Lax To The Max

There is a warehouse in  that is a wonderland for everything lacrosse. Helmets, gloves, cleats, sticks, and clothing apparel canvas the 15,000 square foot facility on Wilson Avenue. It's a kingdom where videos about players and teams are produced, and information about the sport is dispensed on-line. Simply put, if you like lacrosse, then you'll love Lax.com. 

"We want to be the one-stop shop portal for lacrosse, "said John Arrix, Chief Executive Officer of Lax.com. "We want to the place where lacrosse enthusiasts can come, get entertainment, as well as anything that he or she needs for lacrosse."

. He knows the sport and sports marketing, spending more than 25 years in the business as an executive. Arrix is using his experience in both to help Lax.com become a major player in e-commerce lacrosse world.

"The e-commerce world is very immediate, said Arrix, who lives in Wilton. "You have to be very good at the site being updated. You have to be good at inventory levels being up to date and getting things out the door.  My business partner, George West, focuses on the finance and operations, my area is on sales marketing."

Arrix and a group of investors bought Lax.com just over two years ago and moved it from New Jersey to Norwalk in the summer of 2010. As the economy continues to recover, the sport of lacrosse is exploding and Lax.com hopes to take advantage of its popularity.

"The biggest challenge that we face is how do we penetrate and get a foothold in some of these emerging markets, "said Arrix. "In states like Florida, Texas, and California we try to get our name out there with our video coverage of high school games. That gets people to our site to generate some shopping consideration, then we have to deliver a good experience for them."

Added West, who was a financier on Wall Street,  "We're not just out here selling widgets, so to speak. We're selling expertise and content along with showing goods and gear and how to use it," said the Chief Financial Officer of Lax.com. "The biggest problem in our industry is people don't understand what they're buying and how to buy it. We're trying to help them do that."

Fairfield County and most of New England is still the hotbed for lacrosse, but as Arrix mentioned, the sport has become bigger on the national scale. Lax.com targets everyone who's in the game from Connecticut to California, but the focus of their business is on the young athletes.

"Kids are computer savvy and they know what they want," said Arrix, 49. "They know what's new, what's hot, and dictate purchase decisions of the parents."

Lacrosse fans can also get college scores and stats on the website. The warehouse that holds everything lacrosse is not a walk-in sporting goods store, but for the best in the sport, it's only a click away at Lax.com.