Well we got through the first weekend with flying colors. I thought my feet hurt on Friday? Well there is a new level of ache this morning. But I am not complaining. We did great business! On Saturday we did 56% more business than any previous opening day. Sunday was just a bit less in sales. We seem to just keep growing. With some great help it all went smoothly too. We had the regular staff, as well as a number of previous employees that lend a hand for events like this. In addition to the new and old Cal Ski Co staff, we got some great sales reps out there to do some retail. I think that much of the time the reps hang out and schmooze at these events. Donuts and small talk. Not this weekend! Dana from Blizzard/Tecnica recently moved from the race department where he dialed in athletes boots at the highest levels to working with retailers. Ingrid Backstroms boots last fall, fitting recreational skiers this fall to help me out. The Soze group distributes Conformable insoles out of Vancouver Canada. Our local sales rep was hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, so they sent Steve Noonan, one of there management team from Park City. We have known Steve for a number of years now. He teaches some of the Boot Fitting classes that top boot fitters attend to find out what the latest tools and techniques are on the world cup circuit. Thanks to Steve and Dana, we had additional staff that was even more qualified than us on staff to help get the right boots dialed in on our customers feet. Thanks Dana and Steve! I think that they seemed quite impressed with the five staffers working the boot area with them too. They knew that John is as advanced as it gets. I think they were surprised to find the depth of knowledge they found across the board with the staff. Once again my staff made me proud!
Benelia mainly worked the clothing and bags in the Parking lot. This was the first year that someone outside was truly "selling" as opposed to soaking up the sun and doing security watch out front. Benelia contributed greatly to our numbers. Jennifer mainly sold helmets and clothing inside and ran the register. She puts all sales under her own employee number. This ensures that she will be the top sales person for at least a few months after she goes off to college. Sorry Jen, you can't fool me!
I mainly worked the ski wall. I sold a lot of skis. I don't know that I sold the most however. Christian, Erle, Gabe, John and Martin kept walking customers out after they finished with their boot fit. They grabbed skis off the wall and walked them up to the counter for Jennifer to process. They were selling the skis and boots at the same time back there. I would be talking to someone for fifteen minutes about skis and they would make the ski portion of their customers purchase in about three minutes. It is amazing how much trust is developed during the boot fitting process. Or maybe I am simply long winded...
Anyway, I am pleased and content. I feel that we offered outstanding prices and great customer service. Our product mix is top notch and my staff is exemplary. We had a lot of new customers as well as dozens of "regulars" that I know by name. Great to see both! Life is good! Now unfortunately I need to go back in today. John scheduled some boot fitting that was a bit complex for the sale environment over the weekend. Groan- no rest for the weary I guess. Oh well, there is quite a bit of clean up and organization to be done before next weekend anyway. I will find some time tomorrow perhaps for a little bike ride or something. See you next weekend!
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