Every four years, the Orillia Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) gives clothing suppliers an opportunity to be the jersey and apparel supplier for the organization. This year, they chose to go with a Quebec-based company that has a purchasing office in China, Affiliated Sports Group/Campea.
Rick Sinotte, owner of Sinergy Clothing in Orillia, has been the jersey and outwear supplier for OMHA for the past 13 years. Sinotte placed a bid for the contract again this year but was informed by the board that they were taking their business out of town.
“They should be dealing with an in-town business,” Sinotte said.
“I don’t care if I have it or not because I’m retiring in a year and a half, Second Century would be great, Artech, Cutting Edge, it doesn’t matter, what’s important to me is that they stick in town," he said.
That is especially important after a year in which local businesses struggled with the COVID-19 pandemic and 'shop local' became buzzwords.
“Local businesses are struggling and closing down, and there is all the stuff about shop local, and now they are going to be getting their coats, T-shirts, hats, and everything out of town from a company who is based out of Quebec,” he said.
“It’s costing somebody in town business, and therefore it’s probably going to cost OMHA a sponsorship. How many local businesses are going to sponsor a team that’s buying their stuff out of town? It doesn’t matter that they are going to be getting a much better price.”
It's disappointing, he said.
“Orillia Minor Hockey has been very good and very loyal to me over the years, and I’ve been very loyal to them, so I’m just a little concerned, and so are the other guys in town,” he said.
Steve Fagan, president of OMHA, says awarding the contract to Affiliated Sports Group/Campea for the next four years was in the best interest of the association and its members.
“We accepted six tenders, both local and not local. Everybody presented their information in the bid process, and Affiliated Sports group was chosen because the next closest tender was 35 percent more expensive, and it ranged up to 90 percent more expensive,” he explained.
“We have 625 members, and probably 500 families that we are responsible for, so as a not-for-profit association and the difference being 35 to 90 percent more, we have to be responsible for their money.”
Dean Campbell, owner of Kutting Edge Inc., says he was surprised that his joint bid with 2nd Century Source For Sports wasn’t successful.
“We had the understanding that OMHA was hoping to have a storefront where people could come in and try stuff on, and that’s why we were going to team with Rob Blasdell at Source For Sports,” Campbell said.
“We were even going to have a computer at Source For Sports where people could order online after trying on sizing, and then they would pick up their orders right at the store.”
Campbell says the partnership would have been a good fit for OMHA, and it would have benefited all three local organizations.
“We work with Rob on a lot of stuff, so it would have been good for him because it would bring people into his store, and it would help us because we would have been doing all the ordering, the decorating, names, logos, and setting up the e-store, so we were surprised that someone from out of town got it,” he said.
Campbell says while OMHA will get lower prices from Affiliated Sports Group/Campea, they likely won’t be getting better quality.
“I’m pretty sure that these jerseys that they are getting are offshore in China, where we were quoting on Canadian-made product that would of course increase the prices a bit,” he said.
“I know they have to count their dollars, but I just felt it was the wrong thing to do," said Campbell.
“It’s their decision, but it’s just surprising that they went with somebody from out of town during these times with COVID and the message being help your local businesses. It just doesn’t seem right to me.”
Sinotte said he will be selling off what’s left of his OMHA products at his 425 West Street N., Unit 10 store for 50 percent off.
When it comes to Affiliated Sports Group/Campea not having a local storefront for players to try on products, Fagan says the association is working on a solution.
“Affiliated Sports Group has an e-store, so nobody needs to drive anywhere,” he said.
“I believe that we will have a local store on the ground ... we are still working through it.”
While Fagan has no regrets about OMHA’s decision to go with an out-of-town company, he says he understands the frustration from local businesses.
“It’s a great argument that we should shop locally during the pandemic, but our members are all local people, and some are people who have lost jobs, so we need to be responsible for them,” he said.
