Shop Profile: TX Sports, Germany, Skate
TX Sports
Nuremberg, Germany
Skate
Please tell us about TX Sports, how it started and who the main players are.
TX-Sports isn’t just a Shop in Nuremberg, Germany, it is a Lifestyle. The shop started its History the 22nd of September 1994 and is growing since then. First it was only a Shop in Shop ran by its Owner Sven Eckert, now it has five Shops of its own and about 280,000 costumers. The Store went from having only a small amount of Skateboard, Snow and BMX Stuff to a bigger Store, that has everything, from Skate stuff, over the newest Trends for sporty Girls and Boys, to the hottest Fashion for our Ladies. Unforgettable in our History the Times, when we couldn’t even get our New Stuff out of the Boxes, because the Costumers were waiting in Line to level up their equipment.
What percentage of your sales are from online business compared to your brick-and-mortar sales?
With our Online shop we took a big step into the wide World and can now supply many, many more Friends of our Sport. Nonetheless is the Percentage of our Sales Online 50/50 to the Brick-and-Mortar ones. Our good contact to our manufacturer enables us to have exclusive and qualitative good Products that we can offer our costumers. The Costumers are not just in the centre they are a Part of us.
What are the benefits of having a physical shop over simply having an online store?
The Benefits of having a physical Shop over simply having an online store are, that we can be closer to our costumers, we are “touchable”. Also do we offer Skate academies and Snowboarding Tours. With our Skate Academies, that take Place in our own Skate park, we try to motivate young boys and girls for skateboarding and boost them, just like helping the advanced ones to level up their skills and the Pro skaters to bring their Tricks to Perfection. A special Treat for our Friends of the winter sports are our offered Tours, that bring us to Austria or the German Mountains. We especially look for Slopes that feature Snow Parks, so that we can have the ultimate Fun.
What are five products you couldn’t live without right now?
Although our Assortment covers more then just the Skateboarding scene now, our Five Products that we could not live without are still, Decks, Bearings, Trucks, Wheels and Grip tapes, but wait for a proper Deck you need also Bolts, so lets make it six Products we can’t live without.
What are your secrets for selling high-end products?
The secret of our Business is we do not just sell our stuff, we live it, we live the lifestyle of our Sport, if it is Skateboarding or Snowboarding, all our Employees are close to the Products.
Are new lines important to your product mix? Why or why not?
New Lines are always important for a company, a main German saying that we refer to:”a good Mix makes the Music”. New Brands keep our Portfolio fresh and always interesting for our Costumers.
What makes your store different and in what ways does your store excel beyond your competition?
Even if the Market is tough right now and the Economy is not at its Best, we always give everything and never forget our Roots according to our Principal “Stay True”. That is how we get out of the Competition tougher then we’ve been before.
Our Store is different to all the others, because we participate in a lot of Demo Tours and also do we plan some own events. For those Events we collaborate with Companies, for example like Flip, Supra or Circa. The Difference in which we excel ourselves from the others is also we are true to the slogan from the Skater for the Skater.
Does your store sponsor athletes, competitions, etc? If so, what are the benefits to the store and to the boardsports community?
Not only our Team riders help us stay in touch with the Crowd, we as well travel around the Globe, especially to the United States, the Mecca for the skateboarding lifestyle. We sponsor a lot of athletes in the fields Skate-, Snow-, Fingerboarding and BMX-riding and with them we not just stay in touch with the crowd, but are also able to feature Products that are Sport specific. But our Athletes are also important to us, due to the fact that they carry our brand out in the world and represent us.
If you could go back five years what would you do differently?
The forecast for the next years in fashion is, less is more in all areas, and without bells and whistles.
A Piece of Advice to other Retailers out there, stay yourself, support the local scene and businesses, because all the Big Box Megastores out there “as well just cook with water”.
Our Company is what it is and grew from its roots; if we could go back in time we would not change a single thing!
