It”™s business as usual at Ski & Sport of Westport-Ridgefield, a business operated by siblings Pam and Gio Alberino with locations in the two Fairfield County towns. The mid-afternoon rush hits at 3 p.m. when school ends. The phone is ringing off the hook at the Ridgefield store and the Alberinos are talking with customers, helping kids try on snow gear and periodically restocking shelves and racks with boots and boards.
Days before a recent winter storm, the stores picked up business with families gearing up to hit the slopes. Post-storm, the Alberinos have seen a steady influx of customers who are spending on gear and travel.
- Pam and Gio Alberino pose at Ski & Sport the day before a winter storm.
“With lower gas prices, people have more money to spend,” Gio said. “When the economy was not so great, people were doing ”˜staycations.”™ But now, families are willing to go longer distances into the mountains. They”™re doing a vacation package ”“ renting a house for the season and going up for a day or weekend. So it”™s changing. It means better days and more business coming in.”
The Alberino family has been outfitting four to five generations of skiers since the siblings”™ father, John, and mother, Susan, opened shop in 1976. John, a Naples, Italy, native, was a salesman at Bob”™s Sports in New Canaan when he first came to the U.S., outfitting wealthy businessmen, including Tom Watson Jr., former IBM Corp. president, who was featured in his snow gear in Sports Illustrated. Later, John”™s boss encouraged him to start his own business, and Ski & Sport of New Canaan was born.
The ski apparel and equipment business had its humble beginnings operating out of a small store. After nearly 30 years of running the business, John died in 2004 and Susan took over. Gio, who has been working for his parents since age 13, said he remembered his father was a very personable and approachable businessman. He said John had a way of engaging with customers and it was evident that he enjoyed gearing up families to have a memorable experience on the slopes.
“It was his demeanor that drew people to him,” Gio said. “He had a magnetic personality. He was approachable and very friendly, and for him it was all about giving people a shopping experience they”™ll remember.”
In 2012, Susan closed the New Canaan store and passed on the torch to her children, who had been operating the family business out of Westport since 2010 and Ridgefield since 2003. Both stores are surrounded by a huge community of skiers, Gio said.
The siblings grew up as competitive skiers who spent half the year on the slopes, and they maintain a passion for the winter sport. That love informs their business as they provide the customer-care experience they learned from their father and sell what they consider to be top-of-the-line, reliable products, Gio said.
“Our background as competitive skiers gives our businesses a competitive edge,” Gio said. “We know what skiers at that level need to have to be successful. Everything in our store has been tested, and it”™s got to fit with us. We don”™t just sell brands for the sake of selling brands. We carry brands that”™ll make people feel beautiful, comfortable and get them to the next level of skiing.”
