Reffner sporting apparel store will open in former Sport Shack - The Hutchinson News

kitneper Mart 02, 2021

Posted: 13 Apr 2019 11:29 PM PDT

The Reffner name will once more grace a downtown Hutchinson building after a member of the former sporting goods family bought the shuttered Sports Shack property with the intent to open a new sporting apparel store.

"My dad started Reffner Sporting Goods in 1965 with two stores in Hutchinson," said Brian Reffner, who with his wife Kathy owns the new business at 110 N. Main.

The chain started by Dennis "Denny" Reffner grew to five stores, including locations in Wichita and Topeka, before it closed in 1998 after a run of more than 30 years.

While they won't be selling sporting goods, Denny, 75, is being drawn out of retirement to assist with the venture, Reffner said.

Dennis' brother, Kevin, will also work there.

The new business will be across the street from where he worked for his dad as a teen and young adult, managing one of the stores in Hutchinson, said Reffner, who most recently was general manager for the Cottonwood Golf Course.

"Downtown is a special place for us," Reffner said. "This brings back so many memories for me."

The new store will be primarily a "team spirit apparel" store, he said. It will carry clothing for local and regional high school and college teams, as well as licensed pro sports apparel.

"We plan to have apparel for Hutch High, Hutch Juco, Buhler, Nickerson, Trinity and Inman, and hopefully Haven in the near future," Reffner said.

Besides T-shirts and jerseys, they'll offer fleece, caps and, depending on the time of year, jackets.

"It will take time to build the inventory," Reffner said. "Like with the pro stuff, it takes six to nine months with the booking process. College is easier. We have a lot of that merchandise in, but the pros take much more time to get."

Even then, he'll likely only carry local teams – Chiefs and Royals – until he learns what else customers want.

"It's not possible to have every team and every product," Reffner said. "But let us know what you like and we'll see if we can carry it. We will be listening and we'll do our best to bring stuff in."

The store will also offer custom screen printing and embroidery for corporate apparel, resuming another offering that operated out of its stores for 15 years.

"We'll sub out the screen printing and embroidery," Reffner said. "We have contract employees who do that."

To prepare for the opening, they've upgraded the interior of the former Sports Shack, which closed in 2016 after its own 28-year downtown run under the late Dick Strano.

The spruce-up included new carpet, new paint, new lighting and new ceiling tiles for the 6,000-square-foot store.

"The lighting is LED," Reffner said. "It was always so dark in here. Now it's bright and clean and up-to-date."

With the remodel done, they're now working on stocking the store and shooting for a May 1 opening, Reffner said. They plan a soft opening, with a grand opening in June. Store hours have not yet been determined.

Reffner, 55, and his wife have talked about opening a store for several years, always with the intent of being downtown.

"We decided the community was underserved a little bit with high school apparel," he said. "I had five kids in Buhler at one time and we were at a ball game almost every night of the week. The only place to buy a shirt was from the booster club, and you could only get it on game night. Working with the booster club, we developed some apparel for them."

They plan to continue working with booster clubs on designs and give a portion of proceeds back.

"I've developed a lot of designs with the high schools and wanted to do something with those," Reffner said. "I felt now the time was right to make something happen and try to get involved with downtown again. I knew at my age it's either time to follow the dream or let it go."

A win for Tiger Woods at the 2019 Masters is a win for Nike - CNBC

Posted: 14 Apr 2019 05:03 PM PDT

Tiger Woods on Sunday achieved his 15th major win, and his fifth Masters, at the 2019 Masters, following a drought of championship victories that lasted more than a decade.

That also means Woods' apparel and accessories outfitter on the green, Nike, wins big.

The value of Woods' Sunday victory for Nike is roughly $22,540,000, according to Apex Marketing. This number is equivalent to the brand value that the athletic apparel company received from Woods' on-camera exposure during the Final Round of the Masters broadcast on CBS, the firm said. The iconic Nike swoosh was featured on Woods' hat, shirt, pants and shoes.

