The Paper Trail Podcast

How Sports World Became Lebanon’s Go-To for Spirit Wear & Custom Gear

• January Alexander

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In this episode of The Paper Trail, Nick Hayes of Sports World shares how a family-run sporting goods shop became a cornerstone of Lebanon, TN. 

From trendy school apparel and custom tumblers to personalized team stores and spirit wear that actually feels good to wear, Nick and his team are redefining what it means to shop local. 

Discover how innovation, community support, and family values continue to drive this local favorite forward.

>> Nick Hayes:

You can get bats and gloves and cleats kind of anywhere. What you can't jump online and buy or Amazon or anywhere is local school apparel. So that was kind of our, what we hoped could be our niche to get people shopping again. Coming to the store again.

>> January:

Hello and welcome back to the Paper Trail. Today we are chatting with our hometown friend, Nick Hayes, the owner of Sports World in lebon. If you've ever needed spirit wear, custom team gear or just something that shows your Lebnon pride, chances are you might have walked through his doors. But there's more than meets the eye when it comes to this family run business. Nick's here to share his history, surprises and the passion behind one of Lebnan's longest standing sporting goods stores. Welcome to the Paper Trail today, Nick.

>> Nick Hayes:

Thank you. Thanks for having me.

>> January:

Yeah, thanks for coming. So I love your store and I, went in there years ago and then in the last couple years, when I've been back in lebon working and doing my business, one of the things that I wanted to bring you on for is just because of the surprise factor that I was finding with what you guys carry now. I mean I've always known you for baseball bats, gloves, you know, all your basicorting goods, needs. but one of the things as a mom, as a wife, a mother, you know, we all want to look good at the game. Everybody wants to like, you know, have the fun stuff, have the cute purse, have the cute bags and cups and shirts. So I was shocked, you know, I really was how on point you were and how much you had to offer in like in stock, you know, ready to go off the shelf. So tell us a little bit about, you know, that and how you are playing into all the local teams but also just the next level apparel where it's more of the trendy stuff.

>> Nick Hayes:

Yeah. So Brandi, my wife and I, we bought three years ago in March, March 2022. We bought the store from my in laws, Bob and Sherry Carr. They opened it in I think 1990. I think they've been in that location since then. So, when we bought it we, my wife and I kind of talked about what could we do to bring people in, what's going to get people to start shopping. We weren't far out of the COVID era. That changed the world for everybody. the reality of what we do. You can get bats and gloves and cleats kind of anywhere. but what you can't jump online and buy or Amazon or anywhere is local school apparel.

>> January:

Yah.

>> Nick Hayes:

So that was kind of our, what we hoped could be our niche to get people shopping again, coming to the store again. And we try to have I think we have all the schools in the county, all the public schools. We have friendship, we have Cumberland. so we try to keep a good assortment for everybody to give everybody reason to come by. I tell people all the time if you see anything in there that you like that you think looks good, that was 100% my wife. that is not my, that's not my best attribute is designing, you know, cool clothes. But she does a really good job with that. And so we just try to, we try to keep something for everybody. We have toddler shirts from most schools all the way up to you know, men's ladies try to keep the trendy stuff for the school age kids. That's sometimes hard to keep up with. What is trendy comes and goes. Yeah. I've got three kids myself. two are still teenagers so we lean on them a little bit to see what's cool and what's not anymore.

>> January:

And then your wife, isn't she a teacher?

>> Nick Hayes:

She does, she Sam Houston.

>> January:

So she definitely probably hears the feedback of when the teachers are wanting their apparel or the parent wants some apparel. You know that you guys are a good resource to tap into for that custom stuff.

>> Nick Hayes:

Yeah, Something that's not really new anymore but something we do a lot more of is the individual web stores.

>> January:

Whether it be for telling me about this.

>> Nick Hayes:

Yeah, we do them for a lot of teams, a lot of clubs, from the sporting good side of it. But like for instance right now we have a Sam Houston elementary teacher store up. They've got a link that they just click on and it's actually their own little website. so yes, she gets a lot of feedback from them, her friends at school and things like that. And kind of constantly just keeping an eye out for something new and something we haven't tried before. lots of different brands outside of just the sporting did brands that people know.

>> January:

Y.

>> Nick Hayes:

we actually have access to quite a few that I don't think people probably do know.

