-- by Cynthia Cantrell

Some tennis facilities half-heartedly open pro shops to serve members’ basic needs: tennis balls and a sparse selection of racquets and shoes. Others, like the OverKil Tennis Shop at Parham Bridges Park in Jackson, Miss., are serious businesses that actually generate revenue for tennis programming.
“Our pro shop is the engine that runs everything else,” says facility manager and buyer Terry Overcash. “That may seem unusual, but this is a special place.”
Parham Bridges Park is a public tennis center comprised of 15 lighted, outdoor hard courts. Fees, which are set by the city, range from $1 to $3 per hour and a half. The facility—and consequently the pro shop—operates seven days a week.
“Our pro shop offers everything a tennis player needs,” says Overcash, noting that 4,000 regulars—plus thousands of league members from around the region—take advantage of the facility’s lessons, leagues and tournaments organized by Tennis Director Mike Kilian, Overcash’s partner. “You can show up in street clothes and a credit card, and we’ll take care of you.”
Tuffy Taylor, a sales representative for Bolle, Lejay and Volkl, calls Overcash a “retail wizard” who is always hunting for something new for his fashion-conscious clientele. “He listens to his customers, and when he sees a new line he thinks they’ll like, he has the courage to buy a lot of it,” Taylor says. “He always has the latest styles, and his customers know it.”
In addition to offering apparel for men, women and children, OverKil Tennis Shop sells balls, bags, accessories, men’s and women’s shoes, and 40 racquet models, and it has racquet demos of every model sold. About 4,000 racquets are strung per year. To justify the Buyer’s Club program, which encourages repeat sales, according to Overcash, inventory is stocked from floor to ceiling throughout the 1,000-square-foot shop.
“One of the reasons Mike and I are successful is we have totally separate interests in the facility,” Overcash says. “I’m not a teaching pro and Mike doesn’t have a retail background, but we’re both committed to being successful. So we do everything we can to keep players happy on court and in the store.”
Overcash says he and the shop’s five other employees—especially Dorothy Danielson—gain customer confidence by demonstrating product expertise and an ethical sales approach. “We don’t take advantage of our customers,” he says, ”and if we don’t have something they need, I’ll call a competitor myself to see if they can get it there.”
At OverKil Tennis Shop, he says, sales are the “real deal.” Slow-moving inventory is discounted and placed in the hallway to gain maximum exposure.
“You have to turn over old inventory because if customers don’t like it [at full price] in April, they’re not going to like it any better in May,” he says.
Since Overcash relies on word of mouth to attract customers, he and Kilian must occasionally induce activity. For example, a special league attracts 200 participants each winter when other outdoor facilities are closed. “The players are bundled up,” Overcash says, “but they want to play so we welcome them here.”
The pair is also hoping to attract another set of players to Parham Bridges Park: touring professionals. With the help of city funds and private donations, construction was planned to start at the end of the year on an expansion project that would enable the facility to host Challenger-level tournaments. Renovations will double the size of the pro shop.
“This is a public tennis facility with players 10 to 70 years old, and we try to reflect that mix of customers in the shop,” Overcash says. “Our business has grown each of the four years we’ve been in business, which allows us to offer more and more. It’s good for everyone.”

OverKil Tennis Shop at Parham Bridges Park
Jackson, Miss.
NUMBER OF

Racquet models 40
Racket demos 40
Racquet brands 5
Apparel brands 15
Stringers 3
Employees 6
Square footage of store 1,000

PERCENTAGE OF SALES

Racquets 10%
Strings 14%
Women’s apparel 42%
Men’s apparel 6%
Shoes 14%
Balls 2%
Bags 2%
Racquet accessories 10%

PRICE RANGES

Balls $3.50-$4/can
Strings $14-$60
Bags $30-$80
Shoes $60-$100
Men’s Shirts $16-$50
Women’s Tops $18-$50
Racquets $99-$299