AT YOUR SERVICE

Left to Right: Adam Brown, Jacob Long, Emily Scott, Homer Brown.

BUMPERNETS IN ALABAMA IS A DREAM DESTINATION FOR TABLE SPORT DEVOTEES

For two decades, BumperNets has been the place in Birmingham, Alabama, for people who love table sports.

Whether it’s people who want to buy a beautiful billiard table, table tennis setup, or other game, or folks who want to spend time with family or friends playing pool, ping-pong, pinball, or an arcade game, BumperNets has everything.

And Homer Brown, the founder and owner of BumperNets, has a long track record of making his store all about his customers. Brown discovered his love of retail at an early age, and he uses all of his experience and knowledge to create the best possible customer experience at every level of his business.

“Being retail tough and consistent is so important in our business,” Brown says. “I always remind my staff that ‘retail is detail’ almost every day.”

His story begins almost 50 years ago, in a different industry, and it’s a story that has seen his idea for the nation’s first table tennis store grow from a booth to a mini-empire with three different locations – each of which offers different services related to table sports – in the same mall. “It’s been a fast ride,” Brown says.

By Anthony Stoeckert

A START IN THE OIL BUSINESS

Before getting in the home recreation business, Brown had a career in a different sector. During his last year at Covenant College near Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, he took a job at a service station. He fell in love with the oil industry, mainly because of the service aspect, and after graduating, he became a manager of a Shell station. Then he bought a Gulf Service Station

a year later at the young age of 21.

“That’s back when we had about six or seven service stations off the Interstate,” Brown says.

That meant a lot of competition, and Brown got an early education into the importance of customer satisfaction.

“I could tell right then and there, I was going to have to have good service,” he says. “I’ll never forget that first day, opening the door at 6 a.m., and I waited and waited, and I didn’t get my first customer until a quarter to 10 in the morning. You can imagine that they got great service. I realized that taking care of the customer is mighty important and I better do everything I can to exceed their expectations if I wanted to stay in business.”

One day, a man came to the station and was so impressed with how he was treated, that he asked Brown if he offered the same level of service and accommodation to all of his customers.

“I said, ‘Yep we do,’” Brown says. “It turned out he was going to be the new vice president of Gulf Oil, and I didn’t know it.”

Brown was considering opening other dealerships, but a few days later he got a call from Gulf’s human resources department asking if he wanted to interview for the job of retail marketer, where he’d be working with other dealers.

He faced a tough decision. Brown had built up a business and wanted to grow it further, but the offer was too tempting to turn down, and he figured he could always go back to running his own station one day. He took the job, assisting dealers on retail training and running classes and helping new dealers establish their businesses. Over the course of 24 years, he worked for Gulf, Chevron, and BP.

It was a career that involved a lot of moving – 10 times in 27 years – and his last job in the oil industry brought him to Birmingham, Alabama, in 1996, working as COO of an oil distribution company. He used his customer service expertise and marketing savvy to help turn the company around. When his contract ended in 1999, Brown was 50 years old.

TURNING THE TABLES

His other passion was table tennis. An exceptional competitor, Brown played in his first U.S. Open in 1969, and he recently set a record by playing in his 50th consecutive Open. He has also participated in numerous other tournaments and coached throughout his career in the oil business.

“In the back of my mind, I always thought about opening America’s first table tennis store,” Brown says.

His vision was for a store in a mall, a place where people could rent playing time for table tennis and billiards and also buy everything they need to play their favorite games at home.

So in early 1999, Brown tested his idea by setting up a booth in a mall near a food court. He drew a lot of attention by setting up a ping-pong robot and inviting visitors to test their skills against “The Champ.”

He found out there was a market for his concept.

“It was kind of a large booth in the mall,” Brown says. “And I kept listening to customers and they were asking, ‘Where can I play ping-pong? Where can I get a lesson? Where can I buy a table?’”

The mall’s marketing manager told him it was time to open a store. And Brown already had his name – BumperNets, “bumper” for pool, “nets” for table tennis.

“I knew coming from the oil industry that I had to have a cool name and a cool brand,” Brown says. He tried out his concept in a 5,300-square-foot space, and BumperNets opened on Aug. 13, 1999. In addition to offering rental time for table tennis and billiards, the store also had high-end table sports like air hockey, Tornado foosball, and shuffleboard.