>> January:

You sent me a few the other day. we were working on a few items for our subscription box as ah, well as just our team apparel for my, you know, employees and things. And we just, we go to things and we want to wear some stuff sometimes. And so you were kind of showing me some new brands, even some that I had never Even heard of. But I think they're really cute and on trend, and I think that's what sets you apart because like, like I said, like, I've been in a box store locally and, you know, you'll see, you know, Wilson schools on a T shirt and yeah, it's great. It's, you know, it's, it's a T shirt that supports your team. But it is not soft, it is not cute cut. It is not a great, maybe not a great color, or when you wash it, it's going to shrink or not, you know, be the best quality. So that's one of the things that really stood out to me in your store was, like I said, just the complexity of how many options you had that were great quality, great style, but also the variety of school. I mean, you've got something for everybody, plus Cumberland, which I love because that's local college. But then you've also got. We got to talk about this too. But like the balls and Bama, you've got, you know, you've got some collegiate stuff too. That again, nicer quality stuff. Very pretty things.

>> Nick Hayes:

Yeah, well, I appreciate that. We do. one of the more popular brands we have now is Royce brand.

>> January:

Yeah, I like that one.

>> Nick Hayes:

It's been very popular for women for a long time. They've actually started dabbling in just a few men's pieces. And, you're right on about the way it feels. That's ultimately what matters. what it says, what it looks like, that all matters. But if you don't like the way it feels, you're not goingna wear it again. So we do try to keep, this stuff that feels nice and we try to have a range you. Because some of those things do get a little more pricey price points. so we try to keep something at all price points for all age groups, for all, for everybody. but the brands that, that do feel the best, you can tell that's the ones people keep coming back for.

>> January:

And they'll, they'll last you longer. You know, they're going to be, they're going to be a longer product. You know, if you, if you've got kids in school, I mean, you're going to wear that out, you know, and especially I love that you have hot and cold season. You know, you've got sweatshirts and hoodies, you've got all types of hats, you've got bags, cups. I love the customizable cups and tumblers that, you know, all the moms need at the game because it's. Everybody's parched. and then. So what would you say would be like a surprise kind of item that sells out that's hot that everybody needs to know about or come get?

>> Nick Hayes:

Yeah. So, right now with the back to school of kind of staying on that theme, we set up at the Blue Devil Dash last week for the kind of Lebnon High school orientation. and there was a couple of just new pieces, new designs, and a lot of it was the Royce brand or the trendy stuff. We sold out of it. actually some sizes we sold out that night. so we have those especially for the women. We have, one brand that we've started carrying. everybody kind of knows the Under Armour Adidas of the world. it's a brand called Legends, which has a pretty cool little story behind it. we'started carrying that and that's been a really good thing. Once people see it and feel it, touch it, like they seem to really like it. outside of the clothes right now, all the new equipment for baseball and softball for 2026 is already coming out. and some of those are going pretty fast. So we're already sold out of some of the bat sizes and things like that. So right now specifically those are. That's kind of the hot items. Just the new stuff for back to school and some new equipment pieces. And so that's, that's kind of where we are right now.

>> January:

Good. And then like one cool thing too is like, you know, this is not just for sports season particular. Like these are great gifts for teachers for Christmas time, you know, for the sports lovers. I think back to school for teachers, end of school year for teachers is a great time. Your sports coach gift, you know, for these team coaches. And you guys do also like custom. If I had a ball team, you know, you can create and produce, you know, all 12 players on the team custom jerseys or shirts. Correct?

>> Nick Hayes:

Yeah.

>> January:

Okay, so if somebody wants to do either that or like what you were saying, the school website, let's say they don't have that school option set up. How do they go about doing that with you?

>> Nick Hayes:

Yeah, so, really just give us a call or stop by. that's the first. That was just kind of letting us know what you are looking for. Is it a team? Is it a club? Is it a back to school faculty, ah, type thing? Is it a Christmas event? Is it ah, a whatever. It can be very specialized or it can be very broad. Right now we have three or Four, just whole school websites up. So that's just very generic. It doesn't have sports, it doesn't have clubs on it. It's just something out there for everybody that is cool.

>> January:

Yeah.

>> Nick Hayes:

And a lot of times we try, if the school wants to, we can even turn that into a fundraiser.

>> January:

that's a good idea.

>> Nick Hayes:

or the team or whoever. A lot of times our websites are very specialized though, so you can come by the store and find all kinds of lebon stuff or Watertown or whatever the case may be. But you may not have a lebon football shirt or a Watertown basketball shirt. So a lot of the teams will do their own individual stores just so they can have something they want that they want, that has their sport, their club. I mean, it can be cheer, it can be rotc, it can be the football team, it can be literally anything's. and you can't really go anywhere and find something that has a school and a specific sport or club. I mean, nobody's going to have that on hand. so we try to open it up for everybody and then you get some bulk orders that way and then it's easier to go ahead and print those. So there's really. That is probably our biggest, our fastest growing kind of aspect of what we do are the team stores. I mean, we may have two dozen up at a time, for various sports clubs, whatever. yeah, it just gives people a way to get something that's very personalized, very specific to them.

