Jake
September 11th, 2004, 11:42 PM
When it comes to the color, but not necessarily the fit, of motorcycle helmets sold in his store, Todd Mittness said the customer is always right.
Mittness, a former Chandler police officer, owns the Helmet Harbor, which is at 425 W. Guadalupe Road, Suite 108, in Gilbert. He said educating his customers about helmets and safety is the most important thing his store does, and said his store has refused to sell customers particular helmets if store employees think the helmet does not fit the customer correctly.
"It's all about safety, it's not really selling a helmet," Mittness said. "We usually are able to coach people into the correct size, but there's been a couple of occasions over the last six years where we've had to tell customers that 'you know, we're not going to sell you the helmet, it's not fitting you correctly.' I sell motorcycle helmets. If I send people out of here with a trash can on their head, I wouldn't be doing my job."
The Helmet Harbor has sponsored a racing team for two years. Mittness has four employees and each is a member of the team, which tests all products sold in the store.
Mittness said he wants store employees to race with products they sell in the store, to help them know about the products. And that includes crashing and hitting helmets on concrete.
"As far as the education process, it gives us a master's degree in safety, " he said. "If you're going to sell full leather race suits, you've got to crash in them, because how else do you know if they work? And we crash a lot."
The Helmet Harbor carries American and foreign-made motorcycle helmets and focuses on hard-to-find helmet manufacturers, Mittness said. In addition to the motorcycle helmets, the store sells motorcycle apparel and motocross helmets and apparel.
Since opening in 1999, the store has had to move twice. The current location, which opened in March, covers 1,400 square feet compared with the 300 square feet it started with. In addition, the online store operates at its own location now, while before it had been part of the physical store.
On average, Mittness said the store sells 10-15 helmets a day, and prices range from $150 to $600.
More than 100,000 customers visit the online store each month.
Mittness said sales at the physical store are growing closer to the online store.
"The Internet helps me out quite a bit," he said. "The store is actually starting to catch up to it."
Mittness, a former Chandler police officer, owns the Helmet Harbor, which is at 425 W. Guadalupe Road, Suite 108, in Gilbert. He said educating his customers about helmets and safety is the most important thing his store does, and said his store has refused to sell customers particular helmets if store employees think the helmet does not fit the customer correctly.
"It's all about safety, it's not really selling a helmet," Mittness said. "We usually are able to coach people into the correct size, but there's been a couple of occasions over the last six years where we've had to tell customers that 'you know, we're not going to sell you the helmet, it's not fitting you correctly.' I sell motorcycle helmets. If I send people out of here with a trash can on their head, I wouldn't be doing my job."
The Helmet Harbor has sponsored a racing team for two years. Mittness has four employees and each is a member of the team, which tests all products sold in the store.
Mittness said he wants store employees to race with products they sell in the store, to help them know about the products. And that includes crashing and hitting helmets on concrete.
"As far as the education process, it gives us a master's degree in safety, " he said. "If you're going to sell full leather race suits, you've got to crash in them, because how else do you know if they work? And we crash a lot."
The Helmet Harbor carries American and foreign-made motorcycle helmets and focuses on hard-to-find helmet manufacturers, Mittness said. In addition to the motorcycle helmets, the store sells motorcycle apparel and motocross helmets and apparel.
Since opening in 1999, the store has had to move twice. The current location, which opened in March, covers 1,400 square feet compared with the 300 square feet it started with. In addition, the online store operates at its own location now, while before it had been part of the physical store.
On average, Mittness said the store sells 10-15 helmets a day, and prices range from $150 to $600.
More than 100,000 customers visit the online store each month.
Mittness said sales at the physical store are growing closer to the online store.
"The Internet helps me out quite a bit," he said. "The store is actually starting to catch up to it."