Selling on a High Note
Photography: Timothy Thimmes
In early fall, the Cole Sport flagship store is usually brimming with displays of the newest ski gear and sportswear for the winter. This year was different. For weeks, the store was a maze of shipping boxes and freshly-cut lumber. Cole Sport Owner and Founder Gary Cole, known for his beautifully decorated stores, admitted he was a little embarrassed by the mess.
But the disarray was excusable. The reason? Construction of a much-needed 1,600-square-foot addition. The added space, now completed, provides more retail and shipping space, and room for all of the shop’s beautiful wares to be shown off properly.
Since opening the resort store in 1982, Gary Cole has created a small sporting goods empire, with three other retail locations, including a shop geared toward snowboarders and freeride skiers, and several expansions to the flagship store.
This year the company celebrates its 25th anniversary the way it sells its wares — with artistry and style.
The Creation of an Empire
The Cole Sport brand reflects the quality and style of clothing Cole has always preferred himself. “I always liked the high-end ski wear fashion from some of the European designers,” says Cole. “When I had a chance to open a store in the early ’80s, I sensed a shift in the clientele coming to a growing Park City. I thought others would enjoy the European-look in ski wear, too.”
Cole was advised to attend the big sports show in Munich, Germany, which was rarely attended by American retailers. “We started buying direct from Europe in 1982, and that set the direction for our high-fashion ski shop,” he recounts. Cole still travels to European shows every winter with his fashion buyer, Kathy Burke, hunting down the right assortment of merchandise that relays the warmth, excitement and passion Cole feels for winter sports. “What else can you do on a crisp winter day, or in the middle of a blizzard, that’s more fun than skiing or boarding?” says Cole.
Reaching the quarter-century mark for Cole Sport is a milestone Cole adamantly credits to his employees, especially his managers. “I identified and surrounded myself with a talented management team … as a group, we make decisions together on most everything we do,” he says.
The management team — Cole; his wife Jana; soft-goods buyer Kathy Burke; hard-goods buyer Scott Ford; and operations manager Scott Cahoon — have deep roots in the company. Many of his employees, in fact, have worked at Cole Sport for more than 10 years. “That’s one of the things I’m most proud of. It creates a consistency that can’t be duplicated,” says Cole.
The Making of a Mogul
In the summer of 1972, Cole had graduated from college with a Masters degree in vocal performance, but didn’t feel passionate about following the career path of an opera singer. He and Jana spent three months touring the U.S. and looking at resort towns in which to take a one-year break. “The people in Park City seemed the most friendly and the most interested in us,” says Cole, so the couple settled in.
Cole taught for and then supervised the ski school at Park City Ski Area until 1979, when recollections of an earlier bad snow year nudged him into earning his real estate license.
The development of the lower base of Park City Ski Area redirected Cole’s profession yet again. The new plaza would need a solid ski shop, and he was primed to fill that need — almost. “I didn’t know anything about retail, except that I liked to shop,” he laughs. Looking back, that seems risky, and Cole admits the first few years were scary. “We learned as we went and experimented constantly, but never so drastically as to go out of business,” says Cole. “We are still constantly pushing the envelope to make a success of the direction we want to go with this business.”
Hunting for new and uncommon vendors and products is only part of Cole’s influence on the company. The retail floor displays reveal hints of Cole’s childhood weekends rummaging through Salvation Army stores with his stepfather and sisters in search of treasures. “I love old junk,” he admits.
Cole’s “junk,” however, adds life and dimension to the store, perhaps in part because it may not have anything to do with the merchandise … like the wooden propeller, or fire-engine-red Triumph TR3 on display, or the old suitcase that serves as a basket for hats. The company’s slogan is, after all, “Expect the Unexpected.”
Aside from great aesthetics, Cole Sport has an intensely technical side as well. The store was the first in Utah to import a stone-grinding machine from Montana of Switzerland for tuning skis. Last winter, Cole Sport purchased the most state-of-the-art precision tuning machine in Utah from the same Swiss company.
This winter, Cole Sport is scheduled to sponsor a performance by the East Village Opera Company at the Eccles Center for Performing Arts as part of the celebration of the company’s anniversary. The festivities will also include a party and fashion show showcasing Italian clothing brands, funded in part by a grant from the Italian Trade Commission.
Cole has created what he aimed for in his stores: a unique mix of clothing, equipment, accessories and services combined with a nod to the arts, and an appeal to the changing face of Park City’s winter sports enthusiasts.
As he looks to the company’s future, Cole says he hopes to see his sons Jason and Adam as part of it, but only on one condition. “We’re doing this because it’s interesting and fun. It’s just something in our blood,” says Cole. “I would want my boys to think that, too.”
Monika Guendner is the marketing and PR coordinator for Park City Education Foundation. She aspires to stick with anything for 25 years.
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