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It's the
quintessential American story of hard work and perseverance:
Two ski bums become friends, work for a big company, acquire a
local following, and finally open their own ski shop. Stan
Millen and Dan Lewis met in the fall of 1973 at Carroll Reed,
then a prominent ski shop in North Conway, NH. Lewis was a ski
instructor and worked at the shop in the summer while Millen
worked at Cannon Mountain in the rental repair shop. Soon,
they both began working full-time for Carroll Reed and
amassing numerous loyal customers.
"We always tried to run the
shop as if it was our own. A lot of the customers would ask
us, 'When are you going to open up Stan and Dan Ski shop?' We
always harbored the dream that we could do this on our own,"
remembers Lewis. In 1987, Millen and Lewis finally decided
they had enough experience to run their own ski shop. "Our
customers did two things for us: They named the shop for us
and told us we ought to get out of the big business and do it
on our own," recalls Millen. "We didn't have much money, we
just had an idea."
Two frequent customers agreed
to back the team - provided they renovated space, acquired
inventory and opened by snowfall that year. Millen and Lewis
transformed the neighboring post office, located in the same
parking lot as Carroll Reed, into a ski shop. They won
distribution rights to five brands of skis and boots-
Blizzard, Pre, Kastle, Lange and Tecnica- and that's what
their loyal customers skied on that season.
One thousand
people walked through their door the first winter. Many were
loyal customers from the old ski shop while the rest of the
business came from word of mouth and referrals. After buying
out their financial backers in 1999, Millen and Lewis now own
50 percent of the shop each. A long way from their first
season, Stan and Dan Sports now sells Rossignol, Volkl, K2,
Dynastar, Salomon, and Atomic skis as well as Lange, Tecnica,
Atomic, Salomon and Rossignol boots. Their softgoods brands
include Sypder, Karbon, Phenix, Couloir and Fate.
What is the secret to Stan and
Dan Sports' success? "It was the best training to come from a
shop like Carroll Reed, and Reed himself was an icon in the
sport. But we're still in business and they're not," says
Millen. The two owners believe that consistency is the key to
good business. You'll always find either Millen or Lewis in
the shop taking care of customers and it's been that way for
nearly thirty years. Two employees, Peter Moore and Dickie
Denney, have worked in the store for eight years. Customers
come in year after year and see the same faces and often
request their favorite employee.
Stan and Dan Sports fosters a
friendly atmosphere especially since most customers are called
by name as they walk in the door. People often come in the
shop on Friday nights and Sunday afternoons to hang out and
meet their friends. Pictures hang on the wall that Millen and
Lewis have been collecting for years. U.S. Ski team members
and Nastar winners hang side by side- all thanking Millen and
Lewis for their support. "There's a lot of history in the
store, photos of ski teams and individual skiers," says
Millen. "Grown up kids come in to see their pictures still
hanging there. We like to show it off, it's fun for us."
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