sportstyle

42 • July/August 2022 sportstyle • sportstylemag.com Minority-owned retailer/team dealer formed out of former Schuylkill Valley Sporting Goods. By Michael Jacobsen T here's a new player in the team sports game that is actually a totally revamped old player familiar to almost everyone in the business. It happened last year when SV Sports, formerly Schuylkill Valley Sporting Goods, was acquired by John Scipio (CEO), Jason Lutz (president) and Ralph Greene (CMO), all veterans of the sporting goods industry. e three executives came together to capitalize on the opportunity to inject cultural relevance into the team dealer model and deliver empowerment opportunities to diverse communities. Scipio boasts a 25-year career at Nike that includes a stint managing the footwear giant's team division, where SV is a key account. Nike is where he met Lutz, who grew Villa from a single store owned by his parents into a mid- Atlantic powerhouse with 125 locations and $250 million in sales. And Greene was familiar with both Villa and SV from his days as VP of Nike's Eastern Region — the largest in the athletic brand's domestic portfolio. Aer a reorganization that saw it close most of its retail locations and the opening of a second sports destination retail space in the LakePoint (Georgia) Sports Complex, today SV Sports, which was founded in 1971, is a both a retailer and team dealer of uniforms, equipment, apparel and footwear for youth, high school and college athletes. We caught up with Scipio to get some insight into SV Sports' current business strategy and its plans for the future of its team sports business – and to thank him for changing the name from the always-difficult-to-spell Schuylkill Valley Sporting Goods to the much-simpler SV Sports. How did the purchase of SV Sports come about? John Scipio: As we began to set the strategy for the future of SV Sports we realized that ownership was necessary to control the des- tiny of the company and create the culture we desired. Also, the acquisition allowed us to create one of the few minority-owned sporting goods and team dealer companies. Can you provide some details on the size of the business now? How many stores and where? How many people, roadmen? SV Sports ended 2021 with $12 million in revenue. e current door count is one standalone door in Quakertown, PA, and two doors in sport destination locations — Lancaster, PA, and Emerson, GA. We have 70 employees, which includes 10 road reps. What attracted you to this side of the sport- ing goods business? I have always had visibility to this business from the manufacturer side. I realized that it was devoid of diverse representation as it pertains to ownership and the ability to aid in providing that representation was import- ant to me. Do you consider SV Sports a team dealer, a sporting goods retailer, or a combination of both? We are a combination of both sporting goods retailer and team dealer. What will the team sports focus be? Are you selling through roadmen calling on schools? While we will serve as a traditional team dealer, our focus will be to utilize technology to aid in the servicing of the athlete, sideline and community. What is your omni-channel strategy? As a means of focusing in on the athlete where they play, we will utilize our retail locations, digital and team business. Team will be the catalyst and focus of the or- ganization to ensure that we are creating elevated, premium experiences in every area of the business. Team is the entry point to the eco-system and we will utilize all other areas to fully service the customer's needs. is will be done digitally and through brick-and-mortar. Can you fill us in on the LakePoint (Georgia) Sports Complex concept? It is well out of SV Sports regional area. What is the focus there? Are there plans for more of these types of stores? Lakepoint represents our second location within a sports complex. Our first location opened last year at Spooky Nook Sports in Lancaster, PA. Lakepoint opened in March and there is a plan for a third location in the new Spooky Nook in Hamilton, OH. How do these locations fit into SV Sports' overall business plan? ese locations represent the premier sports locations in the regions that they service. ey allow us to engage with the alpha ath- lete, both male and female. Working back with the brands, we intend to create pre- mium activations to engage these important consumers. Where and how is the product purchasing being done? We have centralized buying across all busi- ness units. Bob Butler, a veteran of Foot SV SPORTS UPS ITS TEAM SPORTS GAME TEAM SPORTS / RETAIL

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