>> January:

Speaking of personalized, I want to mention this because I think this is really cool. One day when I was in your store, you showed me a, ah, man m golf shirt and how it was customized and had the, what I call step and repeat. So if you think about the, you know, reoccurring little, like when I go in a store and I see a golf shirt from a distance, it looks like, you know, a whatever. But when you get close, it's like the tiniest little, you know, fish or lunchbox or, you know, it's got some quirky, you know, on there that you would have never known for until you get up close. It'kind of that step and repeat, item. And so you were telling me about, you know, somebody in town that was going to order it for their business. And so I was like, I want to. We got a couple golf tournaments coming up that we're going to have a team or be a part of. And I was like, I need some of those for my guys, you know, and so I thought that'll be cool. So we. You're creating one for us with our Lobon City lifestyle logo. So from a distance looks like a black and white shirt, but up close it's our little logos. Print it all over it, which is really fun. And I can't wait to get those.

>> Nick Hayes:

Yeah, that, that's probably the coolest thing. And what we do in our industry right now is how customized everything can be.

>> January:

Yeah.

>> Nick Hayes:

used to the custom process for anything. It took a long time.

>> January:

Right.

>> Nick Hayes:

You had to order a lot of them. It was very expensive.

>> January:

Y orders.

>> Nick Hayes:

Yeah. And there's still some of that definitely can get into that. But some companies. And this goes back to what you said, there's a lot of good companies out there that you've never heard of, you ve never heard of the brand. They do really cool things. this company in particular, since we talked, I think we've had, I don't know, five or six people. Companies do what you're talking about. They take their logo, just make a cool design out of it. Mean everybody wears a polo all the time. This just gives it a fun way to kind of spruce it up a little bit. and this particular company, they'll do custom anything. That's shoes, slides, bags. And the coolest part about what they do is because a lot of companies will do that. They'll do one.

>> January:

I know that's what you told me. Literally I was like, has a minimum.

>> Nick Hayes:

I don't know how they make any money doing that. But, And I think what it is, is that it's so kind of new and unique that people, are coming back to them.

>> January:

Yeah, they want that.

>> Nick Hayes:

Then they'll come back because they're offering something really nobody else is.

>> January:

Right. that's pretty.

>> Nick Hayes:

And they're fairly reasonably priced. I mean, not the cheapest thing you'll ever find, but they're definitely not the most expensive either.

>> January:

And I remember, I think it was. I know it was you. I believe that. The other day we were talking and we were talking about how in Lebanon it is so common to see people wear other people's merchandise, branded merchandise, and how awesome that is because we're all brands and we're all businesses and how everybody supports each other. And that happened to me yesterday. I had somebody up here and she came in for a meeting and literally she's like decked head to toe with three or four logos from right here in Leba. And I was like, girl, you know you are sporting and rocking. Yeah, you are rocking and, like, literally supporting, walking, billboard for these three businesses. And, like, that is just great. So I think this is another way that these companies are small businesses in town, and big businesses, too, can use you and then get their names out on the street, you know, more and more. And people do wear products, and they love it. And when they have these great materials, great fabrics and cute cuts and styles, you know, it makes you want to wear it daily instead of just, you know, one time a year or two times a year when you go to a game.

>> Nick Hayes:

Yeah, it really does matter. I mean, in this community specifically. I don't know that I've seen it as much as it is here, and it's kind of cool. you see Wilkies'hats everywhere. Wife has a Buckeye Drugs T shirt she wears all the time, you know, and we've got shirts out there quite a bit, too. I see around just sometimes, and it's nice. that is one thing that I think people don't realize that we do. We have, even people that shop with us that are friends of our. Something might be said or it's brought up in conversation. And I still hear a lot of times we didn't know y'all did that.

>> January:

Right. That's common.

>> Nick Hayes:

I think that they re the sporting goods is our bread and butter. That's what we do. But we're not limited to that. So we can print cool T shirts. I mean, decorations, decoration, whether it's a company name or it's a sports team. But we're getting the word out better. I think with that, there's some local businesses that have started letting us do their stuff. so we really appreciate that because there's so much that I think that we offer. It's just hard for everybody to know everything.

