Equipment supplier’s success mirrors momentum of youth soccer clubs in Columbia
Tony Marrero and Curtis Stelzer were high school buddies and played soccer at Hickman High School in the late ’80s. After the two friends returned to Columbia in 2004, “just kicking a ball around,” Marrero said, they came up with the idea of opening a soccer specialty shop.
The result is SoccerPro, which Marrero says in three years has grown to be the largest soccer specialty shop in Missouri.
SoccerPro has two locations. The main retail outlet at 2507 Bernadette Drive recently expanded from 1,100 to 2,500 square feet.
A warehouse and office at 1614 Business Loop West is located strategically across the road from the entrance to Cosmo Park, site of the Columbia Soccer League games. During tournaments, the business sells soccer gear from a tent in front of the warehouse. The business now has five full-time employees.
Marrero handles the business side of the operation. Stelzer, a former professional indoor soccer player with the Tampa Terror in the National Professional Soccer League, is what he calls the “PR Man,” handling sales and customer relations.
Stelzer is also head coach of the men’s and women’s soccer teams at Central Methodist University and provides personal training for younger soccer players.
“My wife and I had a business plan going in, but we knew we needed someone like Tony, who has a keen sense of business,” Stelzer said.
The company has filled a niche, Marrero said, as the only soccer specialty shop in the area since Soccer Kick closed, after being sold to new owners by Sally Swanson. Both Marrero and Stelzer previously worked for Swanson at Soccer Kick.
Marrero, who predicts the store’s sales will double or triple in the next 12 months, says that Columbia is a soccer hotbed.
“Participation is increasing and there are more options to play at almost any level,” he said. Opportunities range from beginner games for 4-year-olds up to highly competitive traveling youth teams such as Columbia Pride and Courage.
More girls are playing than ever before, in competitive and recreational leagues, Marrero said.
Year-round indoor play is also available at Wilson’s Fitness MAC, 2900 Forum Blvd., which includes an adult league.
Marrero and Stelzer don’t rely on in-store sales alone. “It’s hard to support a specialty store alone in a town the size of Columbia,” Marrero said. “About 65 percent of our business is now done on the Internet. The store ships nationwide. It allows us to carry a larger inventory and helps with the cash flow for a small business.”
SoccerPro has been involved in a partnership with Columbia-based Plus 1 Media, which works to place clients’ Web sites in the top rankings of search engines.
Although some soccer stores rely on team or group sales, Marrero said SoccerPro caters to the individual. Shoes, priced from $20 to $200, make up more than half the sales, followed by jerseys and uniforms. The store also sells equipment to Hickman, Rock Bridge, Moberly, Jefferson City and Fulton high schools.
“Soccer is popular because it is a low-cost sport requiring little equipment and offers a lot of exercise,” Marrero said. “Each player at some point will have the ball. I have nothing against our national pastime, but soccer is not like baseball where you have a pitcher and catcher and the other kids stand around most of the time. It also gets kids away from video games.”