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The Tri-parish area loves its sports.
A new shop in Southland Mall has all the frills to appease the average local’s sporting fix.
Newly opened Pro Image Sports prides itself on being a can’t-miss location for any sports fan who wants to stock up on the latest in sports apparel.
Locally owned, the business offers only authentic merchandise from professional and collegiate teams in several sports across the athletic spectrum.
“It’s going really well so far,” said store owner Aaron Caillouet. “We’ve only been opened since October (2012), so we are still figuring some things out in terms of what people want and what the people here like. But we are off to a good start and we’re excited to see what the future holds.”
The idea for Pro Image Sports was sort of a smooth transition for Caillouet.
The local business owner is the former Lafourche Parish President and is a current parish councilman.
Caillouet said that away from his political roots is a deep love for sports.
“I’ve always been active in sports my whole life – even as an adult,” Caillouet said. “I played softball and basketball and I did coaching at one time. … This was just a natural fit for me. It was exactly the type of business that I wanted to get myself in.”
The business owner said wanted to capitalize on that love by getting involved in an idea that would be unique and beneficial to the people of the Tri-parish area.
He said he chose Pro Image Sports because of the franchise’s reasonable fees and also the “quality of their products.”
The mother company’s website boasts that it has been successful in its 27 years of existence and has blossomed with hundreds of stores across the country.
“Pro Image Sports really has started growing in the past few years,” Caillouet said. “That was attractive to me. I just thought that when you combined the financial standpoint and also the products the store sells – which are all authentic – I just thought it’d be a good fit to our area.”
One of the biggest reasons why Caillouet said that fit exists is because of the wide variety of products available in the Southland Mall store location.
He said Pro Image Sports has “any and everything” a sports fan would be interested in – a list including licensed hats, shirts and jerseys in NCAA, NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL sports.
“It’s all licensed – there’s not anything that’s a no-name product,” Caillouet said. “We’re real big in football jerseys and that kind of thing, but we also have a lot of headwear.
“Really anything you can think of, we have it. Anything with a team’s name on it, we have it. We have wallets, key chains, lanyards, replica helmets – anything. We have anything in the world of sports apparel.”
Since getting opened, Caillouet said he’s seen a lot of LSU and New Orleans Saints merchandise push across his store.
But he added that he’s been surprised at the interest that’s been given to other teams’ apparel.
Caillouet said his store has sold a lot of Alabama gear and also gear for other non-local teams across the sporting world.
One thing that he believes sets the store apart is the variety that exists for all teams – regardless of their proximity to Louisiana.
“Pretty much everybody likes the Saints, but almost everyone here has a second team, too,” Caillouet said. “It may be the Packers or the Cowboys or the Dolphins, but almost everyone has a second team besides the Saints that they root for. We have things for those teams, too.”
Caillouet said that his store has held its own in its first six months of existence. The store owner said he and his employees will continue to work to find the right mix to compete in the competitive world of athletic apparel.
“We’ve done well so far. Hopefully the economy continues to turn up and do better,” Caillouet said. “That’d help us. But we’re still learning a little bit about what does and doesn’t sell. With a little more time, we’ll have a better handle on what products to feature and we’ll continue to progress. So far, things have good real good. I don’t have any real complaints.”
A peek inside Pro Image Sports shows the vast variety of items available to satisfy a customer’s demands. Open since Oct. 2012, the store has seen a steady increase in business.
