Soccer USA out. Minnesota Thunder next?
On the occasion of U.S. v Venezuela, a some friends and I decided to throw an impromptu viewing party at a local establishment. This pub has a fantastic proprietor and a first-rate manager. Moreover, the staff have always been welcoming and they put up with our little group’s special requests for good seating and reservations. They’ve even provided us with an occasional free meal and—this is the kicker—capital for our indoor soccer team’s kits and league fees. We are treated so well that I always recommend the bar to friends, family and visitors. There is no doubt in my mind that this establishment’s investment in us has paid off handsomely.
The characterizations in the previous paragraph seem superfluous until you are faced with the antithesis. On Friday morning, during the planning stages of the get-together, my wife went to Soccer USA in Maplewood to procure some fan-gear. She picked up a shirt for herself and two shirts for me. (Nike shirts tend to run big, so we thought it best to purchase one medium and one large, figuring we would simply return the shirt that didn’t fit.)
As it turns out, the medium shirt fit perfectly (I never even tried on the large) and my wife made plans to return the large shirt yesterday; however, when she arrived at Soccer USA, she was told that Soccer USA doesn’t allow returns. It’s a nice little scam, really; the store had our $75 and was under no obligation to give any of it back, thank you very much. My wife called me, flabbergasted, and told me that we would have to get something else from the store. The thought made both of us ill, but since we didn’t want an expensive dust rag, she exchanged the shirt for a pair of shorts.
What does this have to do with the Minnesota Thunder? Everything. The owner of Soccer USA, Saeed Kadkhodaian, also owns the Minnesota Thunder. I cannot, in good conscience, financially support this awful businessman. My stomach turns at the thought of seeing the his den of thieves at every Thunder game, selling their wearable wares.
There has been speculation that Saeed Kadkhodaian has no desire to run an upstanding franchise; that he allows his players only one pair of boots per season and pays his staff at mid-1990’s rates. I suppose that I shouldn’t be surprised that his little retail empire is just as shady.
While Saeed got my $75 (I was willing to give him $50), I’m not going to give him $300 worth of Thunder tickets or $100+ in Thunder merchandise this year. While I know many of you are not willing to abandon the Thunder (I’m not either—yet), I encourage all of you to watch your money carefully. What kind of product is Saeed putting on the pitch? Does he care about the supporters or are you only dollar signs in his eyes?
I look forward to the day Saeed Kadkhodaian is divorced from the team so I can comfortably support them. In the meantime, may I recommend the following soccer retail outlets:
Soccer Express has locations in Minnetonka and Hopkins.
Ask for John at the Planet Soccer location in the Corner Kick Indoor soccer complex in Maplewood or Greg at the Eau Claire, Wisconsin store.
13 comments
But you support Malcolm Glazer?
1) The two situations are in no way analogous.
2) I have never overtly expressed “support” for Malcom Glazer.
1.) Really? You are a disgruntled supporter having trouble supporting a team you love because you believe the owner is a less than scrupulous businessman. Damn, that sounds familiar.
“What kind of product is –Glazer– putting on the pitch? Does he care about the supporters or are you only dollar signs in his eyes?”
“I look forward to the day –Malcolm Glazer– is divorced from the team so I can comfortably support them. In the meantime, may I recommend the following soccer retail outlets.”
I’m not sure how that isn’t analogous to how Manchester United supporters (some not all) feel/felt about the current “Glazer era” and the takeover that took place not too long ago.
I guess since you’ve never had a personally bad experience with the way Glazer does business that precludes you from seeing any sort of similarity between your feelings and those of current/ex-/recovering Manchester United supporters.
Further, I suppose not agreeing with the business practice of a “no return” policy is NOT the same as disagreeing with the business practice of leveraging millions upon millions in debt against a very successful club that had been in the black for the last several years? If you don’t agree with a business practice, you don’t agree with a business practice.
2.) THANK YOU SWITZERLAND!
I never said you “overtly” did any damn thing, but during the takeover you certainly did support the idea of him taking over the club.
I have “M. Glazer SUCKS” written on the back of a cape. You don’t agree with that sentiment, do you? Perhaps that is because you believed my only dislike, and the dislike of Manchester supporters, was that he was an American taking over an English club.
Well now maybe you understand how United supporters felt many months ago. I’m sure they’d be happy to tell you how to get your breakaway club going. You can call it Ironic Empathy F.C.
Hey, I went to Soccer U.S.A. yesterday to try and find some red/white/blue socks for my trip to Germany and they have their return policy posted in two places at the register when you check out.
