Super Bowl a boost for Grayslake online sports business
As the Super Bowl approaches, Jeff Dickmann of Grayslake gets busier. And so does his Internet business, SportsFlagsAndPennants.com.
As soon as the teams are determined for the Super Bowl, orders start coming in from individual fans, sports bars, restaurants and hotels seeking to decorate for the big day, said Dickmann.
“Our bread and butter comes from the fans who live out of state from their favorite teams and they still want to display their flag,” said Dickmann.
Dickmann started the website in 1999 after he and his wife moved to Grayslake and discovered it was difficult finding a University of Wisconsin Badger flag to display for his alma mater.
“I wanted to fly the Badger flag and couldn't find one, and had to drive to Madison to get it,” he recalled.
That's when he decided to start the business and keep it just online. While he likely won't open a bricks-and-mortar store, he maintains an office and warehouse in Grayslake not far from his home. He sells flags, pennants and other items for college and major league teams. Besides SportsFlagsAndPennants.com, he also operates CollegeFlagsAndBanners.com, ProFlagsAndBanners.com and BaseballFlagsAndPennants.com.
Despite stiff competition online from other retailers, including JCPenney and Sears, his business has grown. He also uses Google AdWords to help market his business nationally. As a result of all his efforts, Dickmann now employs five full-time and two part-time workers. He may hire more later this year, he said.
While sales are brisk during this season, he also sees an uptick when students go back to school and the NFL teams gear up. His best selling products include those for the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears.
But which team is selling better fore the Super Bowl? The Giants.
Perhaps a clue for Sunday's game?
Surfing: Barrington-based BrickMeetsClick.com is an online community dedicated to leading discussion on the future of shopping. The site has been up since December.
Downers Grove-based Comptia, an IT industry trade association, said IT companies have “tempered optimism” about business prospects over the next year. The group's survey projects a worldwide IT industry growth rate of 4.5 percent or as high as 8.6 percent in 2012. But the U.S. projection is slightly lower, citing IT services and software sales as highlights. Overall, don't expect this year to be much better than last year, the group said.
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