Byline: Doris Hajewski
Aug. 28--Brookfield -- The fifth generation of Burghardt family owners is preparing to take over the 125-year-old sporting goods store.
Kathy, 37, Brian, 35, and Carl, 32, have experienced mostly good times since they joined the family business in the mid-1990s. Sales have been strong enough that Burghardt Sporting Goods added 5,000 square feet to the store at 14660 W. Capitol Drive this year, bringing it to 20,000 square feet. But dad Chip, 66, says it's been a challenge to compete and succeed in the competitive world of sporting goods retail.
'It hasn't been a cakewalk,' the elder Burghardt said. The business is thriving now because the family followed a path taken by other independent sporting goods stores that are successful: They specialize, and they give good service. 'The independent retailers that have stayed in business tend to be specialized, rather than being a full-line retailer,' said Larry Weindruch, spokesman for the National Sporting Goods Association in Mount Prospect, Ill. The trade group estimates that Americans spent $51.3 billion on sports equipment, clothing and footwear last year, based on a survey of 100,000 households. That's up from $49.3 billion in 2004. But consumers have many choices when it comes to shopping for these items, and stores such as Burghardt's are in competition with mass retailers such as Wal-Mart, big-box stores, such as Sports Authority, shoe stores and the Internet. The Burghardts have carved out a niche serving teams and schools. Other independents that are successful focus on just one sport, golf for example, Weindruch said. The family believes that its business may be the oldest surviving independent sporting goods store in the United States, and Weindruch agrees. The next-oldest business that the association is aware of is Modell's, in New York, which was started in the 1890s, Weindruch said. Charles Burghardt started the business in downtown Milwaukee in 1881 as a stationery and book supplier, selling supplies to schools and retail stores. Eventually, as schools started adding sports programs, the Burghardts began selling equipment. By the time Chip joined the business as a young graduate of the University of Wisconsin School of Business in the 1960s, the name of the store had been changed to Burghardt Sporting Goods, located at 117 E. Wells St., across from the Pabst Theater. Back then, the store was near a power plant. 'We used to have soot on our front windows,' Chip recalled. Business then consisted almost entirely of selling to schools.
The family moved the store to W. Capitol Drive at N. 63rd St. in 1967, near what was then Capitol Court shopping center. The location had 4,000 square feet, and it allowed the Burghardts to expand into retail sales. 'Things went crazy and sales just went up,' Chip said. The good times lasted until 1981, a time when interest rates soared and the economy soured. On top of that, the situation around Capitol Court had started to deteriorate. 'We had a perception of a neighborhood problem,' Chip said. 'The problem wasn't real.'
Burghardt's also had decided at that time to expand, and opened a second location on S. 76th St. Sales there didn't take off the way they had at the Capitol Drive store when it opened. But the move eventually paid off because the family was able to trade the property for its Brookfield site, where the family opened the current store in 1995 and closed both older sites. The first three years in the new store were difficult, Chip said. Operating costs were higher in Brookfield, and the family had to build a new customer base. Because Brookfield is closer to the Lake Country area, the Burghardts tried selling water skis. And they offered camping gear, only to have REI, a major national outdoors equipment store, open just down the street. 'We realized that team athletics is really our bread and butter,' Brian said.
Now Burghardt's gets 40% of its revenue by selling direct to schools, YMCAs and other athletic programs. The remaining 60% is from retail sales to customers who come into the store, but a lot of those visits stem from a connection to a team. Baseball is the biggest sport at Burghardt's, so much so that the store has batting cages to let customers try out its products. The store also carries a large selection of equipment for football, lacrosse, soccer, volleyball, basketball and wrestling. Letter jackets are another big seller for Burghardt's. The store will attach letters to jackets for customers and also provides screen-printing services for team uniforms. Bruce Young, regional sales manager for DeLong Sportswear Inc. of Grinnell, Iowa, a manufacturer of the team jackets, said Burghardt is in the top 10% of DeLong's U.S. customers for high school letter jackets. Burghardt's advertises on radio and through direct mail, but the family says word-of-mouth recommendations really drive the business. 'Our strongest advertising is happy customers telling other customers,' Brian said. The family has no plans to add another store but expects to launch an Internet store within the next two months. And Chip Burghardt expects to stick around for the foreseeable future, staying involved as his children gradually buy out his ownership of the business.
Copyright (c) 2006, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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