TriSports.com Blog » Life at TriSports.com

TriSports Tempe Store Update #1

Seton — Wed, 09 May 2012 20:53:28 +0000

Construction is moving along rapidly up in Tempe on the new store. We took what we have learned at our Tucson location and teamed up with Architekton to accomplish one small task – take the greatest triathlon retail store on the face of the planet and make it even better in Tempe, and oh, yeah, keep sustainability at the forefront of the project. Our general contractor, Caliente Construction , is now well on the way to getting us moved in by the end of June, 2012. Here are some pictures of the progress.

A walk through the empty shell just after the lease was signed (and the day after Ironman Arizona).

Here is an early mock up of the store layout, most of the actual build will look this way.

A look in the store April 13, 2012

Houston, can we get a Go, No-Go, for Launch?

Seton — Thu, 03 May 2012 15:30:43 +0000

There are many books written on business – many, many books. The highs and lows, the good and the bad have all been documented over many decades. It is actually quite remarkable, pick up most of the popular business books and, if you are involved with a business, the thought that goes through your mind is “Dang, how did they know that? They wrote this book before I was born and I can plug my business right into this situation.”

TriSports.com is no exception to these business rules and about a year ago, like many businesses, we had to make a critical decision to upgrade the software that is used to run our company. This software will, once we get the bull under control, improve efficiencies for all of our operations that will ultimately help our customers. The dedication of our entire staff has gotten us to this day, the day we walked up to the edge and looked down. Over the next four days we will be making all final preparations for our Go-Live on May, 7. From the outside it may seem like a simple task – all you guys do is sell triathlon equipment. Yep, and all that NASA did on July 20, 1969 was get a man on the moon. With this, can I get a Go, No-Go for Launch?

Receiving Logistics – GO!

Tucson Retail – GO!

Returns Integration – GO!

Wireless Warehouse – GO!

Purchasing Ops – GO!

Marketing Command – GO!

Tempe Launch Controls – GO!

Data Systems – GO!

TriSports.com, we are all clear for Launch! On behalf of the hundreds of thousands of customers from around the world, and the former and future employees of TriSports.com – Godspeed.

Battle of Words: A Conversation Between Two Endurance Geeks

Seton — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:46:36 +0000

This past summer I did quite a bit of crazy riding to get ready for the Leadville Trail 100 MTB Race. One of the guys that I trained with was Paul “PT” Thomas. This conversation took place about 16 hours after the finish of the Leadville 100 Mtb Race (August 13, 2011) between me and PT (who subsequently went 7:13, a blazing time especially at the young age of 41).

Thesaurus:

Vangina – the name of Paul’s VW Euro Van
Noreen – Paul’s wife
Debbie – Seton’s wife
Molino – A basin about 5.5 miles up the famous Mt. Lemmon climb in Tucson.
Sabino – A popular walking/running/cycling canyon in Tucson.

Seton and Paul at the finish of the Leadville 100 MTB Race.

(7:00 PM)

PT: How do the pistons feel?

SC: Feeling good, I just got back from an easy ride up to Molino Basin. It was a bit warm.

(7:57 PM)

PT: I am actually motor pacing behind the Vangina as I write. I told Noreen to keep it between 45-48 mph.

(8:49 PM)

SC: Just got back from my run. Kept it easy, just two repeats up Sabino. I had to run on the road because it was getting dark.

PT: Interesting….I don’t want to make it seem like I am one upping you, but Noreen ran outa gas after 3 hours of motor pacing. We are fixing up a cabled harness and I am going to ride the Specialized, pulling the Vangina 30 miles to Deming.

(9:07 PM)

SC: That sounds similar to my experience earlier today. Our plane ran out of fuel right after we landed so I volunteered to hop our and pull that bitch to the gate.

PT: I am way too familiar with runways. I once had to tow a plane up to speed that needed help as it was carting the space shuttle Challenger back to Florida….not to “one up” you though.

SC: Yeah, I remember that, they had me on that mission hooked up to a power bike to provide aux power for the shuttle.

PT: Sorry for the delay in responding…I was pre occupied with taking the lug nuts off with my bare hands. Noreen thought I should rotate the wheels as the Vangina was pulling to the left a bit.

PT: F#*c….after all of that manual labor, we figured out it was not the wheels, as now it is pulling to the right. I switched my one legged drills from left to right leg.