>> January:

Yeah. And that's why, I mean, I love supporting you guys. And that's why we know we did a story on you already. You guys have been in the magazine for a while now. This was part of why I wanted you to come on here today. Because I think the more people hear and get to know and see, you know, it is eye opening as to what, like, you see a smidge, you know, but you don't really know exactly unless you're going often and you're, you know, stopping by. So we want them to stop by. Yeah. And see you guys. And so I, guess, like, I'd like to ask you a couple more things. Like what, what do you think? You know, it's. We know it's so important to shop local. We talk about this. I mean that's the theme of small business is shopping local and here. So what do you think makes Sports world a special part of Lebnon, the lebon shopping experience?

>> Nick Hayes:

well one, I think first and foremost I hope that people come in and just enjoy being in there. You know, I hope that they like the staff and everybody, I guess everybody we've got right now has been there for a while. and they're all in our community, they all live here. they know a lot of people and we really appreciate you their return customers. So I hope that first and foremost, as they like and what we're doing and enjoy coming in, they like the product. and the fact that s we've been there so long ye long like said it's going and so that even sometimes when you hear people say we didn't know y'all were here, didn't know what y'all did, it's a bit surprising in some ways. But our community is growing so much. I m mean there's people moving in every day.

>> January:

O my gosh.

>> Nick Hayes:

So the fact that we've been here a long time doesn't necessarily, doesn't matter if you've never been here before. So I think the longevity like I said, hopefully the good customer skirt service, I hope they're getting feel like they're getting I think all those things we try to do like so many businesses in Lemon by the way, we try to do what we can support different groups and to me especially a place like Lebnon, it's got to be, it's truly a community S and it's kind of a partnership in a lot of ways. You know, very much all the businesses need customers. We need people coming in, buying stuff but at the same time it can't be so one sided's right. you know, it's got toa be a little give and take and I know we're happy to do it. I know a lot of businesses are the same way.

>> January:

M well and speaking of, I mean you just recently partnered with us for a back to school campaign that we just did. We just fulfilled some backpacks and goodies for school, you know, some supplies this week, or last week when school went back and thank you for that. Those things, I mean that's, that's what you know, I mean you sell everything from backpacks to, to you know, bats and balls. But I mean you're also at the sports field, you know, you're Also giving back to this community and being a part of it too. And it, you're right. I mean it's very important. And I do feel like we're super lucky to live in a community. I just heard the other day from another gentleman here that has a business, they also have a store in Spring Hill. And you know, he was saying, gosh, it's just so different, you know, here and there. He's like, you know, it is just so different. And he said even some of our staff comes back and forth to the different stores and they are always like, gosh, when I go into the Leon store, everybody's like, thank you, thank you. And like, we're so glad you're here and this is so great. And then we go to the other one and they're like, m. You know, okay, have a nice day. You know. And he's like, it's just, there's something about it. And everybody says that there's something about our town.

>> Nick Hayes:

It's wonful, it truly is. We, I've got three kids, like I said, two ones s in college, one's about to start next week and my daughter is still at 11 in high school. And they've all played sports, they've all been involved in various things and everybody's gotta raise money. Every school, every team, every everybody. And in all the years and my kids, like I said, they've been involved in a lot of things. I don't think, I can't remember time we've ever tried to raise money or just whatever we needed for the kids that we've ever been told no. I don't think one time we were ever. And sometimes that's hard because some people have given their limit for the year, whatever. But I don't think we were ever told no one time. And usually people kind of come out of the woodworks to help. it is very cool to be around that.

>> January:

We're in a good place. We'definitely in a good place. Well, if people want to find you, tell them where you're located and then how they can go online to find you as well as your actual storefront.

>> Nick Hayes:

Yeah, we are at 535 Door Parkway. we're right, we're in the same building as Leb Chemical. probably what you'll see first, but we're in the same building. The phone number 615-444-6554. The website is ah, sportsworldlebnonn.com do and just give us a shout, shoot us an email'and.

>> January:

You're on social media, too, so follow. Follow them on social media to see. Keep up with the trends and what they got new and happening.

>> Nick Hayes:

So I think we're on. Yeah, I guess all of them. that's not really your forte thing, but, you know, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or X now I guess it's X. O. Yeah. so. But we're on all of them, so check us out.

>> January:

Thank you so much for joining us today and giving us a peek behind the counter at Sports World. whether it's, you know, a jersey, a hoodie, a friendly face at your store, your team is awesome, and we're loving you guys and we're loving working with you and being partners. So, thank you for all that you're doing and thanks for coming today, and we hope that you guys have a great fall season.

>> Nick Hayes:

Well, thank you. I appreciate you having me on first off, this was fun, so thank you. Yeah, thanks for everything. Y'all do, too.

>> January:

Thank.

>> Nick Hayes:

We really appreciate it.

>> January:

Appreciate it. Thank you.