In 1978 Roberto Claudio Sr. left his job at a multinational company to start a business. He opened a modest toy shop that sold imported Disney products in a corner of Greenhills Shopping Center.
Claudio Sr. put up the business with the help of his two brothers, and named the shop after his eldest son, then five years old. Toby’s Forms and Shapes, however, lasted all but a year before Claudio Sr. chose to reformat the concept into something more aligned with his passion—a decision that proved to be revolutionary in the local sports retail landscape.
“That toy store,” said Toby, now in his mid-40s, “was even smaller than our basketball court upstairs.”
It’s the launch of the flagship store of sports retail giant, Toby’s Sports, and the younger Claudio was putting in context how far their business has come, and how drastically it has changed. Toby said his father’s pivot from the original business concept came in as a natural decision as they are a family of avid sportsmen.
Today, what started as a toy shop in Greenhills now stands as the largest network of sporting goods stores in the country, with 55 branches nationwide carrying over 150 brands and more than 60,000 unique items.
Toby, the president of the retailer and vice president for operations and business development of its mother company, Quorum International Inc., said they spent almost P100 million and more than a year for the new flagship store at Bonifacio Global City. He added that the shop is both a celebration of past and present triumphs, as well as a statement of their commitment to the future.
“One thing that we take pride in is that after 40 years, and despite being a homegrown brand, we can do something like this,” Claudio said. “Also, launching a flagship store shows we still want to get better, that we’re not content, and that we’re still looking for ways to improve and deliver a better shopping experience to our local clientele.”
At 1,000 sq m., the two-story flagship is more than twice the size of the retailer’s average shop. The vision was to build an iconic store that serves as the pinnacle shopping experience through cutting-edge technology in the heart of Metro Manila.
One of the store’s highlights is the bridging of the Toby’s Sports online and offline initiatives. The “Click & Collect” corner serves online consumers who want to receive their orders in an instant by picking it up from the store within hours of check-out, instead of waiting for the usual delivery time of courier services that take days.
Claudio said although physical stores have been their bread-and-butter for the past 40 years, they have seen “incredible growth” in their e-commerce site, tobys.com, since it was relaunched in late 2016.
Toby’s Sports is planning to fully equip its products with QR codes that will lead customers to a particular product’s page in its online store. Also in the pipeline is the introduction of an automated locker area, where online customers can pick up their orders 24/7, even when the store is closed, just by using a generated passcode that will be sent directly to the customer’s mobile phone.
The immersive omnichannel shopping experience is carried out on the walls of the store as well, where customers can browse tobys.com on mounted interactive screens. Meanwhile, “Shoe Showcase” platforms installed in the flagship use RFID technology that allows customers to unlock virtual content of a shoe, from specs to features, via touchscreen.
Beyond technology, the store features different zones for different needs. The “PLAYZone” is a venue for events and sports clinics, as well as a basketball court where prizes will be given out regularly for top-shooting customers. The “LAUNCHZone” plays host for product launches, curated installations and athlete appearances.
Full apparel customization services are offered, as well, through the “Toby’s Custom Lab,” while the “Run Signature Analysis” from Brooks takes an in-depth look at customers’ natural running characteristics for optimum product selection.
Claudio said they will look at opening more flagships of Toby’s Sports in major cities, depending on the performance of the one in BGC. New store formats will also be explored to go with the two others under Quorum, namely, running specialty store RUNNR and lifestyle concept store Urban Athletics.
The executive maintained that the approach is a response to the behavior of the market. He said Filipinos have always displayed a deep passion for sports, whichever discipline is in season. “Before it was badminton. Now, it’s triathlon. Either way, Filipinos know the health benefits of sports mentally, physically and even socially.”
Catering to this need, to this market that shares the same passion for sports, is what keeps Claudio going.
“That’s why I love the business that we’re in,” he said. “We’re selling healthy lifestyle.”