Indoor games score with new players, more retailers

Discount Store News, Feb 9, 1998 by Mike Troy

Everyone seems to want a piece of the action when it comes to selling recreational and leisure sports products. It is easy to understand why. Indoor games such as darts, air hockey, pool and table soccer have seen their popularity grow to new heights during the past decade thanks in large part to improvements in product design that have made them more fun and desirable for home use. The games also appeal to parental desires to provide activities that give kids something to do with their friends and can also provide family entertainment.

While the activities are becoming more popular, they also transcend the definition of traditional sports which opens the door for a variety of non-sporting goods retailers. Consumers may perceive sporting goods stores and discount stores as destinations for categories such as camping, fishing and hunting, but the distinction blurs when it comes to indoor games. Darts, air hockey, table soccer and pool seem to defy classification as true sports. It is not because of any lack of skill needed to achieve elite status in the respective activities. It has more to do with the fact that indoor games have their origins in pubs and arcades. As non-core sporting activities, indoor game categories are subject to encroachment by toy retailers, department stores, consumer electronics retailers and catalog showrooms. Amid this competitive environment, retailers are also finding each category presents its own unique merchandising challenges.

No category is more challenging for discount stores and broadline sporting goods retailers than pool. It is easily the most popular of the indoor games, ranking eighth in terms of participation, according to the National Sporting Goods Association.

However, quality tables are large, heavy, expensive and, if fully assembled in a store, take up a lot of space. Quality cues cost upwards of $100, and a set of balls may be as much as $200. Those are hardly discount store price points. Even sporting goods chains that stock pool accessories, are reluctant to stock tables with slate beds due to the weight of the slate playing surface, the expertise involved in assembly and slow turns.

One exception here is Sears. It is the only chain to offer slate pool tables, according to manufacturers. It is able to do so because it relies on instore merchandiser Huffy Service First to handle the delivery and set up. Sears also got around the floor space issue with the development of a unique merchandising tool that allows it to offer an extensive product assortment without dedicating space necessary for displaying pool tables. A colorful 4-ft.-wide, eye-level fixture with the heading "Family Games Collection" can be found in select Sears sporting goods departments. It contains a pair of three-sided revolving spindles that display artwork and descriptions of the features of Sears product offerings of pool tables, air hockey and table soccer. Pool accessories such as cues, cue cases, balls, racks and table covers are merchandised near the display.

Few other retailers have sought to offer so extensive an assortment as Sears, leaving the higher end of the market for dealers that represent manufacturers of custom-made tables. For most other retailers interested in stocking pool tables, the option is to carry a lower-price point table with a lighter-weight non-slate playing surface. For example, this past holiday season when circulars indicated indoor games were heavily promoted as gifts, Montgomery Ward offered a 7 1/2-ft. Spalding-brand table with a vinyl wood grain finish for $499. The playing surface was made of a material called Slatron. The department store chain also pursues an indoor-games-as-furniture strategy by offering a table that doubles as a dining table or bumper pool table complete with four chairs and accessories for $399. A Sears holiday promotion also involved an 8-ft. Harvard brand non-slate table for $599. However, the Sears promotion offered added value by including cues, balls, a rack and chalk.

Other retailers strive for a still lower price point and stock tables positioned more for a youthful market. Kmart's holiday promotion involved a Sportcraft; multi-purpose game table for $109. The table is designed for kids and can be used as a miniature pool table or converted to play table tennis, checkers or backgammon. Kmart also offered an air hockey table or soccer game table for $149 and a 6-ft. pool table for $199.

Perhaps the most extensive holiday promotion of indoor games was at The Sports Authority. It promoted a Carrom-brand air hockey table for $89 and a Sportcraft air hockey table for $299. It also offered a Sportcraft-brand soccer game table for $299. A Harvard-brand multipurpose table was also promoted for $399. The table can be used as a miniature pool table or converted to play air hockey, table soccer, bowling, chess, backgammon, checkers or shuffleboard.

The Sports Authority also aggressively merchandises the products. At the November 1997 grand opening of a Sports Authority store in Bradenton, Fla., the chain created a distinct department at the front of the store to display two Sportcraft soccer game tables, a four-player Carrom. air hockey table and a variety of other merchandise. Also included in the department were local college and professional sports teams' non-apparel licensed products such as team pennants, trash cans, stadium cushions, coffee mugs and signs. There was also a broad assortment of foam rubber footballs and other soft-play sports-related toys.