In an effort to support local businesses that are being threatened by the devastating effects of the coronavirus, local western New York newspaper The Athletic is publishing an ongoing series of stories to highlight what it calls its “treasured communities.” Here’s an excerpt from a recent article on iconic team dealer Laux Sporting Goods, a western New York dealer and retailer that is facing the same COVID-19 challenges many others In the team business are facing.

Michael O’Hara began stringing tennis rackets for Laux Sporting Goods in 1975, taking care of customers at Eastern Hills Mall. As Laux grew to six stores throughout the Buffalo area, O’Hara became general manager of the retail division. The same people who got racket strings from him as teenagers were now buying shoulder pads and sneakers for their kids.

O’Hara’s father-in-law, Jim Laux, served as president of the business from 1959 to 1998. Jim’s dad, Al, founded Laux Sporting Goods in 1921, selling baseball equipment from the back of a candy store on Broadway in Buffalo.

In nearly 100 years of business, the Laux family has never seen anything like this pandemic. Who has?

“We’re keeping our fingers crossed that this will end in – who knows? – another month maybe and we can start our business back up,” O’Hara said.

Like countless small businesses across the world, Laux’s doors are closed because of the coronavirus. The sporting goods store has one retail location remaining in Walden Galleria and has its corporate office and warehouse in Amherst. More than 30 people have been laid off during one of Laux’s busier times of the year.

In addition to sporting equipment, the company supplies uniforms to area schools and youth organizations. Little League baseball jerseys are waiting to be screen-printed in the shuttered warehouse while track and field outfits are awaiting delivery to homebound high school coaches.

It’s likely none of the teams or coaches will use Laux this year.

“It looks like baseball and Little League as we know it may be canceled this spring, so anybody that gets a uniform is not going to need one,” O’Hara said. “We preorder a lot of stuff, all the baseballs and softballs that the boys and girls use. Any type of equipment like bats, that’s going to sit. Everything right now is just sitting.”

That includes the workers.

“All of our employees are on unemployment now, and that was very difficult for a lot of them to get on and it still is,” said O’Hara, referencing the overloaded system that has included claims by more than 10 million Americans. “We will hire all of our employees back. Our goal is to bring every single one of them back.”

They all feel like family, which makes sense because Laux remains a family-owned business. David Laux, who is the grandson of Al, son of Jim and brother-in-law to O’Hara, has been president since succeeding his father in 1998. Sisters and in-laws work as buyers and sellers.

“It’s been a very difficult situation for us, yes,” O’Hara said. “We’re hanging in there.”

While the spring and summer sports may get canceled, O’Hara is hoping football season comes as planned.

“We do a lot of retail business in that,” he said. “I take care of so many kids out of Buffalo for fittings with helmets and shoulder pads. With over 30 years at Galleria mall, we have a great rapport. I talk to them by name.”

Laux has an online presence, but it can’t ship orders at the moment. The warehouse has been off-limits since March 20 because mitts and cleats are not part of the supply chain.

“We can’t sell it because there’s nobody to ship it out because nobody can go into the warehouse,” O’Hara said.

Laux has gift cards available for sale on its website. They come in denominations of $10, $20, $25, $50 and $100. O’Hara hopes folks who will someday need Laux’s sporting equipment can buy the cards now and get the goods later.

But he knows this is an uncertain monetary time for people everywhere.

“It’s everyone and everyone that has a small business,” O’Hara said. “I’ve been thinking about how can they survive? How do you survive? It’s terrible. You hear all of the stories on TV, you know? You wonder when this is over, will people have the funds to start buying again?

This article was written by John Vogl, a staff writer for The Athletic: @BuffaloVogl. The entire article can be found at https://theathletic.com/1733179/2020/04/09/after-nearly-100-years-in-business-laux-sporting-goods-faces-a-daunting-challenge/