In business, competition is generally a good thing. While I love TriSports, I just learned about and dealt with a new online triathlon shop: The Tri Shop. Worth checking out at www.thetrishop.com; and, you can use promo code itri30 for free shipping and 10% discount.
Like TriSports, good people at the helm.
Our founder, Seton Claggett, once opined that the online shopping community is like a “neighborhood”. Scott Parr and his associates at The Tri Shop.com are the new guys in the neighborhood, and we welcome them on board.
Scott Parr, founder of the The Tri shop.com, brings a wealth of experience to the industry as a former member of the Motorola Cycling Team and technician to none other than Lance Armstrong, Frankie Andreu, George Hincapie and the rest of the group that lead the successful campaign in the Tour de France for so many years. Parr is also an industry insider as a former outside sales rep. He knows the industry, knows the market and knows bikes and triathlon.
The region Parr opened in has more triathlons than almost any region in the entire U.S., including Florida, California and Hawaii. Parr’s operation is headquartered in a massive new facility in Canton, Michigan- a city that IKEA, among others, has opened in because of its proximity to Indiana, Illinois and Ohio as well as Detroit. He is at the I-94/I-75/I-696 freeway interchange area and close to Hines Drive, a local cycling hotbed.
I look for great things from Scott Parr and his crew at The Tri Shop.com.
I met Scott Parr of TheTriShop in NY a few days ago and he seems to have an interesting concept going. Good luck Scott
Tom,
Kind words from a competitor. Well said.
Here’s something that I have noticed traveling all over North America in my job - in certain areas there are a high number of triathletes, but strangely there is not a decent triathlon retail infrastructure in those areas. This provides a great opportunity for either online retailers, who can sell to any one anywhere, or to bricks & mortar stores who want to service/sell to triathletes in that specific geographical area.
As for TriShop and Scott Parr, I had a great chat with him last week myself. Unbeknown-est to the two of us our paths have come close to crossing a few times in the past. He sounds like this has been well thought out, the site looks good and as you said, Tom and as I just pointed out above, the area where they have set up is one of those geographical areas that is currently under-serviced. They should do well.
I hope Scott contributes to this forum as you do.
Thanks very much for the kind and welcoming comments everyone. I have been in the sport specialty business for quite some time and endurance sports has always been a passion of mine even though I am not a super athlete myself. One thing that became very clear during my tenure overseeing the sales organization at Sugoi was the fact that many triathletes struggle with finding a place to buy their gear. If you are not in a major metropolitan area there is probably not a triathlon specialty retailer in your area. Although many run and bike specialty stores “dabble” in triathlon products, it is often a bit of an afterthought and they sometimes lack the true expertise triathletes are looking for. That said, many triathlete consumers have no other choice than to purchase online. Others choose to purchase online due to busy schedules (triathletes are usually busy people) or just prefer this method of shopping/buying.
There are certainly a number of good players in the online triathlon retail world and hope that we can find a way to be successful. Our focus and strategy is two fold. One, provide the best online shopping experience in the world that allows consumers to shop and find what they are looking for quickly and easily. Two, look for ways to provide added value to consumers. Our “Just Tri” Fit Guarantee that allows customers to order 2 sizes of an item and return one for free (prepaid shipping label included), and our easy returns process where we include a return shipping label with every order are a couple examples of this. We are also focused on quality over quantity. We will not offer every single product in the world, but will focus on the very best product assortment for our target customer. I recently went through a wetsuit “finder” on a competitors site and plugged in all my metrics; height, weight, swimming skill etc., and it recommended 12 different suits for me?? A good idea, but not really that helpful.
Anyway, we’ve got our fingers crossed and hope to have a good season.
Just Tri!
Scott Parr
Are you a Brick and Mortor shop or just online?
I am actually very close to Canton MI as well as 150 people from my tri club.
jaretj
We are partnering with Two Wheel Tango on this new location in Canton that will open late March. Please stop by when you have a chance or feel free to call for more info.
OK, that is the shop I heard about then 
I most likely be in there a lot.
jaretj
What are your bike lines, if I may ask Scott- I think everyone will be interested to know. Can you post a link to your site Sir?
Two Wheel Tango will offer Specialized and Cervelo at the new Canton store and also offers Trek in the Ann Arbor stores. Customers can also make an appt for professional fit services at any of the stores, they have an amazing team of certified fitters and some of the best technology tools available. The Tri Shop does not sell bikes online as most brands do not permit this.
I have bought from Trisports.com online and in person more than a few times. My personal visits to the store held very warm greetings and with great customer service. My online transactions have all been pleasing as well.
I hope to experience the same from the TriShop
I, too, believe that healthy competition breeds incentive and makes us all better at what we do. Do we want to beat our competitors in sales, achievements and customer loyalty?..sure. Can we also have respect and share a beer with them at the end of the day?..you bet.
Can we, the consumers, win as a result of more choices? YES.
Please check us out on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TheTriShop, we post exclusive offers and specials for our Facebook friends. Tomorrow’s offer will be a good one!
Please check us out on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TheTriShop, we post exclusive offers and specials for our Facebook friends. Tomorrow’s offer will be a good one!
page not found?
strange, it works for me??
working now, but wasn’t earlier…
And to be clear you have no association/affiliation with this new trip shop???
My reply was to the op and I was fishing for an explanation. As far as I am aware Barry is a Team Timex Member and they have a deal with The Tri Shop. I am all in favor of competition and I welcome your shop but I really like to know when a possible conflict of interest exists so I can form a proper opinion.