No returns of cash or credit, only exchanges in the first 30 days after purchase.
they have their return policy posted
Oh, my bad. If it’s posted, it’s a good business practice.
“What kind of product is –Glazer– putting on the pitch? Does he care about the supporters or are you only dollar signs in his eyes?”
Actually, Glazer puts a great product on the pitch. United finished one place higher in the table than the previous year. In fact, they were second only to Chelsea. Chelsea, for goodness’ sake! There’s oil in them boots!
As for Saeed’s Thunder, well, you’ve seen them play.
“I look forward to the day –Malcolm Glazer– is divorced from the team so I can comfortably support them. In the meantime, may I recommend the following soccer retail outlets.
See that’s the thing. Glazer is and has been successful in his other ventures. As best I can tell, aside from the heaping helping of hate-America sentiment (deny it all you want), by saying that he’s “leveraged” this or that, Glazer-haters have taken the wholly untenable position that the economic model of the NFL (where Glazer runs his other extremely successful business) isn’t viable and that Manchester United won’t provide a good ROI.
These might be fine positions if the NFL weren’t one of the most financially successful operations on the planet or if Manchester United didn’t own one of the most globally successful brands.
You’ve made it clear (in your mind, at least) that I support Glazer, so I’ve decided to take on that mantle. From here on out, I’m officially a Glazer supporter.
If we are judged by the company we keep, I feel pretty good about my decision. Hopefully, you and your anti-Glazerites don’t get your wish that “Joel, Bryan and Avi die in an horrific car crash on route to visiting their dying father who has a massive heart attack on receiving the news. Die Die Galzers fuckin die. ”
Will you be helping to “start a book of hope, hope that this fuckin jew yank die’s a long and painful death here an idea email the Buccaneers website with your hart felt hate for this fuckin jew “?
Also, don’t forget to tell everyone that “Glazer’s a fucking fag!! We don’t need some stupid american fuck commanding us! “
By the way, you’re right, It isn’t just anti-Americanism.
I remember a post about “blogtegrity” a while back. I believe for this post you lost sight of that.
You took a rumor from another blog site and posted that Saeed is an unscrupulous business man because you couldn’t return a shirt (for money) to his store which cleary posted their return policy.
You are right that the quality hasn’t been showing on the pitch. But how many players did you talk to verifying the one pair of cleats per season story? Have you investigated the financial records of the MN Thunder to learn how much money Saeed is making off of the Thunder supporters or what the salaries of the coaches are? How many other store owners from your recommended list did you consult to learn about their return policies? Do you even know what their return policies are?
You have no hard facts to back up your claims. Technically, Saeed could sue you for what you wrote, which is the main reason the post bothers me so much.
Glad you are off the fence about Glazer.
I have to firstly state that the manner in which some people have gone about opposing the Glazer takeover are completely reprehensible.
Secondly, I also have to agree that Manchester United is still very successful and that the takeover has not seemed to affect the team too much (except for an extremely early Champions league exit this year).
However, if you look at most of the other large takeovers that have happened recently in soccer (Chelsea and Wigan spring to mind) a big guy comes to an unsuccessful club and turns them into winners.
What Glazer did was purchase an already extemely successful club that DIDN’T need help to become a successful franchise.
When you look at what he did with the Buccaneers it is the same thing as with Chelsea: unsuccessful to Champions.
But Manchester United didn’t need Glazer to be successful (not to say Chelsea or Wigan “needed” their benefactors, but results didn’t pour in until the benefactor came along). The club was already extremely successful, debt free, and partly owned by the fans themselves. Along comes Glazer, buys ownership from the fans by saddling the club with immense debt. Is that a forward step for an already successful franchise?
That’s basically what I’ve been wondering and I think what others wonder as well. How is he going to make the franchise even more successful/profitable by saddling it with this immense debt? Because eventually that debt has to be paid, and the club fans may be the ones doing it.
Perhaps the proof will come in the pudding over the next several years. I don’t mind being proven wrong.
You are right that the quality hasn’t been showing on the pitch. But how many players did you talk to verifying the one pair of cleats per season story? Have you investigated the financial records of the MN Thunder to learn how much money Saeed is making off of the Thunder supporters or what the salaries of the coaches are?
The Thunder are a privately-held company. There’s no way to scour the records. I’d love too, though.
How many other store owners from your recommended list did you consult to learn about their return policies? Do you even know what their return policies are?