(10:00 PM)

SC: Damn, I am spent. There was a creaking under the house so I had to lift it off the foundation so Debbie could have a look underneath. Turns out it was just noise from my one-arm clap push ups I was doing.

(2:26 PM next day)

PT: Just read this one. You are the winner as I am laughing hard!!!!!

After many hard hours of training, it was good to see PT at the finish line.

Leanda Cave the Nanny

Seton — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 11:00:42 +0000

TriSports has been sponsoring Leanda Cave for the last three years. Over this short time she has accomplished numerous athletic feats in the world of triathlon. One thing she hasn’t yet mastered is the handicapped bet with the staff at TriSports. In July of 2010, she lost a bet to our sponsorship coordinator and had to put in a long day of work at TriSports.

Without a doubt one of our BEST employees!

Fast forward to November 2011 at the Ford Ironman Arizona and we were both going to be on the starting line. Two days before the event, I had breakfast with her and she said that we should have a friendly wager. The bet: I would get a 20min handicap. She wins and I shave my head (a real problem because I don’t think it would grow back). I win and she has to babysit my 3 and 6 year-old kids. My goal for IMAZ was 9:30 and the fastest Leanda has ever gone was 9:20’ish. I took the bet.

Race day dawns and it is going well for both of us. I see her on the run course at about mile 6 (the pros left 10-15 min before the age groupers) and did a time check…she had 6 min on me so I thought all was fine. Mile 16 comes and I find myself stopped in front of hundreds of people under the Mill Avenue Bridge, unable to move because my legs are locked down from cramps. I finally got going again and had one more time check on her that was north of 20min. I should have been jumping for joy because I was about to crush my IM PR that I set 10 years earlier, but noooooooo, all I was worried about was having to shave my noggin. I went 9:14, Leanda went 8:49.

I arrived at my hotel that night, got the kids down for bed, checked my Twitter account and found this message:

Yes, 26 minutes. Look who’s babysitting now!

Leanda, the consummate professional, lived up to her word and in December she came over and watched the kids for a solid 5 hours. When we got home at 10:30PM, Leanda was on the couch (reading Lava magazine) and I asked how the kids behaved. Before she could answer, our 3 year old jumps up from next to her, yelling “mommy, daddy!” “Leanda, ummmm, bed time was 8:30PM.” Her response: “Your daughter has a lot of staying power.” I will take that as a compliment coming from one of the best athletes on the planet. I guess her idea of pumping the kids full of candy didn’t pay off too well!

Ironman Arizona – a group effort

Seton — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 13:00:02 +0000

This weekend is the 9th edition of Ironman Arizona and for all 9 of these, the TriSports.com staff, family, friends and loyal customers have been on the course volunteering and racing. This year will be no different. Our great customers from around Tucson, Phoenix and beyond come out in droves to support the TriSports.com aid station that is nestled under the 202 and Mill Ave bridges. This aid station serves as a safe haven for volunteers, racers and spectators because of the built in “roof” above. Along with volunteering, we have four great staff members, representing four different departments (customer service, accounting, buying and management) stepping up to the line representing the red, white and blue of TriSports.com. All combined, over 40% of our staff will be involved with the event in some way, shape or form.

Retail manager, Erik Jacobson, volunteers at the 2010 Ironman Arizona.

I have to say that we are very fortunate to work in our facility because it really does feel like the entire TriSports.com staff is behind you. They understand when you had a hard day on the bike, a great run or a meeting in the Pain Cave. Most of the time when you see someone dragging in this building, it is because they just tortured themselves on some epic workout. Why? Because we live the endurance lifestyle, it is what we do, it is who we are. See you up in Tempe!

2011 Ironman Arizona finisher, and Team TriSports athlete Matt Grabau.

Halloween at TriSports.com

Tom D. — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 13:00:11 +0000

Treats await the tricksters at the TriSports.com Halloween Luncheon with Mrs. Green, Gina Murphy-Darling. TriSports.com was awarded “Arizona's Greenest Workplace” by Mrs. Green’s World for 2011.

There really is no place like home as Dorothy enjoys the Whole Foods Luncheon at TriSports.com in celebration of winning the “Arizona's Greenest Workplace” award at our annual Halloween Costume Contest here in Tucson, Arizona.

