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ANNIVERSARY

“We lead the industry in supplying sporting goods to retailers around the world –

from the largest mass merchants to the local supply stores; we get the right products to the right place at the right time.” This is the mantra of Maurice Sporting Goods, one of the USA’s top fishing-tackle suppliers. Nothing groundbreaking here, you might think, but upon closer inspection of this historic and family owned and run company, you will see that there is a lot more than meets the eye.

Way back in 1923 a Russian named Maurice Olshansky, who had fled the revolution in his homeland, began selling sporting goods from a cart in his newly

adopted hometown of Chicago, USA. Soon after that he met and married Mae and together they managed to save enough money to open a small store front on the legendary Maxwell Street.

Years passed, and as the American economy grew so did Maurice Sporting Goods. Eventually the pair’s children – Harold, Melvin, Fay and son-in-law Frank – each became integral parts of the business. By the 1960s the company was approached by the Sears Roebuck Company, who asked if it could source product on their behalf. This was to be Maurice Sporting Goods’ first major steps in the fishing-tackle industry – an industry it has become a significant player in.

of quality, heritage and experience

90 yearsTackle Trade World examines the past, present and future of Maurice

Sporting Goods, one of the USA’s biggest and best suppliers. Family owned since 1923, the company still has plenty to shout about 90 years later…

Above: the man who started it all, Maurice Olshansky. Below: Maurice first traded on Maxwell Street, Chicago.

“Maurice prides itself on the fact that it offers the same high level of service and professionalism to any retailer.”

ANNIVERSARY

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Today the company is run by Jory Katlin, grandson of Maurice, as well as his brother Andy and cousin Michael Olshansky. Its corporate office and central US DC are located in Northbrook, Illinois and it has distribution centres in Atlanta, Georgia and Reno, Nevada, and Toronto and Vancouver, Canada, with offices in Bentonville, Arkansas (Walmart), Denver, Colorado (Sports Authority), Miami, Florida, and Seattle, Washington. It employs nearly 800 people and supplies over 75,000 SKUs in outdoor products and a host of other markets to retailers of all shapes and sizes in North America, Europe, South America and the Pacific Rim. On November 5th, 2013, Maurice opened a new, larger warehouse in British Columbia to service Western Canada.

It’s fair to say the company has come a long way, but how has it managed to remain so successful for so long?

Firstly, it has always prided itself on dealing with and supplying only the best quality and most innovative brands in the marketplace. You only have to scan some of the names it supplies – Shimano, Rapala and Mossy Oak – to see this ethos in action. It also owns South Bend, Shoreline Marine and Matzuo America, fast-growing brands attracting attention on a worldwide scale.

The company has also always put its customers first and prides itself on the fact

Maurice Sporting GoodsT: +1 847 715 1500W: www.maurice.net

that it offers the same high level of service and professionalism to any retailer, whether its a huge, chain, big-box operation or a small, independent shop on your local corner –

Maurice promises only the best.More than just a distributor, Maurice

Sporting Goods is a full-service merchandiser. Its staff are well trained and motivated to provide a package of services to customers, including assortment planning by local market, ad item selection and pricing, effective quick-turn replenishment of programmed product, plan-o-gram setup and implementation, analysis of sales and margin production, open to buy and inventory level control, e-commerce support defective product handling, and much, much more. In short, it is a one-stop shop for the stocking and business needs of any fishing tackle or sporting-goods retailer.

But what of the future for this wide-reaching and smart-acting firm? In addition to opening its impressive new facility in Canada, which was a result of purchasing Redl Sports, Maurice celebrates its 20-year presence in Canada. Two years ago it extended its global reach when it opened a new office in Shanghai, China, with plans for continued growth to meet the needs of its customers and vendors across the world.

Doug Jenner, vice president of import, sales and product management for Big Game International explained: “As

Maurice continues its distribution model in the industry, its Big Game International manufacturing arm continues to grow not only in North America, but is also gaining brand recognition and monster sales growth in South America, Europe and Russia. Our presence outside our backyard with Matzuo Fishing, Mossy Oak Hunting, Shoreline Marine and Yukon Gear continues to be a big part of our business synergies, focusing on our strategic alliance with key distributors throughout the world.

“We believe we have a platform which will continue to increase our presence and sales at an accelerated rate in the international community. With Matzuo, Mossy Oak, Shorline Marine and Yukon Gear we feel we are just scratching the surface!

“We will continue to invest in our relationships with our retail and vendor partners. As we find ourselves at the centre of these two very key networks, having strong relationships is our biggest advantage. The more we understand their needs and the more they understand our capabilities, the more win-win situations we create as we go to market together.”

Seven things you didn’t know about Maurice Sporting Goods

1 Its product categories include not only fishing but hunting, camping, marine,

sports athletics, fitness, hiking, ball sports, bike accessories, RV supplies, sanitation, rainwear and outdoor gifts.

2 It employs more than 800 people including over 200 field representatives.

3 It has more than 1,400 vendor partnerships.

4 It was founded in 1923 by Maurice Olshansky as a push-cart vendor on

Maxwell Street in Chicago.

5 Its b2b webstore focuses solely on independent dealers and provides

over 65,000 aggressively priced wholesale products.

6 Some of its customers include Academy Sports and Outdoors, Cabela’s, Dick’s

Sporting Goods, Amazon, Sportsman’s Warehouse, Walmart, Kmart, Canadian Tire and Sports Authority.

7 It runs its own charity organisation, Maurice Cares, which focuses on giving

back to local communities and environmental causes.

The current Maurice family (L to R) Jory Katlin, Adam Katlin, Michael Olshansky and Andy Katlin.