When we first moved to Chapel Hill in 1997 the only half-way decent sporting goods store in our area was a place called Omega Sports, although to call Omega half-way decent was a bit of a stretch: their selection was weak, their prices high and their service indifferent.

About two years later, Dick’s Sporting Goods opened a store in the same mall, a few doors down from Omega. My son, Michael, and I were ecstatic; finally a big-box sporting goods retailer where we could get anything we wanted.

Dick’s is one of those monster retail chains that’s supposed to put small stores out of business. My prediction at the time: Omega wouldn’t last 6 months. Well, here we are 7 years later and not only is Omega still around, but they now have 14 stores in North Carolina, more on the way and pretty much all my sporting goods business!

The reason many small retailers are put out of business by monster chain stores is two-fold:

1. They weren’t that good in the first place. Like Omega, many small retailers have lousy selection, high prices and poor service. But because they have no competition (until the Wal-Marts and Dick’s of the world come rolling in), they’re able to do business.

2. They just keep doing what they’ve always done and expect to get what they’ve always gotten. How can you be crazy enough to keep doing the same thing when the whole structure of your marketplace has changed? If your prices are high and service is lousy, do you really think you’ll be able to compete with Wal-Mart?

What Omega did was change with the times and decided to fight the competition not on what Dick’s did best (price), but on what they could do best. First, they improved their service. The people at Omega are attentive, courteous and most of all, knowledgeable.

Next, they stopped trying to be everything to everybody. While they carry merchandise from a wide variety of sports, they specialize in certain sports. For example, I’m a swimmer and not only does Omega carry a vast selection of swim suits and other equipment such as, goggles, fins and hand paddles, but they carry them all year round. With the numerous strong club teams and masters teams in the area, Omega captures a lot of the local swim market.

They do the same thing for runners, soccer players and volleyball players. Going narrow and deep in areas where the competition hasn’t allows them to compete and win.

Don’t compete on what the competition does best and you don’t. Compete on what you do best and they don’t.