The Alabama Public Radio newsroom continues to collaborate on the television show about business called “Alabama, Inc.” The second season of the program is airing statewide on Alabama Public Television.
It’s game day in Tuscaloosa. If you’re not wearing crimson and white or orange and blue, you might feel out of place. The Alabama crimson tide is getting ready to face the Florida gators in Bryant Denny stadium. There’s tailgating and fathers and sons tossing the football… “I was into all kinds of sports. You know, I played baseball, basketball, and all that. I always loved sports. Loved watching it. Loved watching my kids. Things like that.”
That’s Jeff Rosenthal. He’d probably stick out in this game day crowd. Rosenthal’s in a tailored suit and tie, and we’re sitting in the home office of Hibbett Sports. There’s no guarantee today’s fans bought their gear from one of Hibbett’s seven hundred and fifty stores, but Rosenthal would like to think so…
“We may be the only game in town, we may be the only guy that carries Nike, or Oakley, or Underarmour, or those type things,” says Rosenthal. “Kind of a different feel to it. We like to be a twenty to twenty five minute drive-time from our competition if possible.”
And it’s that small town crowd that’s part of Hibbett’s business plan. The Walmarts of the world can have the bigger communities. Hibbett likes to bill itself as a neighborhood store and that means playing to that audience.
“We try to adapt to that community. Kind of be the local sporting goods store in that. We may carry the high school team,” he says. “We’ll carry their colors, in their local particular local team. If it’s an “orange” team, we’ll try to carry orange duffle bags, hats, or t-shirts or things like that.”
But, there’s also the mega brands, the Atlanta Falcons, the Crimson Tide, Auburn Tigers, and shoes...lots of shoes. Even Rosenthal is amazed at how many brands and styles his customers can pick from. When he was a kid, you wore Converse or Keds and that was it. Now, a pair can run into over one hundred dollars.
“Well, a lot of it started when Michael Jordan signed with Nike, back in the early 1970’s…1982…I may be wrong on the time,” Rosenthal admits. “We have shoes that we sell up to two hundred, and one hundred and fifty dollars, and a hundred dollars.”
And just because Hibbett focuses on small towns, that doesn’t mean these customers aren’t prepared to open their wallets. Rosenthal says even during the height of the recession, people kept coming…
“You know, the better the shoe, the better piece of apparel, or the better equipment. We sell that more than the commodity items,” he says. “They want the newest and the greatest, especially when it comes to how you look. Our customers are telling us that.” But, some things at Hibbett aren’t for sale. The hallway leading to the corporate offices is a veritable museum of sports memorabilia. There are signed jerseys, baseball, and lots of footballs signed by the likes of Bear Bryant, Gene Stallings, and Nick Saban. Even the windows on the office are etched with team logos like Tennessee, Ole Miss, and Auburn. That’s okay with Rosenthal, pretty much…
“I’m a Florida State grad, so it was kind of hard to all the S-E-C room on,” says Rosenthal. “But even the other rooms are named for the NCAA or Sports Center, that kind of thing.” And being an A-C-C guy in an S-E-C world isn’t the only adjustment Rosenthal has had to make. The memorabilia collection was started by his predecessor. Mickey Newsome stepped down after forty eight years leading the company. Rosenthal took the job in the Fall of last year. But, Newsome didn’t retire. He became non-executive chairman of the board as Rosenthal moved in as C-E-O. Rosenthal says he occasionally gets the “well, we’ve always done it this way” attitude with staff…
“We do have some of that, but I think being a little bit newer in my role, we look at how are we going to be five years or ten years down the road,” he says. “I think a lot of things change in business, probably faster than they ever have.”
And some things at Hibbett may stay the same. Rosenthal says the company will continue expanding in small towns. Even at a time when many retail chains are opting for the internet instead of brick and mortar outlets.
“That’s without going up north to New York or Connecticut or those type markets. Or, even going out west to California or Oregon. We could put in another four hundred stores without going to the west coast or the northeast.”
Jeff Rosenthal and I sit down to discuss how he got from here to there, Wednesday night at 10 pm on Alabama, Inc. On your local Alabama Public Television station.
CORRECTION: In our piece, it was stated that Mickey Newsome was the "non-executive" chairman of the board. Hibbett says his role is as chairman of the board. Also, the story puts the number of Hibbett Stories at 750, the company says the correct number is 950. Pat D.
