We’re only a couple years into the 2020’s and there have been incredible changes across the world.
The global pandemic of COVID shut down much of sports and retail, with many stores closing and never returning. United braced itself through this by pivoting in many ways including it’s inventory by bringing in fitness & training gear along with paddle boards. In 2022, we celebrated the return to sports and we’re thrilled to see so many families getting back to their teams.
The global inflation was also felt during this time and with that increased interest rates. A struggle all around for consumers, businesses, the Province and Country.
The back half of the decade is still to come, but our focus remains the same; be a Western Canadian leader in sports and fitness. We’re continuing to expand our online capabilities to serve even more customers. Our team is always experimenting with new products, so look forward to some exciting new gear and games to pop up!
2020
March 2020 Covid-19 hit Alberta / Canada / North America. We didn’t have a ‘pandemic playbook’ for the company but would pivot with changes each week as guidelines were announced including the shutting down of many team sports and schools moved to online learning and people wearing maks. Retail stores were mandated to be closed mid March just as the bike season was about to kick off! We transitioned to online sales with a few staff & family members along with book by appointment until mid May when retail was able to re-open with ‘restrictions’ in place.
Government assistance for employee’s and employers were put in place as the Country navigated the loss in wages and revenue for businesses. CEWS for companies and CERB for employees.
The supply chain came to a grinding halt as manufacturing stopped in many countries due to Covid along with a lack of raw materials. This created a backlog with shipping lines world wide including many ports and lack of workers due to Covid -19 illness, restrictions, etc. This effected a large portion of our inventory supply as well so brought in anything and everything we could.
As we brought staff back it brought a new meaning to cross training and ‘wearing multiple hats’ – everyone helped in whatever area needed.
United pivoted quickly with creating a curbside pickup area out our back door which soon became the bike service drop off as well. We added in-town delivery right away and started shipping orders across the country.
We converted to a new POS and Accounting software system as planned.
We brought back all of the Inventory from Store West to fill the needs from our main store and made the decision to not re-open those doors but to invest in the online side of the business.
Our store hours adjusted back to closed Sunday and open one evening to reflect the staffing needs vs revenue.
The 2020 NHL season was suspended in March 2020. Between August 1 and September 28 2020, a 24 team playoff season was held in Edmonton as a bubble. The Tampa Bay Lightning won and there were no reported COVID cases.
2021
The ramifications of Covid continued with supply chain issues and different restrictions put in place from the government throughout the year. There were 4 more waves of Covid that had effects on the community.
The Edmonton Oilers brought playoff hockey to the city in the 2021 NHL season. United set up a mobile store in our parking lot to meet all demands for car flags, jerseys and cheer gear.
Edmonton continued to play host to major international sport events including being the bubble host for the 2021 World Juniors. Spectators weren’t permitted to cheer in the stands, and Canada came a close second place to the USA.
After the 2021 IIHF Women’s World Hockey Championships were postponed and later cancelled, they were moved to Calgary where they played in a bubble. Canada beat the USA and won gold for the 11th time.
2022
Covid still had many restrictions throughout the year from vaccines, sports, social distancing, etc that effected consumers.
There was a workforce shortage across the province.
Increased inflation hit many pocketbooks at the gas pump, grocery store, and retail items across the board – with this, came high interest rate hikes!
Edmonton was host to the 2022 CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers where we cheered on Alphonso Davies, the Edmonton native who also benefited from Sports Central like many youth growing up in our city.
On November 12th, Canada hosted Costa Rica with 48,000 people for a 1-0 win. Shortly after Mexico arrived to bitter cold and snow, where Canada won 2-1 over the favoured Mexican squadSource for Sports, the buying group we are a part of along with retailers across the country, rebranded and launched a website that links to their retailers.
February 24th, 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine. This sent ripples across the world economy and rallied many to support those impacted. United partnered with Source for Sports to help raisefunds to support the cause.
Queen Elizabeth passed away on September 8th, 2022
