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BUSINESS BEAT
Bauer to Open First Retail Experience Stores in Boston, Minneapolis
 Bauer Hockey sent shockwaves throughout the hockey industry with its announcement earlier this month that it will open its first Bauer Hockey retail experiences. The first two "Own The Moment" retail experiences will open in suburban Boston and in the Minneapolis area later this year.
Bauer Hockey's plan is to have 8 to 10 retail experiences in the United States and Canada with a location in all of the NHL Original Six cities of Boston, New York, Chicago, Detroit, Montreal and Toronto.
"We've been elevating player performance at every level of the game since 1927, and today we're excited to take this innovation to new heights by giving consumers an in-store BAUER experience that they've never seen before in the industry," said Rich Wuerthele, executive vice president of hockey, in a news release. "Similar to other premium brands that have entered retail, offering the full depth and breadth of our products in one place allows us to tell our unique stories in a way that only we can and helps strengthen the surrounding hockey retail environment. The Bauer Hockey 'Own The Moment' retail experiences will be living representations of our brand."
The first Bauer Hockey "Own The Moment" retail experience will open in Burlington, Mass., late this summer, followed by the Minneapolis-area opening in the fall. The company said it expects its retail operations to be profitable within 18 to 24 months.
Bauer's retail experiences will have an indoor ice rink so consumers can try different products. The company said it plans to use the retail experiences to test various products and strategies and share those findings with authorized retail partners throughout the world to improve the consumer experience at every retail destination and further elevate the Bauer brand.
If you have any thoughts on Bauer's plans to open "Own The Moment" retail experiences, let us know with an email to mmaciaszek@nsga.org.
Click here to read more about Bauer's new retail experiences.
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