Harkness brings 'Arsenal' to new location

By Scott L. Miley

May 19, 2008 07:59 pm

— ANDERSON — Former Indiana Pacer Jerry Harkness didn’t give up on Anderson.
Harkness, owner of Anderson’s only independent athletic shoe store, was struggling with the shop he owned at Edgewood Plaza in the 2600 block of Nichol Avenue.
Last week, Harkness opened his new Sports Arsenal site at 3733 S. Madison Ave.
“I got a better location. I got a better store. It’s something I hope the community will be proud of,” Harkness said.
On Nichol Avenue, the customer base wasn’t as strong as he needed to survive. Instead of closing up shop, Harkness called Diana Priser who handles economic development for Anderson Indiana Main Street.
“He contacted me and we decided the best thing for him to do was relocate,” Priser said, noting that the new location still has a westside presence. “I told him this was the best location because of the traffic counts and the schools that were nearby. We have Anderson High School and vocational school.
“There’s just a lot of traffic around here. He stuck through until this became available,” she said.
The new store is a larger location painted in bright yellow and red.
On the walls hang pictures of local All-American athletes. There are also shots of Harkness in his 1967-69 ABA Pacers uniforms.
The shop is buffered by a Pizza King, hair salon and a tax preparer, all services that can bring in foot traffic.
Also, instead of relying on two or three workers to man the store, he’s hired seven.
“I added employees,” he said. “You give more employees more the experience. Let them have the opportunity to know the business.”
The arrangement is fine with employees Courtney McMullen, a Highland High School student, and Markus Bailey, a junior at Anderson High School.
“More people can get a good job,” said Bailey.
Harkness previously operated two Athlete’s Foot stores in Indianapolis that closed. While running one of those, an Anderson customer suggested he open a shop in Madison County and he picked a spot at 2645 Nichol Ave.
He didn’t fare badly there but the customer base was limited.
“The one thing that I’ve had is that drive and determination. This business is tough like all retail business but you got to have that stick-to-it-ness,” said Harkness, 68.
“We started on Nichol and we really learned from Nichol Avenue ... Now we’re here on Madison and we plan to go even further,” Harkness said.
Though he lives in Indianapolis where his wife, Sarah, is a teacher, Harkness has given back to the community by assisting local AAU teams and the Cotillion Beautillion.
He said, “Hopefully, we’ll do well enough where I can give back to the community, especially the youth.”

Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.