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This is Fred Ball for Zions Bank, speaking on business.
Jared Elison knew that someday he wanted to own his own business. It happened that he found his base in Hurricane. His family had moved to southern Utah from Idaho when Jared was still in high school.
He worked for Rebel Sports in St. George and developed great expertise and love of the sporting goods business. He excelled at Rebel and later became a manager. But he still longed to be an entrepreneur and own a business.
Well, he took a deep breath and took the plunge in June of 2000 when he opened Classic Sports in a strip mall at the entrance to Hurricane.
I really enjoyed sitting and talking to Jared about the challenge of owning and operating a business in a small community and competing with giant box stores and national chains located not too many miles away in St. George. Jared admitted that it wasn't really very easy. He has to work very hard, and he has managed to cultivate business with the various schools in the area.
He has made it a point to know and be known by the young people in his community. He is a regular fixture at athletic events in the town and is a real booster and sponsor of youth sporting activities.
I was impressed with the quantity and quality of goods that Classic Sports carries. There is one entire wall displaying dozens of different athletic shoes. One display in particular really caught my attention. He has 22 shoes on display, each of them an Air Jordan. Practically every shoe that Michael Jordan has endorsed is on display. Jared started the collection years ago and really doesn't know the value of the collection. I ventured that they would bring a tidy sum on E-Bay.
There are all kinds of sporting equipment on display. It appears that the kids in Hurricane are really into inline skates and skateboards. There were displays of sports clothing, sporting motive gift items, hockey sticks, balls of every kind and description. Yes, it is a veritable smorgasbord of athletic gear, equipment and clothing.
Jared had a dream. He wanted to own his own business in Hurricane. It's a dream come true at Classic Sports.
For Zions Bank, I'm Fred Ball. I'm speaking on business.
