Sports Basement readies for business in Fountain Valley
The company name may not be all that familiar in Orange County.
The location certainly is, though.
“All I have to say is, ‘We’re the old Fry’s,’” Sports Basement Southern California regional director Eden Slezin said. “And people are like, ‘Oh, I know that.’”
Sports Basement, a sports and outdoors retailer, is set to open its first Southern California location as the calendar turns to November. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for Thursday.
The Bay Area fixture has 11 stores in Northern California but is now expanding into Fountain Valley, and it will indeed be taking the place of the longtime Fry’s Electronics store that was situated just off the 405 Freeway.
Sports Basement Orange County offers a full ski, snowboard and bike shop and rentals to match. The store owns a state-of-the-art Wintersteiger Mercury ski-tuning machine.
Also spotted along the store’s walls during a tour this past week were basketballs, backpacks, gloves and myriad other sports equipment for everyone in the family. A beach section is prominently placed in the middle.
There are also couches and chairs set up for customers to just relax.
“One of our mottos is ‘couches before profits,’” said Slezin, who has been with the company for 16 years. “We like to have these living room-like spaces where you can just relax. We want it to be a very pleasant shopping experience.”
In the back of the 80,000 square-foot warehouse — the only Sports Basement that’s bigger is in Redwood City — is a community space with tables and chairs. It can be reserved at no charge by local businesses, schools and other groups.
A bike ride meetup could happen here, or a Boy Scout meeting, or maybe a small ski film screening.
How will Orange County consumers differ from Bay Area consumers? That’s a question that piques Slezin’s interest as the temperatures start to dip.
“Up north, it’s very seasonal,” he said. “We switch to winter and get rid of a lot of our swimsuits. Everything just becomes more cold weather. Here, I think we’re going to have to continue to highlight the summer stuff even in the winter. I can’t imagine not wearing shorts and a T-shirt still every day in the middle of winter, but we’ll see. It’s starting to cool down a little bit, which I’m enjoying.”
Fry’s Electronics closed all of its stores permanently in February 2021. Slezin said that Sports Basement was interested in the large space and has talked over the years about expanding to Southern California.
Many large sporting goods stores have gone out of business in recent years, such as Sports Authority and Sport Chalet. Sports Basement seeks to be a sort of one-stop shop.
“We see that all the time,” Sports Basement senior assistant general manager Yuta Sano said. “People are like, ‘I came here to get my kids’ soccer shin guards, but I’m here to buy a bike now.’ It’s a cool experience. People come back, sometimes weekly, just to see what’s happening. There’s a lot of things coming in and out, a lot of product always going around … It’s a fun place.”
That is the vibe the company wants to portray, along with community involvement through its Basementeer Program. Through membership in the program, customers receive 10% off their purchases and 10% of the profits go back to a local nonprofit of their choice.
It typically costs $25 to join the program, but it will be free to sign up as part of the grand opening, Sports Basement Orange County senior marketer Ryan Broccolo said. Last year, the company gave more than $1 million to local schools and charities, Slezin said.
Broccolo has been establishing a company presence at community events in recent weeks, and lining up schools and beneficiaries to be added.
Sano, who has been with the company for eight years, is a member of the U.S. national triathlon team for his age group. He will be headed to Abu Dhabi for the World Triathlon Championship Finals in late November.
Before he goes, he hopes that Sports Basement can start making an impact in the area. Also in the works is a ‘Grand Snow-pening’ event on Dec. 3, set to feature snow company vendors, food trucks and special giveaways.
“I want to make sure that we get the right atmosphere,” Sano said. “It’s a special place in the North Bay for a lot of our stores and our staff. It’s like a third place for a lot of people. You’ve got home, work and Sports Basement. Distilling down what’s really important for Sports Basement and transplanting it to a new place, that’s been an interesting exercise. We want to be open to what Southern California needs and what they want. We’re about to find out what we need to adjust and change, and we need to be willing to do so.”
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