Tyler Grogan, Manager for Grogan Marciano Sporting Goods in Mansfield, Massachusetts, says if you’re over a certain age, you refer to the beloved local store (first opened in 1974) as Marciano’s and if you’re under a certain age you call it Grogan’s. But there’s one thing all of Grogan Marciano’s customers agree on – it’s the go-to sporting goods store in the area for uniforms and equipment, especially if you need numbers, names or full color logo printing done quickly.

SPORTS LEGENDS

You may find the name of the store unusual, but it has an important history tied to two sports legends. Tyler’s dad, Steve Grogan, retired NFL quarterback, led the New England Patriots to its first AFC Championship in 1985 and is a member of the Patriots Hall of Fame. The store itself was originally opened and owned by world heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano’s brother, Peter. Steve bought it in 1995 and added his name to the marquee. That’s why some folks know it as Grogan’s and some as Marciano’s. The store specializes in selling equipment and uniforms to high schools, clubs, colleges and teams from all around the southern Massachusetts and Rhode Island area. They also offer custom jersey printing and do a lot of it in-house with the help of their Hotronix^® Air Fusion^® heat press.

ON-DEMAND, LOW QUANTITY SERVICES

Heat printing also allows the store to offer the service of on-demand printing for quantities as small as one. “There’s a baseball league in town that purchases jerseys elsewhere but then everyone brings the uniforms in here to have names and numbers added,” says Tyler. “We get very busy during the Spring, but we are able to do quick turnarounds. I usually order pre-cut names from Stahls’ to help keep on schedule during these times.”

The Hotronix Air Fusion used to occupy a central position on the floor of the retail store. “We even used to let kids push the buttons to lower the press, so they could be part of making their own shirt. They loved it,” recalls Tyler. “But we had to move it to another area, which is still visible, but where we have more room to work on larger orders. It gets pretty hectic at certain times of the year and we need the space.”

DEMAND FOR CUSTOM SERVICES

Tyler reports that they are seeing more and more people come in with very colorful and highly detailed artwork. “I try to explain that there is no way to affordably screen print some of the multi-color designs people have. It’s just absurd the number of colors some of them have and screen printing just isn’t viable. Instead of talking them out of using a multi-color design, we use digitally printed CAD-PRINTZ transfers and people are very happy with the results.”

In addition to teamwear, Tyler reports that they are also known for adding a kid’s name to a shirt for a birthday present or other special occasion. “For years, we charged only about $5.00 per name and it wasn’t until recently that we realized we were pricing this service way below our competitors. Now we’ve raised the pricing ($15 per name, $10 per number) but it hasn’t affected sales at all. We still discount if people order both a name and a number at the same time.”

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Grogan Marciano Sporting Goods is a classic “brick and mortar” sporting goods store that gives customers quality service from a very knowledgeable sale staff—something you don’t find today in big box stores or chains. A part of that successful mix includes their custom jersey printing services. Heat printing helps set them apart from their competitors, especially online competitors. So whether customers know them as Grogan’s or Marciano’s, they know that they can count on getting the custom service, the names, the numbers, and the fast turnaround that you just can’t find anywhere else.