- May 11, 2024
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Bo Anakrom is doing whatever he can to keep his business open in a struggling economy — including restructuring his operating model and taking on a full-time job so he doesn’t have to pay himself a salary.
Anakrom owns Pro-Sports Plus, and last summer, he launched a consignment model for high-end, used sporting goods. With new sporting goods retailers coming into the area, Anakrom decided to explore consignment as a way to keep his store, which has been in Palm Coast since 1997, unique. He now offers consignment goods in addition to his full retail store.
“If a kid buys a $250 bat and grows out of it in a year, selling it at a garage sale will probably get you $10,” Anakrom said.
He sees his store as a meeting ground for everyone buying and selling sporting goods. Sellers can market their items easily, and buyers can come to Pro-Sports and bypass the trouble of garage sales and Craigslist to find what they’re looking for. Couple that with the insight Anakrom offers customers based on more than two decades working in sporting retail, and Pro-Sports has found a way to be sustainable again.
The store made the shift late last summer. Since then, it has sold more than 50 bikes. It also sells surf boards, baseball bats and other equipment.
“Retail had been struggling,” Anakrom said. “In 2009, my business probably dropped 55%. I’ve had a horrible time keeping things rolling, but I don’t want to close my doors.”
So, Anakrom got his real estate license and now works full time in that field so that he does not have to pay himself a salary from Pro-Sports. Times got hard for a while, but he fought his way through it.
And, he said, his new business model benefits the community in a new way.
“When things got bad, we just needed to look for new ways to make it,” Anakrom said.
Pro-Sports Plus is at 1070 Palm Coast Parkway. It is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays; from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays; and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays.
Call 447-0405.
