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Business & Tech

Jeff's Sports Satisfies Hobbyist Appetites

With stores in Menomonee Falls and Brookfield, Jeff's Sports stokes collector passions with items in all price ranges.

Ever since he was a youngster growing up in Menomonee Falls, Jeff Lemieux had a passion for sports. Little did he realize that one day, he and his father, Darell, would be running a business together, catering to the desires of so many other hobbyists with that same love of sports.

In 1983, Jeff and Darell opened up their first shop in Brookfield at the corner of Capitol Drive and Calhoun road. Today, they own two shops, one at a bigger at 14165 W. Capitol Dr., and another in the Falls Plaza at N81W15100 Appleton Ave., which opened its doors in 2000.

“I grew up in Menomonee Falls, went to the schools and graduated from the high school in 1990,” Lemieux said.  “I know a lot of people in the Falls and always wanted to have a place close to home.  I’ve worked with many different companies and the Falls seemed to be a good fit.”

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Jeff’s Sports carries a full line of products roughly divided into the three categories of sports memorabilia, sports cards and sports novelties.

“I don’t know if one category is bigger than another for us, really,” Lemieux said. “It’s almost a third, a third and a third, pretty much even.  Another part of our business is custom framing which has really grown for us. Our pricing is typically half of what other framing places offer and our quality and service can’t be matched.”

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Lemieux said the item being framed doesn’t have to be sports related. He does family photos, items for schools, bars and restaurants. He said that part of his business has will get even bigger in 2012.

Sports Collecting a Want, Not a Need

Of course, the sports collecting hobby revolves around discretionary income but, even in the challenging economy of the past few years, Jeff’s Sports has been more than holding its own.

“It’s definitely a want and not a need but people in Wisconsin are pretty passionate about their sports, especially last year with the Super Bowl, which definitely helped our business,” Lemieux said. “Even with the down economy, we didn’t see too much of it last year because of the Super Bowl. This year will be interesting now that the Packers lost in the playoffs.”

Not only did the Packers unexpectedly bow out early in the playoffs, the Wisconsin Badgers lost in the Rose Bowl and the Milwaukee Brewers’ run to the World Series was a dead end, too. One secret to Jeff’s success has been to offer something for just about anybody in all price ranges.

“Anytime you’re in business, if it’s not the economy it’s the sports teams not doing good,” said Lemieux. “There are always obstacles that you have to overcome. We’ve always been pretty diverse with our products and we carry everything from a dollar pack of cards and two dollar key chains up to items selling for a couple thousand dollars.”

Famous Folks in the House
Perhaps the part of the business Lemieux enjoys most is putting on autograph signings with popular athletes. Everyone from Donald Driver and Greg Jennings to Prince Fielder and Corey Hart to Jerry Kramer, Gale Sayers and Gorman Thomas has been to the Falls to sign autographs and pose for pictures with eager fans.

“We’ve had the whole spectrum of athletes come in and it’s always a great time,” Lemieux said. “Our signings are more family oriented so it’s a big thrill to see the kids be able to come and meet some of their heroes or for the parents to meet heroes they’ve heard about, meet them in person and get a picture or something else signed.  I’d say 95 percent of the people who come to our signings are families and that’s really a fun thing to see.

“Getting to know my customers is one of the most satisfying things because my dad and I have been in business for 30 years. Some of the kids who used to come in when they were 15 are now coming in with their own kids. So it’s neat to see the next generation of collectors and hobbyists. We’ve been to our customers’ weddings and family events so that’s been a really neat part of our business.”

Jeff could hardly have envisioned that back when he was a youngster collecting baseball cards. But it’s been immensely satisfying, just the same.

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