Snowboards a tough sell when it doesn’t snow
O.W. Sports closing after nearly 50 years in Waterloo core
WATERLOO — It’s tough to run a successful winter sports business when the season itself seems to be getting shorter and shorter.
The Deyarmond family has seen nearly 50 winters at the helm of O.W. Sports in Waterloo. But this season will be their last.
The doors to the King Street retail institution will close for good in a few weeks, perhaps at the end of March or in April. A sale begins Thursday.
“We didn’t put it on the market,” says Colin Deyarmond. “I don’t think anyone … could sell a sports store with all the winters getting warmer and warmer.”
He and his brother, Kris, run the business that was founded by their parents, Wayne and Jayne, in 1969.
Over the past few years, the brothers have seen as many as 10 ski and snowboard stores go bankrupt in Ontario. They’d rather go out with their heads held high.
“It’s discouraging, for sure,” Kris says.
“You can do everything right, and it can rain all December. You can do everything wrong, and it snows and you look like a genius.”
While the store is open year-round — selling water sports gear, longboards, clothing and surf lifestyle items in the summer months — its focus is winter sports.
Skis, snowboards, accessories and outerwear are its bread and butter; “summer’s just basically to pay the bills,” Colin says.
But the brothers have seen the start of their winter season retreat from October to mid-December.
“This year was supposed to be an epic winter, and it’s rained,” Colin says. Despite a loyal clientele, “the market shrinks the less snow that there is,” Kris adds.
Kris, 40, has spent the past 20 years in the business full-time; high school meant part-time work. Colin, at 37, has only seen a three-year break over the years.
Now, they’ve got different things they’d like to pursue — Kris has an interest in real estate development, and Colin is starting a family this spring.
There’s a funny story on the store’s website that chalks up the origins of the O.W. name to Wayne’s poor penmanship.
He’d wanted to name his new business in honour of his two siblings, Dwight and Wanda, and planned to use their initials. But the D on the government registration form looked more like an O.
O.W. Sports first opened at 64 King St. S. in Waterloo, where a parking garage now stands. It moved to 92 King St. S., but the store was destroyed in a Halloween fire in 1976. Wayne and Jayne rebuilt there, and later purchased the property at 32 King St. S., where the store stands today.
Over the years, there were also locations in Kitchener and Guelph. The Waterloo store currently employs 10 people; just a few years ago, winter staffing levels could hit 20 to 25.
Wayne retired from day-to-day operations more than 15 years ago. Jayne still handles all of the bookkeeping.
Stepping back from the business he’d founded “was a huge step,” Wayne says. “But now what the boys are doing has more of an effect on them rather than me personally.”
No decision has been made as to whether the Deyarmonds will sell the King Street building.
“We’re proud of what was accomplished here, and we’re excited for new ventures,” Kris says.
“It’s been great to serve everybody in Kitchener-Waterloo and beyond,” adds Colin. “We’ll miss it.”