Apparently the lack of devil’s food sandwiches upset Adam McCreight, retail associate, during the Halloween Luncheon with Mrs. Green as TriSports.com celebrated the “Arizona's Greenest Workplace” award for 2011.

Some of the TriSports.com family dogs got into the act including this one with a fairly convincing Guernsey costume at the TriSports.com Halloween Luncheon with Mrs. Green.

An impressive turnout of ghouls, goblins and get-ups for the 2011 TriSports.com Halloween Costume Contest during the Halloween Luncheon brought to us by Whole Foods, with guest Mrs. Green (AKA Gina Murphy-Darling), CEO of Mrs. Green’s World, on hand to help judge. TriSports.com won the Mrs. Green’s “Arizona's Greenest Workplace” award for 2011.

CAF San Diego Triathlon Challenge

Adam McCreight — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 18:31:03 +0000

: Cody McCasland, one of CAF’s Shining Stars

A few months back, I was given the opportunity to join a relay team for the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) through TriSports Racing, TriSports.com’s charity arm. I had recently heard of this organization and thought to myself that this is a chance to participate in a triathlon that raises money for athletes with some kind of disability so they have the means to compete through grants and other assistance. What I knew beforehand about CAF were the cool running prosthetics, hand crank bicycles, and other high profile items. What this day meant to me was that I was going to San Diego for the weekend to check out some really cool hardware on amputees and get to also run beside them.

: Tyler, Shari and Adam head out together on the run

On the day of the race, I was convinced this is not a race, but an event. What did that really mean? TriSports Racing had two relay teams during this “race” and I was to run on one of them. I had decided ahead of time to get a swim out of this day as well. After the opening ceremony, which had an unbelievable signer belting out the national anthem, and a parade of the challenged athletes competing, I scrambled to go to the bathroom and then put on my wetsuit. That is where I met Sean. He was in a corner with his girlfriend, trying to get on his wetsuit before the start. I was in my own world and was using this quiet corner to put down my wetsuit while I went to the bathroom. As soon as I put down the wetsuit and turned to leave, I did a 180 and asked if I could help. He replied back with “Yes, if you have the time.” That right there changed this day from a race into an event for me.

: The “wheelies” prepare to start

Here is a paraplegic trying to get on a wetsuit to swim one mile in open water. Yes, I had the time. If you have ever attempted to put on a triathlon wetsuit, you know it is tough. For some people it takes 15-20 minutes, and that is with the ability to stand up and work the wetsuit up your legs and butt. Sean is a paraplegic in a wheelchair. He had to lock the wheels, use his arms to get his “trunk” off of the seat, lean forward for me to work the wetsuit up, and because he has experience in this, use his girlfriend as a stability device with his head as I jerk on the wetsuit to get it past his butt.

: World Champ Chrissie Wellington accompanies some of the kids during their run

After a few attempts, the wetsuit was up far enough that he could get his arms in. A part of my job at TriSports.com is to help fit people in wetsuits. I could tell the wetsuit was not far enough up on his torso, but Sean’s swim start was in 5 minutes and he had to get from the cliffs of La Jolla Bay down to the water. As I was fretting with the fit, I realized that Sean has a lot more to overcome on this day than a wetsuit that is pulling down on his shoulders a bit. We parted ways and all I got was his name and a new understanding of what this event was really about.

: Determination!

It’s not about Charity

Susan M. — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 21:14:46 +0000

Partnering with local organizations whose sole purpose is to help individuals seek employment that might otherwise be overlooked is just one of the many things that sets TriSports.com apart. Sustainability is one of seven Core Values defined by Trisports.com. Our definition of Sustainability states that “We make a conscious decision to be good stewards of the environment, develop and foster vendor and community relationships, provide a positive work environment for our staff and deliver an exceptional customer experience.”

Recently I had the pleasure of being introduced to San Miguel High School. San Miguel High School is located on the South side of Tucson. The High School opened in 2004, in order to create a learning community where students from families with limited financial means can have the opportunity to develop their full potential. To cover the tuition costs for the students, San Miguel forms partnerships with local businesses and the students work there as interns. In addition to covering tuition costs, the internships give students real-world work experience. A job sharing team consists of four students working one day a week and rotating on Fridays to fill one full-time entry level position.

