Action Sports: Shop's Newest Address Scores a Business Win

got its start in the late 1970s at a trade show when owner Larry Davis was wandering around, trying to occupy himself while his artist wife, Donna, shopped for sweatshirts for her fabric painting business.

Davis, then a middle school history teacher and basketball coach, had been told by his school that he was on his own to provide and pay for uniforms for his team. While waiting for Donna, he found a supplier who had just what he needed. The next thing he knew, he had found a partner and was running a T-shirt business on the side out of his house.

Davis opted to take early retirement a few years later and jumped straight into turning Action Sports into a full-time business in 1979. His first location was in a tiny house off the alley in between the old stone bank in Frankfort and the now-closed Cactus Carol's on Kansas Street.

Quickly outgrowing that location, Davis moved to Rockwood Plaza, just east of the current at U.S. Route 30 and LaGrange Road. From there, he moved in to the two units on the north end of the strip mall across from on LaGrange Road. He kept that store while opening a second location on Laraway Road by the soccer dome, closing the LaGrange Road shop when additional space opened up by the dome.

Just this past May, Davis moved the business to its newest home base, 75 Bankview Dr., in Frankfort, just across the street from . This relocation has turned out to be a very good move.

"We were just talking about that," Davis said. "We think that we have had increased interest, excitement and activity (at the new store). The location's been a plus for us."

"Us" includes wife Donna and his daughter, Tracy Burnside, who keeps things running smoothly around the store.

"I'm like the coordinator," Burnside said. "I get everybody organized and make sure everybody's doing their own jobs.

"My mom always says (when she hires people), 'Your job is to make (Tracy's) job easier so she can get out of here on time,'" she added, laughing.

Having worked in the family business since she was 11, Burnside knows the ins and outs of working for family, especially because her mom fired her one year and made her get a job at Butera Market.

"Oh, I was always calling in sick and asking for days off," Burnside said.

Eventually, she returned to work with her parents and was pleased to see her own daughter, Mackenzie, finally paying attention to the family business. In fac, the 11-year-old was listening in on this interview, adding her two cents here and there when she wasn't volunteering to do little tasks around the store.

"Just this week, she's taken an interest in being here," Burnside said. "I told my husband I'm so proud of her. I feel like she's just like me!"

Village Trustee Dick Trevarthan has been friends with the Davis family since the early days of Action Sports. He also knows what it's like to run a family-owned business for decades in Frankfort (he owns ).

"It's a milestone," he said. "And it's a tough business with all of the big chain sporting goods stores out there."

But Action Sports has always been committed to personal service, Trevarthan added. And that seems to make the difference.

So even though from a management standpoint Action Sports has kept things in the family, its business practices have kept up with the outside world and its push for technology. Burnside, whose degree is in computer graphics, got the store's website up and running years ago and helped the business transition into the digital printing that dominates the apparel market.

Davis also said that they work hard to make sure that their clothing lines are fresh and what customers are looking for, particularly the young ones. While they do keep the store stocked with imprinted gear for all four Lincoln-Way high schools, more than 50 percent of Action Sports' business is custom orders. So even if you don't see it, the store can definitely get it for you and on your schedule, added Davis, who sees the web end of his business continuing to develop.

In addition to its high school logo merchandise, Action Sports handles custom team apparel for numerous youth and adult leagues, area camps and corporate functions. 

Alan Burkel of Mokena is a coach for the New Lenox Junior Warriors and a loyal Action Sports customer.

"We use Action Sports for our spirit wear and jersey printing. They are friendly, have lots to choose from, and have fair pricing. Their new location is spacious and easy to find," he said.