I wouldn’t have recommended them if they were unscrupulous. I personally know the managers or owners of three of the four stores I recommended. Moreover, I’ve never had a bad experience at any of these stores, whereas this was my second or third negative impression of Soccer USA. Call it Angie’s List for Soccer Shoppers.
you couldn’t return a shirt (for money)
RIght, my money. When my wife bought both shirts and explained what she was doing (buying two to find the right size), wouldn’t that have been a good time to explain the policy? Of course. Did they? No. Why? To make an extra $25.
You have no hard facts to back up your claims. Technically, Saeed could sue you for what you wrote, which is the main reason the post bothers me so much.
By the same line of thinking, couldn’t Malcolm Glazer sue you? Check your libel laws. Would you say that Carl Pohlad could sue me? Or Glen Taylor? Saeed Kadkhodaian has voluntarily stepped into the very public role of sports-team-owner.
Hey… I was looking online for some soccer cleats when I saw your comment… the guy ( Saeed) ripped me off a while back too and refused to honor a return… I would’nt buy from him again if he was the only soccer store in the State…caveat emptor…
I thought it might help if an ACTUAL EMPLOYEE from Soccer USA cleared a few things up. I’ve been working there for the past 4 summers and yes, Saeed is a shady businessman. However, he is a great guy and I don’t believe he intentionally rips people off (the latter I said in case he reads this haha).
I’m sorry that you had to experience the wrath of our horrible policy. I’m especially sorry that you shopped at the Maplewood store instead of one of our others. That store is a complete joke because of the poor quality of employees there. Think of that store as the weird, homeless outcast of the family. The Blaine and Burnsville stores are actually quite honest and we try our hardest to let every customer know about the return policy because hey, every single one of us plays ball and we hate the policy ourselves. We’ve got about 6 signs in the store that clearly state our return policy, around 4 being at the register. With shoes especially, we do our best to tell the customers about the policy. We don’t work on commission, we don’t benefit anything from selling shoes, so there’s no point in hiding the policy, but if someone wants to return some shoes and they then find out about the policy, it’s us who get the full force of their anger. We’d rather have a customer decide not to buy shoes than get one that is unfriendly trying to return them. Anyways, I’m just trying to stress the point that we do tell customers about the policy and we try our best to help them out in that situation. It’s sad that our policy still stands, but if you get past that, our stores are pretty nice.
To say that we run a “shady empire” would be a bit harsh. Do you know what goes on behind the counter? Our return policy sucks, yes, but does that make us a terrible, money-hungry company? Like I said earlier, the Maplewood store is a crappy store. If you were to shop at our other stores, you would have been treated with respect and told about our policy. Also, by “den of thieves”, do you mean “group of employees selling team apparel at a game from a company whom you had a bad experience with and now look to badmouth”? The return policy sucks, deal with it. Our loyal shoppers seem to work around it.
As for our “mid-1990s pay rates”, I’ve got a question for you: when did you work at Soccer USA? Did you ask one of the employees how much they’re getting paid? I’ve got to say, this is the best paying job I’ve ever had and I do a hell of a lot better than most of my friends. Sure, starting off you get a lower wage, but even that is a generous amount compared to most other jobs for college students. Who is your source for this information? Your angered self?
Josh, next time you try to bash a small retail company, please try to get your information correct. False facts are pointless in an argument (and a whiny argument at that - well done).
I hope I cleared a few things up, or at least took away SOME of your hateful ideas of our store.
By the way, back when Saeed still owned the Blunder, I mean, Thunder, they were allowed only one pair of cleats. We had a sheet behind the counter where we would mark off each player’s name after they bought a pair. So job well done, you have ONE piece of information correct.
Tyler
Tyler,
There is so much in your comment to pick apart but I have neither the time nor the desire to do so.
The fact that Saeed is no longer a part of the Thunder and they are already more successful than they were in all the years of his ownership tells me all I need to know.
For someone who decries “hate,” you seem to have a lot of it for Mo and the other Maplewood employees.
Whatever. I’m happy shopping at the other stores I mentioned and so are the people who have e-mailed me during the two years since this post.
Cheers.
As I stated in my first paragraph, Saeed is a poor businessman. However, just because he can’t successfully run a professional soccer team doesn’t mean that his runs a crappy business. Yes, the Thunder is doing better now, that doesn’t mean that Soccer USA is a terrible store.
I don’t see how me saying that the Maplewood store has low-quality workers translates into me having a lot of hate for them. Mo is an awesome guy and his energy is enjoyed by all of the Blaine and Burnsville workers. Basing such a strong claim on one sentence of mine seems silly, doesn’t it Josh?
So the post is 2 years old, big deal. I felt that I needed to call you out on a few things.
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