Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/1467708
18 • Team Insight ~ May/June 2022 teaminsightmag.com Let's talk team sports in general first. You've been in this business a long time — how does the current state of the business compare to "the good old days?" In a lot of ways, our business is harder. We are dealing with fewer manufacturers, de- nitely fewer sales reps, obvious supply issues and a "have-it now" mentality. How has the "fewer sales reps" impacted the way you do business? We used to see sales reps more oen, as they covered smaller territories. ey knew us, we knew them and we could count on them to help us out when needed. Now, reps are spread so thin that sometimes I feel guilty reaching out to them for help. at is, if I even have a rep for a specic company. Any ways business is better and easier? I love being able to use a laptop to design a uniform, order product off a b2b site or just be able to communicate with people any time I want. Having the email thread of a conversation with someone, or an earlier jersey design, has often been a life saver. What's your biggest challenge? Well, aside from the challenges that COVID has created, the biggest challenge is creating and then maintaining the rela- tionships with our athletic directors and coaches. We've had a lot of turnover in our schools the last ve to 10 years and with that comes the task of redeveloping our relationship with that school. Athletic directors in particular? I've always said, "I hate breaking in a new AD." Sometimes, they come in with either prior relationships with a competitor, or come in looking to change things up from the previous regime. When I started in the team business, there was a lot more loyalty than there is now. How about that "have-it now" mentality? It's hard dealing with the Amazon mentality that is everywhere in society. We've all dealt with people who don't understand why they can't have any item sent out within one or two days with free shipping. And the COVID impact? So, somehow we were able to get through the shutdowns. We did a lot of cleaning, painting and re-organizing within our building, which was probably overdue. We had a group of colleges and businesses that still had a few things working, so we were able to keep moving and as things opened up a little business slowly opened up as well. Because of the uncertainties in when sports were going to start up again, we found people would look to get a percentage of what they would normally do for a season, so that when things ramped up they would be ready with the core items to get started. How's Spring and Summer 2022 looking for Grogan-Marciano? Typically, as spring sports ramp up here we tend to spend our days putting out res. No matter how hard we push, we always have several schools that wait until the last minute to start ordering product. en as Michael Bruno and his wife, Cathleen, relax while on vacation recently in Nantucket. INTERVIEW MICHAEL BRUNO General Manager, Grogan-Marciano Sporting Goods, Mansfield, MA ONE-ON-ONE WITH...