Chris Malki - CEO of HockeyTron
Why are the manufacturers afraid of HockeyTron?
After
22 years in the hockey retail business (I founded HockeyPlus,
HockeyGiant, and HockeyMonkey), and 15 years as a professional
Registered Engineer in California, I decided to try a "Wal-Mart"
approach for hockey equipment retail. Being in the business for as long
as I had, I contacted the heads of the 3 Major Hockey companies and
explained my concept to them. They all wished me luck, and with good
fortune and commitment, we have sold over 500,000 units of TRON
equipment in our first year alone.
The
last major breakthrough hockey equipment was the One-Piece stick which
came out several years ago. Why are the name-brand companies suffering
major expenses in the Research and Development departments when it seems
like year to year, the only thing that changes are the graphics? The
only trademarks to come out of the major players in the game were for
silly buzzwords and catch phrases like Techtronic or MegaSuper. Since
it’s very simple to make sticks as good as anyone else’s, even better in
some aspects, why not create one of our own?
Generally
speaking, the manufacturers pay about $60 for their top of the line
sticks, and about $120 for their high-end skates. They respectively
retail for $250 and $800 dollars. If we could make identical products
and retail them for half the price, why shouldn't we? Very quickly,
this mindset quickly took its turn to nearly every other product
available on the market today.
We
make an Anti-Scratch/Anti-Fog Visor (The s30) for $20 that a visor with
similar features from a name brand would retail for $70. We were able
to produce a Roller Hockey Puck for 1/2 the price of any of our closest
competitors, selling it for $4 instead of $8. Wheels started at close
to $5.00 a wheel before our Mega Hz wheels blew that price away at a
mere $2 a wheel. Even low end sticks we were able to knock close to $20
off; Where you would normally see a $60 tag, we have been able to put
$39.99 on our TRON Basic stick with the exact same weight specs.
Perhaps our best products, and by far our best sellers, have been TRON jerseys and socks. Jerseys and socks we retail for $12 have name brand
counterparts that retail for nearly 3 times as much!
The
reception of our TRON products by the consumers has been absolutely
phenomenal. Since all the TRON products manufactured for us are made in
similar factories in China that the name brands use, we know we are
offering products with very good quality features and materials.
And
the TRON line still continues to grow today, over 1 year later. We are
in the works for a goalie line of equipment. Soon, TRON will have a
leg pad, chest protector, blocker, and glove set that you can get for
around $700. It will all be high-end level equipment, which would
normally run someone over two grand. Pro-weighted jerseys, more visors,
high-end skates, off-ice and on-ice training products, and much more
are all coming soon.
We
will be creating innovative and patented hockey equipment soon. Two
patented introductions will debut this coming summer, very cool
surprises for sure!
i love hockeytron and the concept, but you are leaving out the many people over the several years of research and development for equipment. i think a lot of equipment is reaching their peaks which is why not a whole lot has changed lately, but they still have to pay the people to do their jobs. hockeytron is just taking advantage of all of the research that has been done.
ReplyDeleteimagine a farm where everything is harvested by hand, and they are investing countless amount of money on researching machines to harvest. you have to pay for all of the designers, builders, and all of the trial and error. then imagine someone starting a new farm and not having to invest in any machine development because all of the work is already done for them.
i will continue to support hockeytron because of their ideals and great staff, but people need to know the big picture instead of just whats going on right now.
Dear reader,
ReplyDeletethank you for your comments! If the manufacturers came out with something new and innovative with patents, no one can copy them. What manufacturers are doing these days is copying each other and putting a different paint job on the equipment. We have a new line of products ( TRONX ) that have patents and made to help you improve your game.
I am saving your article in my favorite’s folder to visit again You made valid points within this content that I feel need further exploration. I agree with most all of this info. Great work.
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