An Interview with Chris Malki, Founder and CEO of Hockeytron

Here at Hockeytron, we not only want to give you the best deals for hockey equipment, but also give you an inside look at the industry and a more detailed look at all things equipment.  Our first post is an interview with Chris Malki, the founder and CEO of Hockeytron.  Chris has worked in the hockey equipment in the market for over a decade, and continues to be one of the leading whole sale distributors.  He also founded Hockeygiant, Hockeymonkey and Hockeyplus.  When he's not at the rink, Chris can be found at the Hockeytron store designing more equipment.

When did you first discover the sport of ice hockey? What did you like about it?    

I started playing hockey when I was 6 in Montreal, Canada.  My parents could not afford to buy me full hockey gear so I played street hockey until I was 11.   Everyone played hockey in Quebec and the Canadiens in Montreal were very inspiring in the 70s!

Who was/were your favorite player(s) growing up?   

Guy Lafleur, Yvan Cournoyer and Ken Dryden

What made you want to start producing your own line of hockey equipment?   

When I realized that the manufacturers were literally gauging us hockey players

How does someone design their own hockey stick?      

First you find a factory that has manufactured other sticks for other major manufacturers in the past,  then you obtain samples of all the different sticks and ask for the exact materials that were used.  You then start testing what they already have available.  You then contact composite factories for better materials.  You then look for the best possible resins.  Get the weight down, get balance and protect the major breakpoints with strong slash proof materials.

What are the most popular curves?  

The Malki ( P92 ) , Jarvis ( P88 ) and the Dvorak ( PM9 )

How do you design the color schemes on the sticks?  

You have your graphic artist design a stick graphic that is both noticeable on the ice and is conservative looking.

Why did you choose the name HockeyTron?    

It was the only short hockey name available on godaddy.com   The Tron has been used many times in the past as a suffix.  Jumbotron, Scantron etc

How many retail stores carry Hockeytron equipment?  

Close to 500 stores worldwide

Who tests the equipment?      

Several high end hockey players including the Junior Pro team from Ontario,  the Waterloo Siskins.

What's next for Hockeytron?   

Better skates ( both inline and ice ), Lacrosse, HECC approved player and goalie helmets.  More shields.  Jerseys for other sports and high end patented product!

Thanks Chris for your time and keep up the great work! 
Join us next week for another inside look at hockey equipment!

Brand new Hockeytron.com website goes live today!

Dear Valued Hockeytron Customers!

We are proud to introduce our new, improved Hockeytron website to you!  We have now implemented cutting-edge technology that tracks our inventory and we now are able to show you exactly what we have in stock in real-time!

Inventory is now managed instantaneously. With this technology, we are able to ship exactly what you ordered when you order it more efficiently and provide our buyers with the unique capability to re-order and manage inventory. No other hockey internet retailer boasts the same capability!

This new system utilizes automatic identification and data capture technology to efficiently monitor the flow of our products. The database can then provide useful reports about the status of goods in our warehouse.  We expect a level of order accuracy the other guys only dream about!

Please bear with us as the look and functionality of the new website will be upgraded over the next couple of months.  Our new drop-down menus make navigating our new site quick and easy, allowing you, the customer, unprecedented capability to browse for the hockey and figure skating items perfect for you and your family!

We have a new hockey blade curve chart that allows quick and easy understanding of what you favorite curve is equivalent to across several different makes and models of stick. Our sizing charts for other items have likewise been consolidated into efficient, informative tables that get you the information you need when you need it!

Please take some time to explore some of the new features of our site. If you need help, our staff is on hand at our normal number  888-544-8766 .

Our new web platform is called NetSuite.  With this platform we are able to understand better what happens with our product and improve our abilty to control it.   Consumer data protection is extremely important to us. We protect it with the new lock-down security provided by our ultra-safe new NetSuite platform!

Let us know if there are some feature you would like to see on our site in the future; we may be able to implement them!

The State of the Hockey Equipment Industry 2013

 

An unspoken question looms about the future of the hockey equipment industry. Are the manufacturers or the retailers profitable? The situation is not good for either, as both the manufacturers and the big retailers are currently hemorrhaging money! 

The biggest manufacturer, Bauer, has a 62% share of the market.  They make great product and they are publicly traded.  Even though they own the market, their profit is miniscule.

They are trying to add other categories to make their business model work, but at this moment they probably have a break-even business even with their monster share.

Easton, Reebok/CCM, Warrior and Sherwood have very little market share.  They have no chance of long-term success unless they come up with a way to take market share from Bauer.

I believe Sherwood/TPS will be the first to go under.  They have almost no share of the US market and their wood stick business is failing.

Reebok/CCM would be next.  Poorly managed, they have failed miserably every single year since the Reebok takeover of CCM.  Adidas, which owns Reebok, will decide if enough is enough this year.  $20M to $40M of losses (my estimate) year in and year out is not healthy, and there is no end in sight.  Their management team is horrendous and almost every decision they make is puzzling.  I believe it will become a house brand for some big national retail store in Canada in the future. 

Easton, as well is doing poorly.  Their parent company, Bell Sports, is trying to sell the hockey brand, though most interested parties want Easton's healthy baseball division as part of the package. 

Warrior, owned by New Balance, is not big and will probably look at buying someone to increase share.

So, after Bauer, which brands will fill out the top five?  In this economy, most hockey consumers stopped paying retail prices for goods.  On their present margins, the big manufacturers are not currently profitable, so how will they reduce their prices? 

Retailers have been using manufacturer's credit in the $10s of millions of dollars, but have been unable to pay them back for years.  Do healthy US businesses allow this in any other industry?  The big retailers are suffering a slow death.  They are selling product at their cost in order to raise cash so they can meet payroll, rent, etc. but usually have very little left to pay the manufacturers.  On the other hand, the manufacturers are addicted to the 4 or 5 big retailers in the US as far as loading them up with product, even though they pay them back very slowly. These retailers are losing millions of dollars every year and their only way out so far has been to not pay the manufacturers. 

Let's go back to my initial question.  What are the brands of the future?  Once the manufacturers or their parent companies decide that they do not wish to keep losing millions of dollars each year,  they will start calling the debts of the big retailers.  Since those retailers do not have the money, the manufacturers will probably take drastic action (closing them down).   I have asked my accounting buddies on my hockey team if it is possible for a retailer to do $40M in sales and have an inventory of $40M and still be profitable.   Their answer was unanimous: NO WAY!   But the manufacturers, with their actions, have alienated all the smaller to mid-sized stores and have caused many of them to shut down over the last few years.  What will they do about the consumer's trends (caused by the big retailers) to only buy heavily discounted product? 

These are questions that will be answered in 2013. 

The Tron business has grown ten-fold since last year.  We plan on continuing to grow by manufacturing great product (in the same factories the big guys make it in) and selling it at closeout prices.  Our hockey visors, hockey jerseys, socks, gloves, inline equipment all rank in the top five in sales.  We will be able to maintain our prices because we do not have the overhead the other retailers or manufacturers have.  We have pro players playing with our hockey sticks and love them.  Last year, we sold more visors than anyone other than Bauer.  We are currently selling more jerseys (also customized) and socks than anyone due to the great quality and price.  We are developing new products to continue this trend of excellence. Keep your eyes on our website to see what else we have to come!