Soccer store goes mainstream

Enter Soccer City and it really is soccer city. On the right is a long wall covered with soccer cleats on display. On the left is a wall full of shiny new shinguards in all sizes, styles and brands and other accessories of the sport: socks, equipment bags, corner flags, goalkeeper gloves.

And in the center are the jerseys. On the back wall: the Real Madrid jersey of Raúl, Zidane's blue France jersey, the AC Milan shirt of Kaká ... not to mention the Los Angeles Galaxy jersey of David Beckham. On the racks: the famed yellow of the Brazilian national team, the England white, Germany, Team U.S.A., the jerseys of clubs such as Manchester United, Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Barcelona and the Mexican favorites, Club América, Chivas, Cruz Azul, Pumas.

Anyone from the worldwide fraternity of soccer aficionados would instantly be at home in the familiar atmosphere of "Pelé's sport" — in a shop in Yuba City.

Soccer City was opened by Primo Recendez in August of last year, bringing his love of the game from his native Mexico to Plumas Street.

It is the story of a business starting small, catering to the Hispanic community, but which has come to serve the general Yuba-Sutter public.

Recendez, who came to the U.S. from the state of Zacatecas when he was 14 and graduated from Lincoln High School in Placer County, started his first business, Discoteca Vallarta, on Yuba City's Percy Street in 1996 with $3,000 in start-up costs. However, when the city redeveloped the area, he had to move the CD shop. That building, near where the traffic circle is now, was torn down.

In 2002, with the city covering his $15,000 in relocation and lost-business costs, Recendez moved Discoteca Vallarta to 635 Plumas Street, a 3,500-square-foot retail space selling Latin American music CDs, catering to the area's Mexican population. The vast majority of the music is by Mexican artists, but there are others in the mix: Cuban, Colombian, Puerto Rican. The musical categories include bandas, ranchero, narco corrido, ranchero, Norteño, salsa, solista feminina and masculino, pop/rock.

The store also sells the Mexican soft drink Jarritos and has terminals for international electronic transfer of funds.

Recendez, 35, opened Soccer City in August 2007 in the vacant 1,500-square-foot space next to the CD shop — the two stores are adjoined by an interior door so there is free passage between them. He estimates it cost $60,000 to start up Soccer City, including buying inventory.

The wall of soccer shoes and cleats, one of the most extensive such retail offerings in the Sacramento Valley, has the major brands Adidas, Nike and Puma and lesser-known brands — but familiar in the soccer world — such as Kelme, Lotto and Diadora. He stocks inexpensive kids' cleats all the way up to pro models such as the $300 Nike Mercurial Vapor worn by Manchester United and Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo (Soccer City gives a 15 percent discount off the $300 list price of the Vapor).

The owner said his customer base has become the general public.

"It was something I didn't expect," the amiable Recendez said. "At first, most of the soccer players (who came in) were Hispanic. Now, it's not just Hispanics playing soccer."

And college-age players come in to buy those expensive, top-of-the-line shoes.

"Even without the youth contract, I was getting high school kids (as customers)," Recendez said.

The youth contract in 2008 tabbed Soccer City as one of two official suppliers for the Yuba Sutter Youth Soccer League and its roughly 3,000 players. As a supplier, he takes the uniform orders for more than a thousand youth players in a season, including home and away jerseys with numbers and league patch affixed, shorts and socks. And those families who come in to purchase uniforms also buy footwear and other soccer accessories.

Soccer City filled the void after Bremer Hardware in Yuba City, the previous supplier, went out of business in 2007.

Recendez, who lives in Marysville with his wife and three daughters, two of whom play on an advanced soccer team, said that supplying the youth league accounts for 30 percent of his business. "I'm grateful for that," he said.

Mal Montoya, president of the Yuba Sutter Youth Soccer League, said Recendez "is doing a great job" and that the relationship is "working out well for everybody."

The league president said he's getting good feedback from the parents, and "with the poor economy and the price of gas, they'd prefer to buy locally and Recendez has responded to that need."

"Soccer City has been a good company to us," Montoya said.

The Yuba City High School soccer program also purchased uniforms from Soccer City for the first time this year.

Varsity coach Paul Shank said, "He's not trying to rip anybody off. He's got good deals, he's trying to cater to us, to the local community. He's got quality stuff. There's easy access to his store to buy in quantity or individually."

"He loves the game, he's a got a passion for the game," said Shank, "and he's trying to keep local business here."

Shank said the Honkers program previously ordered uniforms off the Internet, but Recendez was able to match them on price.

"I'm trying to give him all the business I can," said the Yuba City coach.

The youth league also purchased referees' uniforms from Soccer City. And Recendez supplies teams in the local Mexican adult league, once his sole market.

But his hasn't always been smooth sailing.

Soccer City opened just as Plumas Street was closed for 14 months for the street beautification project.

He said that the closing of the street to vehicular traffic was a blow to business. "At least 20 percent of sales were lost," Recendez said.

He's glad that the street reopened in late September, but he doesn't foresee an immediate business recovery on the downtown street.

"The way the economy is ... not for a while, even though (the street is) open. It will take a couple of years to get back to the way it was," Recendez said.

He has one employee on the soccer side and two or three workers on the music side.

His two business are open seven days a week. He says he can never take a whole day off.

"Running a business is hard," said Recendez. "You have to be there all the time."

But he still has bigger business visions. Although he isn't pursuing it currently, it is a dream of his to open an indoor soccer arena.

"It would help me out," he said, because in the winter, soccer equipment sales take a dive.

"But it's all good," he said.

SOCCER CITY

• LOCATION: 637 Plumas Street, Yuba City

• HOURS: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week (in conjunction with CD shop next door)

• PHONE: 751-2161

Contact Appeal reporter Mike Hatamiya at 741-2400 or mhata miya@appeal-democrat.com