A Filipino family’s love for sports has led to a thriving retail business that now has 64 outlets nationwide, including a flagship store spanning 1,000 square meters that has recently opened in the heart of Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City.
“I really believe that we are in a business that helps people,” Toby Claudio, president of Toby’s Sports, says in an interview at the P70-million flagship store along 5th Ave. across the Philippine Stock Exchange building.
Toby’s Sports, the leading multi-brand sports retailer in the Philippines, is the retail arm of the Quorum Group of Companies, established by Toby’s father, Roberto Claudio Sr. in 1978.
“My dad is still active and my uncles are also into sports. My dad was very passionate about tennis and that is how this business started. We started as a toy store but because he was so passionate about tennis, he converted into a sports store in 1980. When I was growing up, he would always ask me to play tennis, baseball or basketball,” says Toby who looks younger than his age of 44.
Toby, who became the president of Toby’s Sports seven years ago, keeps himself fit by working out every other day. He started as a tennis player before diversifying into other physical activities.
“I alternate from gym, running, road biking, mountain biking, golf and basketball. I started as a tennis player when I was young. For three years, I did triathlon. I finished two Iron Man races. I love swimming, biking and running,” says Toby, who also encourages his three young sons to take up sports.
Toby, who leads a team of 400 in the company, describes the flagship store at C1 Building on Bonifacio High Street Central as the ‘pinnacle of sport’. The two-story space houses a premium footwear sports apparel and equipment from the world’s best brands. It features various zones that create an experiential shopping experience including PlayZone, which doubles as a basketball court; LaunchZone which features the latest innovations from the top sports brands; Toby’s Custom Lab which offers apparel customization services; and Run Signature gait and running form analysis.
Toby says the flagship store is one of the first to feature a highly digital experience where customers can browse the retailer’s e-commerce website on large interactive walls in the store. It also uses RFID technology that allows customers to unlock virtual content by placing a shoe on a platform and browse all its specs and features via touchscreen.
“It has been a while since our flagship store at Glorietta closed in 2007,” Toby says, referring to the store that was affected by a huge explosion that rocked a portion of Glorietta 2 shopping mall in Makati City.
“We have been planning to open a new flagship and we are lucky we have the ideal location for it here in BGC. We built it to be as an epicenter for sports and an iconic retail destination,” he says.
“We did not cut any corners. We went to major cities around the world, looked at the best sports retails stores and flagships of other brands in New York, Tokyo, London. This is something that we should have here in the Philippines—a really world-class experiential store that harnesses the latest technology for retail and combines the online and offline shopping experience,” says Toby.
“We wanted to combine the experience to give customers flexibility and convenience. While they are home or in their office, they can shop online and then they can choose to collect it here in the flagship store which is centrally located. It is a lot faster and you get exactly what you want. You don’t have to guess if there is available stock in the store. It offers the best experience,” he says.
The flagship store has 30,000 products under 40 brands, including 20,000 shoes with different brands, models and colors.
Toby’s Sports, which is celebrating its 40th year in the business, carries more than 60,000 items from the world’s top sports brands and in-house brands that offer value-for-money. It operates 55 stores and an online store (www.tobys.com) which now accounts for 5 percent of total sales.
Aside from Toby’s Sports, the Quorum Group also operates Runnr, a running specialty store; urbanAthletics, a cutting edge sneaker and street wear store; and Move, a fitness specialty store.
Toby says the group plans to build more flagship stores. “If this proves to be successful and it is doing great so far, we hope to build other flagship stores in major cities around the country,” he says.
“We decided to focus on the top sports, the ones played by Filipinos such as basketball, running, training. We also carry merchandise for other sports like baseball, badminton, tennis, table tennis, swimming. We carry a wide range of products,” he says.
Toby says to cater to the needs of the young generation, Toby’s Sports is expanding its digital presence. “The growth of online shopping in the Philippines is really fast. Our biggest market is the youth. For a company that has been around for 40 years, we really make it a point to cater to the younger generation by constantly innovating and changing our store concept. I think we are one of the stores in the Philippines that renovates the most often. We always try to update our store look, our experience,” he says.
“There are so many foreign retailers coming into the country, but we really want to prove that Filipino retailers can come up with a world-class store experience. Having seen some of the flagship stores in other countries, modesty aside, this store has really accomplished our goal to make a world-class store—something that can be a pinnacle shopping experience here. If you are visiting the Philippines, it is a must see,” says Toby.
Toby’s Sports is also open to franchising. “The key is working with franchise partners who really have a passion for business, passion for sports. We are lucky that many of our franchisees have been with us for a very long time. Our franchisees are very successful. It is a proven business model. We have been franchising for more than 20 years already. Now that the brand is very strong at its 40th year, it is a good opportunity to expand. There are so many new developing markets, developing cities that we are getting into,” he says.
Toby says despite the intensifying competition with the arrival of large foreign retailers, Toby’s Sports is doing well. “We have a great year this year. It is a great indication of the growing consciousness of Filipinos that believe that staying active and fit is important. Our company motto is to help Filipinos become champions in sports and in life. Our mission is to get more people into sports, get them to adopt healthy and active lifestyle. The whole reason we spend so much in creating nice stores is to inspire people to play,” he says.
Toby’s Sports posted more than P1 billion in sales in 2017, and growth this year is in the vicinity of 15 percent. “It is faster than the average for retail industry which is about 5 percent,” says Toby, who first worked as a management trainee and later as brand manager for Selecta, before joining the family business.
“We think that there is still a lot of growth in the Philippines and we want to protect our market share. We have a mission to help Filipinos. I am really grateful to be in this business,” says Toby.