“You could come in and rent a table, buy your accessories, get a custom table tennis racket, buy a cue stick, and get any accessory you wanted for your table sport,” Brown says.

He set up air hockey in front of one window, and a ping-pong robot in another window.

“Just to grab people’s attention,” Brown says. “I wanted people to see action in the store. I was creating a place for the beginner to the pro, to play or buy.”

One important aspect of BumperNets’ success is Brown’s knack for marketing, which he put to good use.

“I’ve always been kind of a guy who liked to market and sell,” he says.

Even dating back to high school, Brown got involved in Amway and had 27 people working under him.

“I really fell in love with it when I was in high school,” he says. “I love giving customers good service and making things happen. And also, making a little bit of money. Money’s not everything to me, I think taking care of customers and seeing them come back is a big thrill. I always have felt that the money will follow if you’re doing things rights.”

MOVING AND GROWING

Once up and running, Brown’s idea was a hit; BumperNets was a success, and after a year and a half, the opportunity came to move to a bigger, regional mall. The Riverchase Galleria Mall in Hoover, a suburb of Birmingham.

“It is a beautiful mall, it’s got skylights throughout the whole mall,” Brown says. “It’s one of the best malls in the country.”

He started out small, with a pro shop, then moved into a 2,200-square-foot store that offered everything his first store did, and he added more arcade games, darts and pinball.

“Pinball is a big table sport, and we’re one of the biggest retail venues for pinball in the U.S.,” Brown says. “We’ve got 37 pinballs between our three stores.”

BumperNets also established a presence in the community, hosting exhibitions at schools, including during halftime of basketball games, and sponsoring the Alabama State School Table Tennis Championships.

“Getting involved with the community is important, finding a niche where you can get involved,” Brown says.

By 2007, BumperNets had outgrown its spot, so the mall management wanted Brown to move into a bigger location. It was a 6,700-square-foot space across the hall from his then-current location. One big draw for Brown was that the new space had an outside entrance. It was a big jump, but Brown and BumperNets were ready.

“We took the opportunity and featured three beautiful pool tables and three ping-pong tables in the back of the main store, and we continued our table rentals for customers and we were able to add more things,” Brown says.

Those new things included nostalgic, classic arcade games and old pinball machines, with everything for sale. But the focus was always on table tennis and pool.

EXPANDING BY GOING BACK HOME

BumperNets quickly proved that it could handle the new, bigger space. In fact, before long Brown saw the need to grow even bigger because customers were waiting to rent a table or to take a lesson. So he expanded by setting up BumperNets Arcade in the space he left, just across the hall.

“The store was a lucky store for me, even though it was the worst store location in the mall, because that was the best location I could get for the rent, behind an escalator,” Brown says. “It was a store that the national chains didn’t really want, but I wanted to be in a mall because of the central location and safety and all of that.”

Eventually, BumperNets expanded yet again when Brown opened BumperNets for Kids, where he offered basketball, small air hockey tables, and Dance Dance Revolution.

DEDICATED TO THE CUSTOMER

Speaking of Dance Dance Revolution, that was actually the first arcade game Brown offered, when his store was focusing on pool and table tennis. And that story shows how Brown pays attention to all of his customers.

“A little girl came up to me and said, ‘Can you put in Dance Dance Revolution?’” Brown says. “And I thought, That’s a good idea, it’s good for footwork for ping-pong. We put it in the back of the main store, so we had music in the store, and promoted it as being good for footwork.”

Another aspect of BumperNets’ business is hosting parties. Kids and adults can celebrate birthdays with unlimited play. BumperNets also hosts parties for other occasions, and also is a popular site for team-building events for businesses both small and big.

BumperNets has been in business for so long that over the years, Brown has

seen some customers grow up right in front of his eyes.

“These kids see everything going on at BumperNets and what we’re all about, so eventually they’re in high school and bringing their girlfriends to BumperNets to play ping-pong or pool or some arcades,” he says. “Before long, they’re married and they’re coming in and buying a pool table or bringing their kids in to play.”

EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS

Excellent customer service starts with selling quality products, from high-end tables to the smallest of accessories, and providing playing time on beautiful tables in a nice setting. But Brown and his employees also keep customers happy by offering the little things, a free game, or a free table tennis lesson, or a free Coke or water as they’re shopping.

