Greg Crimp: Deep in the Sports Cellar

If you're downtown, wander inside the Sports Cellar.

There, at the corner of Fourth and Sherman, you can find all the sporting goods you could want or need. There are shoes, shirts, socks, shorts for pretty much every sport. There are walls lined with gloves and mitts and cleats. There are bats and balls of all sizes and types for kids to adults.

Wander some more, and you'll likely run into a man by the name of Greg Crimp. He might be carrying boxes of running shoes. He might be looking over inventory lists. He might be ringing up a sale at the cash register. He might be chatting with a customer.

The 6-2, bearded, Coeur d'Alene man has been behind the store's operations since he took it over in 1978.

"We were in the basement when I came in and the hardware store was still here. The sporting goods was a separate piece of the hardware business since '69," he said.

Dingles Hardware was opened by Crimp's great-grandfather and grandfather in the 1930s at Fourth and Sherman, where it remained until the 1980s.

Greg recalls walking the aisles of that hardware as a boy and admiring all the gadgets that glistened from shelves.

"I still to this day love to wander into old hardware stores," he said.

Sports Cellar, started 41 years ago by Greg's father Carter Crimp and Tom Robb, was moved upstairs from the basement in the '80s and has been there since.

When Carter Crimp passed away in 1977, son Greg stepped in to keep the doors of the Sports Cellar open.

"Sporting goods is a lot more down my alley than hardware," Greg Crimp said with a smile.

Greg was the youngest of three children, along with older siblings Doug and Sandi, raised in Coeur d'Alene by Carter and Doris Crimp in the Sanders Beach area across from Lake Coeur d'Alene.

He attended Coeur d'Alene High, where he played basketball, golf and ran track and cross country before graduating in 1966. After high school, he attended the University of Oregon for a time and graduated from the University of Colorado. He went on to earn a teaching certificate from the University of New Mexico.

But he would return to his roots in Coeur d'Alene where he taught before coming back to the Sports Cellar.

"I never missed a summer in Coeur d'Alene. I traveled a little bit, went to Europe a couple times, but Coeur d'Alene is a great place to live," he said.

Crimp, at 62, is not slowing down. He still loves going to work in the morning and admiring the beauty of the lake. He still works full-time with a longtime staff of three others.

"I take weekends off," he said.

Today, Greg and his wife, Shana, live in the same, red brick house where Greg grew up. And it is still just as magical a place as when he was a boy.

"My great-grandfather built that house," he said with pride.

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How has the Sports Cellar survived for more than 40 years?

I actually take pride in the survival. It's kind of like a classic to me. My kids, sometimes when I talk about retirement, they say it would be strange not to have a Sports Cellar. Not so much as a family thing, but as a piece of Coeur d'Alene. I take pride in it being a place that has survived over time.

We haven't tried to be the biggest. We just tried to be a North Idaho-based sporting goods store.

How did you do it so well?

I think a lot of people have a niche. I think we have a niche catering to the team sports and especially to the youth leagues and the younger sports. And I think we have a loyal customer base.

Our formula, we've just been a small mom and pop, we have tried to service people and deliver a good product at a fair price.

What do you like about coming to work every day?

I sometimes come down and think, 'How can you enjoy selling so much?' My dad was a good salesman. I don't know if selling is my strong point, but I do like dealing with the people and I do like the service end of it. I think it's a challenge to get the things that people need, and get them here when they need them.

We have had four full-time employees upstairs. Between the four of us we've been here for over 100 years. The relationship developed with the people who work here is another part of the enjoyment of the business.

What's your biggest challenge?

The way that people shop has changed. We fight the Internet. There is a lot of competition out there at a variety of levels, from bigger stores to catalogue sales. Trying to keep a local clientele and keep them shopping and understand how that works as far as being part of the community is how we survive.

Is it still good to be downtown?

I wouldn't be anywhere else but downtown. They might be more excited about having some entertainment in our location, but I won't be moving the business. I'll be getting out of the business before I move from downtown. I love going to work downtown.

What was it like growing up in Sanders Beach?

It was a great neighborhood. There were a lot more children in the neighborhood at that time. There were just constant games every day, from basketball to kick the can. And of course, the lake. Summer times, I call them baloney sandwich summers. I was in the lake all morning, then come up for a baloney sandwich and head back in the afternoon.

Do you like the?changes you've see in Coeur d'Alene?

The growth is like a lot of things, a blessing and a curse. There certainly is more money here. The growth out north is not something that I'm fond of necessarily. Coeur d'Alene as a whole is still in tact.

What does the future hold for the Sports Cellar?

I don't see anybody in my family being interested in going into the sporting goods business. I think the sporting goods will go when it's time for me to go, I'm not sure when that will be. I intend to stay here and stay downtown. I certainly talk about retirement, but that time is not here yet. I'm happy doing what I'm doing.

When you think of Coeur d'Alene, what does it mean to you?

I read a lot about place, and the significance of place. I think Coeur d'Alene is my place, where I feel comfortable. Obviously, family is a part of that. Community is a part of that. The natural environment is a huge part of that. If my kids don't come back here I could see myself chasing them down the road, but Coeur d'Alene is always going to be home.

Last question: How do you think your sister, Sandi Bloem, is doing as the city's mayor?

I think she's a very good mayor. I think the best barometer for me is the number of people who tell me she's the best mayor we've ever had. I've had a lot of people say she's done a great job. She's my sister, so I'm biased.

Date of birth: Jan. 20, 1948

Education: Graduated from the University of Colorado, bachelor of arts degree, history major.

Family: Wife, Shana. Married 23 years. Stepdaughter Lindsey Herbert and twin daughters Carin and Caitlin

Number of hours on average you work in a week: 40

Number of hours on average you sleep in a night: 8

Favorite movie: "The Grand Illusion"

Favorite author: Wendell Berry

Favorite type of music: I like all kinds if it's good.

Favorite spectator sport: College basketball

Best advice you ever received: Be yourself and surround yourself with good people.

Any one person who most influenced your life: My father. I knew him as a very caring person and a gentle man.

Quality you admire most in a person: Honesty and loyalty.

Any one thing you consider your greatest accomplishment: Raising three children.