Your Industrial Park Neighbors: Athletics Galore

Benicia Patch periodically profiles businesses in the Industrial Park. Following is an interview with Aaron Nowling, owner of

How long has Athletics Galore been in the Industrial Park?
We moved from our downtown location to the Industrial Park in 1992.

How did you get into the business?
I'm a Vietnam veteran and retired Marine Corps officer, and I spent 30 years as a Benicia schoolteacher. My wife, Dorthea, and I started the business as an educational products store. Customers started asking for school uniforms, P.E. equipment and the like, and we eventually converted to sporting goods.

What is your most popular product?
We specialize in youth and adult sports products, primarily league play. Our product lines run about 20 percent less than stores like Sports Authority. We do just about everything — equipment, uniforms, varsity jackets, commercial attire, embroidery and screen printing. We also run an eBay store. We have the largest collection of baseball gloves for sale in the Bay Area.

Can customers come into the store to shop?
We are open 10:30 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday - Friday; 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. on Saturday.

How do you get the word out that you are in the Industrial Park?
We advertise online, and we support Benica Fastpitch Softball and Benicia Youth Football, among other teams.

What are the benefits of your Industrial Park location?
Rent is much less than we were paying. We have three times the space at one-third the price. And, we were able to expand. Originally, we started in this space, which is 6,000 square feet; now we have 13,000 square feet. Of that, half the space is warehouse.

Anything else you would like to share with your Benicia neighbors?
Right now we are geared up for football and soccer seasons. The best way for them to find out what we carry would be to check our website. They will find an online catalog. Or, they can give us a call.