Hi Lads/Ladies, I was hoping to keep my hands clean on this one, But I see Mike has jumped in and I couldn’t let him have all the fun. My name is Marc Price and I am the owner of Troisport (one of the 3 partners actually). Everyone in this thread has a valid point (some more passionate about it than others "Nolipoli”) but one ore two of you have made some statements that need some inside info to clear up. 1) Right off the mark, SBR has not chosen a clever location to do business that blurs the line a little with ours - I have not made any secret about my concerns over that to my customers. In much the same way that we did not choose a clever place when we set up right on top of Fritz Pinaar - but it was not our intention to compete with him - we are not a bike shop, we are the most comprehensive triathlon specific store in SA (and a lot of the world – I have seen others in other countries). My point is that as long as Mike at SBR is swimming, biking, and running gear, he is not competing with us either! Triathlon race gear (and all that goes with it) is our game...not 3 separate sports!!!! Our collective Triathlon experience includes over: 20 Ironman races (one world championship race), 30 half ironman races, over 100 Olympic distance races (7 world championship races), 20 Xterra races (3 world championship qualifications), and more general endurance races than we would ever be able to calculate. We also host the countries biggest Olympic distance race series, own a Triathlon club, manage 4 Triathlon distribution brands, while serving on the sports governing bodies committees, while being the official shop to many of the races across the country - Like I said, triathlon is our game. 2) I suppose my biggest gripe was with the hubber that said he/she didn’t like the fat in our margin. This offends me most because I constantly endeavour to keep my margin well bellow that of the other cycle/run/chain stores I frequent (Mike is spot on here – chain stores are the enemy, dispensing poor advice at ludicrously inflated prices). There is unwritten rule in retail that suggests you need to make 33%gp to make ends meet - I have yet to get anywhere near that gp (we are FAR too low).... I get home after 9pm every night after checking that every payment run can be met, that our overheads aren’t crippling us, that our books make sense, that our stock is appropriate, and that I am coming as close as humanly possible to offering our customers a fair price point in line with what you will pay anywhere in the world......(bikes are 1 exception here - bikes are far to expensive in SA and it is not the fault of the retailer, nor is it the fault of the supplier, it is almost exclusively the fault of the South African circumstance and scale of economies). 3) Then there is the matter of customer service. This is a mine field, so forgive me if I navigate it messily. The customer is king – no debate there at all – and all customers should be given the exact same time of day – again no question. BUT when a customer asks me “I’m doing 70.3, where do I start?” I prepare myself for a very in-depth explanation that combines all 3 disciplines in an attempt not to get even 1 single point wrong. EVERYTHING that customer needs is very specific to the sport and I need him to have the best day of his life at that race because I want him to love the sport that Troisport help resurrect from obscurity in this country. While I’m helping this customer, another one walks in and asks “Hi, I’m looking for a gym towel” – there is absolutely no way I can give towel guy the same level of attention as I do not even sell towels!!!!!!! The triathlete (and every potential triathlete) is our customer, not the towel shopper. This problem is exacerbated on a Saturday when there is a large volume of casual shopping as well as serious triathlon shopping – it’s a lot like triage, in that, those that need triathlon specific help must be considered before the casual shopper. An “easy fix” would be to employ more help on a Saturday, but I can’t afford it, MY MARGINS WOULD NEED TO BE HIGHER FOR THAT No one in this thread is wrong, some of you just a little misguided. I hope that this finds you all well, and that it has not offended anyone – in the end Troisport is just 3 guys doing more than we are able to with less than we need, in an environment that can sometimes become very political and hostile (much like this Hub thread). We will always try to please everyone (provided we have pleased the Triathletes first) and welcome any POSITIVE criticism that might help strengthen our name and customer loyalty. Train Hard, Keep Safe
