Bauer Hockey, a subsidiary of Performance Sports Group Ltd., will open its first-ever Bauer Hockey retail experiences beginning this summer in Boston and Minneapolis. A transformative and historic initiative for Bauer Hockey, the premium “Own the Moment” retail experiences will elevate the Bauer brand, deliver an unmatched consumer educational experience and serve as the ultimate Bauer brand and product showcase.
“We’ve been elevating player performance at every level of the game since 1927, and today we’re excited to take this innovation to new heights by giving consumers an in-store Bauer experience that they’ve never seen before in the industry,” said Rich Wuerthele, executive vice president, hockey. “Similar to other premium brands that have entered retail, offering the full depth and breadth of our products in one place allows us to tell our unique stories in a way that only we can and helps strengthen the surrounding hockey retail environment. The Bauer Hockey ‘Own The Moment’ retail experiences will be living representations of our brand.”
Bauer Hockey will open its first “Own The Moment” retail experience in the Boston suburb of Burlington, MA, in late summer and its second location in the Minneapolis area in the fall. Future phases are currently expected to include the opening of an additional 6-8 Bauer retail experiences over the next several years in key hockey markets across the U.S. and Canada. The company expects its retail operations to grow its overall business and be profitable in the next 18-24 months.
Built to inform and inspire hockey players, each Bauer retail experience will have expertly trained associates to guide each consumer through a “fit, learn and experience” process. The process includes understanding the player’s needs, a customized fit based on the athlete’s style of play and the opportunity to try-before-you-buy on an indoor ice rink that will be housed inside the retail experience. The Bauer in-store fitting protocol and experience will be personalized for the entire hockey community, including players of all ages and abilities.
“The Bauer retail experience is designed around every hockey consumer’s needs and will fully showcase our technological advancements, how our products work together and the benefit of selecting equipment that is fine-tuned for your game,” Wuerthele said. “At each Bauer retail experience, we’ll be able to provide in-depth ‘under the hood’ insights into the protection and performance of each product, while fitting each player with similar tools and techniques that we use to properly fit the best athletes in the world.”
Every Bauer retail experience will have dedicated areas for each product category as well as specific areas to easily educate new-to-hockey families and welcome them to the sport. Each Bauer retail experience will host several events and initiatives for players, parents and the overall hockey community.
Equipped with advanced fitting protocols and unique in-store educational tools, the company plans to continually test various retail strategies and share the findings with its authorized retail partners throughout the world to improve the consumer experience at every retail destination and further elevate the Bauer brand.