By Sunday afternoon, some of the Tiger Woods-branded apparel and accessories for men on Nike's website were sold out.

Meanwhile, shortly after Woods' victory was declared on Sunday afternoon, Nike dropped a video on its social media channels starring the golfer. It said: "It's crazy to think a 43-year-old who has experienced every high and every low and has just won his 15th major is chasing the same dream as a 3-year-old."

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Nike's ties to Woods date back to the debut of the golfer's professional career in 1996 at the Greater Milwaukee Open. At the time, Nike had reportedly just signed a five-year deal with Woods for $40 million. And Woods has since re-signed his contract with the company numerous times.

Nike famously stuck by Woods in 2009, when the golfer took an indefinite leave from the sport amid personal issues that landed him on the cover of tabloid magazines calling attention to allegations of his marital infidelity. Sponsors from the likes of AT&T and Accenture dropped him. But, at that time, Nike's brand president said of Woods: "He's got issues he needs to deal with and he's dealing with them. We are looking forward to him getting back on the golf course."

Nike stuck with Woods again in 2017 when the golfer was charged with driving under the influence, and found asleep behind the wheel of his car.

That bet on Woods is clearly paying off for Nike now.

"Nike has always been about iconic athletes," Allen Adamson, brand expert and co-founder of marketing solutions business Metaforce, said. "Consumers want to know not only what you make but what you stand for. It's not just talking about how fast you can make sneakers ... The best brands need to think about the long term."

Apex has also estimated that the Monster Energy brand made about $958,333 for being featured on Woods' golf bag, while Bridgestone made about $134,167 for being on Woods' golf ball, which was shown during close-up shots of various putts on Sunday.

Principal told teen to remove Trump 'MAGA' apparel on school's 'America Pride Day' | TheHill - The Hill

Posted: 13 Apr 2019 04:45 AM PDT

A New Hampshire high school student said her principal told her to remove her apparel supporting President TrumpDonald John Trump WH spokesman: We're working with DHS, ICE to try to send undocumented immigrants to sanctuary cities Trump says he has legal right to send undocumented immigrants to sanctuary cities Sanders calls on Trump to scrap his trade plan MORE, including a "Make America Great Again" hat and shirt, during the school's "America Pride Day."

Epping High School freshman Ciretta Mackenzie wore the "MAGA" gear this week as part of the school's ongoing spirit month, Boston 25 News reported Friday.

Her principal Brian Ernest reportedly confronted her and told her shirt and hat violated the school's dress code policy.

Mackenzie, however, said there is nothing in the school code against political clothing.

"It's just a shirt, and it only says 'Trump make America Great Again,'" the student said. "It doesn't say anything like build a wall, so I don't get how it could be offensive, how it could be disrespectful."

The student said she took her hat off and covered her shirt with a sweater after she was confronted but told the local news station that she was made to feel ashamed after the incident.

"Some kids are making [me] feel like I'm uneducated and a bad kid for believing what I want to believe and that's not right," Mackenzie said.

Epping High School Superintendent Valerie McKenney told Boston 25 News that there were two other students who were asked to change their attire.

"The Epping School Board and Epping District's position is that this event should not ever have taken place, and we are committed to the creation of a school environment that promotes open and free thought and dialogue," McKenney said.

The incident has been under investigation and the Mackenzie family reportedly met with Ernest on Friday.

Ernest sent a letter saying he will draft a plan to promote civil discourse and diversity in the school, the outlet noted.

"Since the event of April 8, there has been a multitude of responses, some of which have fact-based information and other responses less factual," Ernest was quoted as saying in the letter. "I have always been respectful and sincere in my approach to promote civil discourse and free speech/expression. I want our students to be free thinkers and be able to express their opinions in a respectful manner."

The red cap has been a polarizing symbol of Trump's campaign and has sparked other instances of conflict since the 2016 election.

A school bus aide in Martin County, Fla., last month was suspended without pay for four days after surveillance video captured her swiping one of Trump's hats off a student's head.