“If you make the customer the focus and make the experience fun for them, people will come back,” Brown says. “We exceed the customer’s expectations whenever possible.”

Today, BumperNets has three stores in The Riverchase Galleria Mall, and Brown’s business is celebrating its 20th anniversary. At the age of 70, Brown is still working 80 hours a week, and he still enjoys running his business and being on stage every day, seven days a week when he can.

And he has done an outstanding job of running those stores. Remarkably, BumperNets has grown every year since Brown opened that booth in 1999, with the exception of 2008, the height of the economic crisis, and even then the drop wasn’t huge.

MODERN-DAY MARKETING

Just as important as offering the best in quality service is embracing new technology. BumperNets maintains a strong social media presence on Twitter, Instagram and on Facebook the store has more than 14,000 followers. Its website is informative, useful, and easy to navigate. It also features a blog that is updated regularly.

“I have always liked to advertise and promote and that’s one of the reasons I wanted to get back into the retail business, because I love promoting,” Brown says.

He used to do that through newspapers and radio and television ads. Now, in addition to social media, he’s participated in an episode of Extreme Makeover by working on the game room of a house in Birmingham.

Brown also has embraced Amazon and what it can do for sales.

“That’s a good part of our business, volume-wise,” he says. “We ship tables and accessories all over the country through Amazon, that’s a big part of our business.”

Jacob Long, sales manager at BumperNets handles the Amazon sales. And that leads to another ingredient of Brown’s recipe for success – hiring the right employees, and keeping them happy.

“One of the important things is picking the right people to hire,” Brown says. “One of the ways I’ve picked my people is that I’ve seen them grow up coming into my store and I’ll know a lot about them. The key is keeping employees as long as possible.”

Indeed, Long has been with BumperNets for 16 years, and Brown says most of his employees stay with him for the long haul.

Brown’s son, Adam, is the store manager and vice president. Adam started working at BumperNets when he was in college at Auburn, and after he graduated, Homer asked him to join the business.

“It’s nice to have a son involved in the business,” Brown says. “I coached him at a young age and got him involved at 3 years old and he went on to become a Junior Olympian table tennis player and eventually won the U.S. Open National Table Tennis Championships in 1987. He was the youngest ever to win the 10 and under boys and girls title, and he’s a five-time men’s single Alabama State champion.”

His daughter, Janell, also played the game and participated in the Junior Olympics. “And my wife Judy has been very understanding and supportive, and she’s the one I really love to share the success of the business with when I come home,” Brown says.

Other staffers include Executive Assistant Emily Scott, Assistant Store Manager Barnabas Gonzales, Account Executive Christopher Tickell, and Duke Stogner, who is the operations manager and runs tournaments and leagues.

Their efforts have been recognized with the Alabama Retailer of the Year Award a few times. BumperNets also has been awarded the Innovative Retailer of the Year Award by the National Sporting Goods Association, beating out national chains like Dick’s Sporting Goods. It also earned the 2004 Verizon Award, a national honor for innovation in retailing from the National Sporting Goods Association.

PROMOTING TABLE TENNIS

BumperNets began with Brown’s passion for table tennis, and promoting the sport is something he takes great joy in.

“I realized that table tennis is one of the best participation sports,” he says. “Around the world table tennis is pretty big. I believe in it because it’s a lifetime sport and it’s been good to me.”

In addition to playing in his 50th U.S. Open Championships, which set a record, he also coaches. A year ago. he added Keith Evans, a national Jamaican champion, as a head coach to the BumperNets team.

Brown had a chance to go to the World Championships in Japan in 1971, but he had just opened his Gulf Service Station, so he passed. But in 2006, he was able to visit China when he was invited by the president of the USATT to travel with the National Team during a 10-day tour of the nation.

“It’s huge around the world, really,” Brown says of table tennis. “I always felt that as we become more international here in the U.S. that table tennis would continue to grow.”

He also encourages new players to try the game through spring break clinics, where people learn about table tennis from BumperNets’ staffers.

It’s a lot of work, but Brown shows no signs of slowing down. He takes the occasion break, but he always looks forward to getting back to the business he built, and finding new ways to satisfy his customers.