues to be grateful for customers who choose to shop local during the pandemic. Guenther echoed that sentiment.

“I really appreciate the amount of business that we’ve gotten out of Steinbach.”

This fall, Guenther will return to the store part-time to handle corporate and teamwear orders. Upstairs, the store has a large embroidery machine that can stitch a logo onto six hats simultaneously.