With our growth over the past few years, answering incoming calls on the 2^nd or 3^rd ring was becoming a challenge. It has always been our belief that when you call TriSports.com you should get a live person. To address the issue, TriSports.com created a position called “Director of 1^st Impressions” and hired a team of four students from San Miguel. Most likely the next time you call TriSports.com, one of the exceptional San Miguel students will answer your call and ask you “how can I direct your call?” In addition to answering all of the incoming calls they can also be found helping out in our accounting department with the many mounds of filing.

The students bring to work each day a great smile and an eagerness to learn. Having the opportunity to give back to our community by hiring the San Miguel students is one of the more rewarding experiences I have had as an HR Manager.

Being a Green Business

Debbie — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 17:03:02 +0000

What does being “green” really mean? It is quite trendy to be green nowadays, so you hear it everywhere, but how do you know if a business you frequent cares about the environment? Here at TriSports.com, Sustainability is number one on our list of Core Values, and it encompasses everything we do, and have been doing, since we began back in 2000. We were just nominated for a contest for “Arizona’s Greenest Workplace Challenge” on Mrs. Green’s World, a local radio show. Given that, I wanted to take a moment and let everyone know what we do to make us a “green” company, and hopefully at the end, you’ll go vote for us every day until the end of the contest on September 30th (and tell all of your friends, too)!

The first things you see upon arriving at TriSports.com are the enormous water harvesting tanks, located at each end of the building. One of the largest systems in Arizona, the tanks hold a combined 36,000 gallons of water (and are currently full)! Water is collected from the roof, both rain and condensate from the evap coolers, and goes to cover the landscaping needs. These tanks are also a City of Tucson Water Harvesting Demonstration Site.

One of our water harvesting tanks

By year end, the tanks will be joined by a 128kW solar array that will cover approximately 90% of the building’s energy usage. Panels will be located on the roof, as well as being constructed as part of two shade structures over the parking lot. This is something we’ve been striving for since we moved into this building and we are super excited to see it come to fruition!

Along with the very visible “green” features that TriSports.com has in place, there are many other programs and processes in place. The employees are all dedicated to lowering their environmental footprint, so ideas come from everyone on what can be done to this end. Some of these efforts include:

Dual light controls in office spaces, along with plenty of natural light, so everyone thinks twice before flipping those switches.
Zoned A/C throughout to ensure that only the spaces being used are being cooled.
Extensive recycling – the recycling container is about 4x larger than the trash container, and it doesn’t stop with paper. We recycle the pallets that bring our shipments to us, the boxes that come in our back door, clothing, shoes, bike parts and more!
Commuter program which encourages employees to bike to work by giving them a credit for every mile they commute, along with contests and awards to make it fun and interactive.
Herman Miller furniture throughout, most of which is made from recycled material and can be recycled after its useful life.
Carpet tiles made from recycled materials, which also make it easy to replace small areas rather than having to entirely re-carpet if something were to damage it.
Greenbox program which gives our customers the option to receive a recycled box and packing material instead of new (about 90% of our customers choose this option).
Shoe collection program which donates collected shoes to a local non-profit for reuse within the Tucson community.
Bike parts are donated to Resource Revival to be re-made into art and awards.

Mel, one of our many employees who commute, parks her bike.

This list could keep going on and on! TriSports.com is able to make all of this a success through a combined effort from all of the staff, and everyone feels passionately about preserving natural resources. It really is a team vision!

Ladies Night at the TriSports Store

Gail L — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 10:00:12 +0000

What do you get when you put more than 100 athletic-minded women in a large room with balloons, feather boas, wine, food, gift bags, a fashion show and a bunch of women-specific vendors and service organizations? Why, the first ever Ladies Night at the TriSports Store, that’s what!

Last Friday night a fairly large percentage of Tucson’s women who run, bike and swim showed up for a fun evening that included NEWTON Running Shoe demos, a fashion show highlighting Skirt Sports technical wear, sports bra fitting specialists from Moving Comfort and a wine tasting by Beard Vineyards. Guest could also take advantage of free massages and mini-manicures by the talented folks from Hasahani Spa.

Add informational booths from a variety of other local businesses and you have the makings of a party that ended with everyone asking when the next one would be. No date has been set, but you’ll want to keep checking our facebook page for updates on Ladies Night #2 and our other upcoming events.