I visited a new Play It Again Sports location recently. I’ve said in the past that Play It Again Sports is one of my top choices for finding home gym equipment because you get to put your hands on the equipment you’re thinking about buying. But if I already have a store that I like, why do I make a point of visiting the new locations any time I find out about them? Because it’s important to build relationships with as many local fitness equipment suppliers as possible.
You Always Need A Guy
Remember when you were growing up, before things like Angie’s List (now Angie) became popular and everybody had a guy they could call on whenever they needed something done? Your dad probably had a barber he preferred, he had the number of a plumber that would take care of emergencies, a mechanic he trusted. Now that Yelp reviews are a thing, too many people underestimate the value of a trusted resource they can reach out to when they need something. But as someone born and raised in the 20 century, I like having a person I can call on when I need something for my home gym that I either can’t find online or I need in a hurry. Over the years, Play It Again Sports has remained firmly on that list and I’ve set up relationships with two great stores not far from me.
The Top Reasons for Why I Visited A New Play It Again Sports Location
- Every Play It Again Sports is different. Because they have a mix of used and new equipment plus the fact that they service the needs of their local community, every store stocks slightly different equipment. A store in York, PA might have a high percentage of weights from the venerable York Barbell at a relatively low price because it’s so readily available and it might have also have a fair amount of REP Fitness products simply because REP has a Pennsylvania showroom. At the location I visited, they had a selection of Body Solid products as well as a few pieces from Legend Fitness Equipment a brand that makes a lot of heavy duty pieces for high schools, colleges and commercial gyms.
- Inventory changes regularly – If you’re looking for a specific piece of home gym equipment, you might not find it the first time you visit a Play It Again Sports location. But if you let them know what you’re looking for, most store owners are happy to keep an eye out for what you’re looking for and if you become a repeat customer, they’ll often give you a call to let you know that something you wanted has come in. That’s how I got my 100lb plates from Play It Again Sports Kennesaw. I told the owner, Jay Crook, what I was looking for and because I’ve been there several times, Jay gave me a call to let me know that he had some 100lb plates. I headed over there and gladly gave them a good home!
- If one store isn’t interested in your trade in, another one might be – Play It Again Sports takes a lot of used equipment either on consignment or as a trade in based on the needs of their local community. So if you’ve got a set of used ice hockey sticks, from when you lived in Northern Michigan, the Play It Again Sports in Hiram, GA might not be interested because they probably don’t have anyone to sell it to. Or maybe your kid decided that lacrosse isn’t their dream sport after all and the Kennesaw, GA Play It Again Sports is chock full of used sticks. Well, maybe the Cartersville, GA location would happily snap those sticks up because they just had a customer call looking for some! And now that you’ve traded them in, you can put that money towards some new gym candy.
Check Out My Visit to Play It Again Sports Hiram
You Can’t Use Your Resources If You Don’t Know About Them
At the end of the day, I visited a new Play It Again Sports because I see every store as a potential opportunity to either buy, sell or trade home gym equipment that I no longer need so I can take that money and buy something else for my home gym that will serve me better. You can find a list of Play It Again Sports store locations here.