Top multi-sport retailers named as triathlon conference opens

MARINA DEL REY, Calif. (BRAIN) – The trade association Triathlon Business International and triathlon site Slowtwitch.com have named the top 50 multi-sport retailers in the U.S. They released the list Sunday as the two-day Triathlon Business International annual conference got under way here. 

Slowtwitch publisher Dan Empfield compiled the retailer list, through a voting process that was weighted 80 percent on suppliers' votes and 20 percent on votes cast by Slowtwitch readers.

Ballots with approximately 300 retailer names divided among nine geographic areas -- West; Rockies; Prairie; Northwest; Northeast; Mid-south; Mid-Atlantic; Great Lakes; and the Deep South – were distributed to 75 suppliers. These suppliers were allowed to select three to six retailers per region depending on the size of the region, up to 47 retailers in total. Criteria that supplier voters were asked to consider included: technical and brand knowledge; significant triathlon-related in-store inventory; service to the local community; knowledge of the sport of triathlon; ability to work with and satisfy their customers when it comes to product match, size, fit and equipment setup; and other value-added customer extras such as sponsorship of races, training rides, workshops and guest speakers.

There's more about the list in the February 1 issue of BRAIN.

These are the Top 50 Multi-sport Retailers for 2013: