Spotlight on Sports4Kids.Com
Sports4kids.com is an online sporting goods store based in Nokesville that is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on the internet. It was started in 1977 by Charles and Meryem Grammick who moved to Nokesville from Vienna in 1992. Charlie got the idea to start the virtual store when he wanted to buy a decent, moderately priced set of golf clubs for this two older sons who were just starting to play the game. He wound up spending two days driving all over Northern Virginia trying to find the right set and was amazed to find that with all the sports stores in the area, he had such a difficult time finding what he was looking for. He even looked on the internet which was relatively new at the time and couldn’t find anything either. That’s when he got the idea to start Sports4kids.com. Charlie says, "The company was born out of necessity. I have four active children: Jon 14, Ken 12, Jasmin 9 and Ross 5. The kids are always interested in one sport or another. I figured I would be spending money on their equipment for years to come. This way I can supply sports equipment for other people and for my family at the same time. Plus, we offer people the convenience of shopping from the comfort of their own homes. If an item is in stock it is usually shipped out within 24 hours. If it’s not in stock, it can be drop shipped to anywhere in the United States, usually within 72 hours or less or receiving the order. We also ship internationally."Sports4kids.com carries all sorts of sports equipment such as baseball, basketball, football, soccer, lacrosse, wrestling, golf, hockey, tennis, scooters, tricycles, bicycles and even heart rate monitors. Their biggest selling items are winter-related products such as sleds, snowboards and baby sleds with back supports for infants and toddlers. The company just moved into the office next to Dr. Bolil’s practice on Fitzwater Drive in January after having been located in the Grammick house for three years. Meryem says, "It got so hectic running a business out of the house but we still wanted to stay in Nokesville. Everytime the business phone rang, I had to first quiet the children by saying "business call—everybody quiet!" I would then take the call and pray that the kids, their friends and the menagerie of pets would stay quiet long enough for it to sound professional and for me to take the order. Now the only noise we hear is the trains roaring by—but we love it in our new office!"
Sales have doubled every year since the business started. The Grammicks hope to continue this trend by supplying uniforms and equipment to teams and organizations. They have one full time employee, Suzanne Olmsted, a long time friend from Manassas who has been an invaluable addition for two years. "I could never had done it without Suzanne. Her professionalism and enthusiasm make her an asset to the company."
Charlie says, "As a family-owned business, our first priority is customer service. We always strive to provide our customers with excellent prices although at times it is impossible to compete with the mega stores. We try to balance that out with our commitment to service and our selection, which is extensive but is not completely listed on the website. Our customers can call our toll free number for more information on product selection. The feedback we have received over the years has been most positive." Sport4kids.com was mentioned in ESmarts.com as "one of the best sites around for sports equipment based on price, selection and customer service." Also, Access Magazine, which is published nationally by the Star Telegram, rated Sports4kids as "one of the four great internet sporting goods sites for kids." Yahoo Internet Magazine also mentioned Sports4kids.com in their winter issue.
The Grammicks are thrilled with the response to their online store but Charlie is not finished yet as he just launched another site called Highschoolloveletters.com. This site is free to all users who can post a message for their friends and loved ones in high schools all around the country. The premise is that instead of carving your initials in a real tree, why not carve them in our virtual tree for anyone to see.
(March 2001)