UtahSkis.com is the online retail store for Ski ‘N See.
Current Manager of Utahskis.com, Bryce Bagley started working for Ski ‘N See as a 17 year old rental technician in 2005. With a deep love for skiing, Bryce enjoyed to perks of working at Ski ‘N See and decided to continue his employment after he graduated from High School. His second season, Bryce moved from being a rental tech at the Sandy Store to being put in charge of the Canyon Center location. After taking two years off to serve a mission for the LDS Church Bryce returned to Ski ‘N See as Assistant Manager at the Deer Valley location. The next year (season of 2009-2010) Bryce came down to be an Assistant Manager at the Sandy Store. After the 2009-2010 season, Bryce was looking for a more permanent position with Ski ‘N See. He was working on a bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah and was planning his wedding, and he needed work that would provide what he needed to push through the new phase of life that he was entering. Bryce approached owner Roy Ostendorf to talk about any opportunities Ski ‘N See might be able to provide for him.
Roy Ostendorf has been the owner and CEO of Ski ‘N See since 1999. Roy made the decision to launch UtahSkis.com in 2004. This was the first attempt that Ski ‘N See made at creating an ecommerce business. Both Roy and Bryce agree that the first version of UtahSkis.com was “poorly done” with “minimal effort” due to the lack of resources that were put into the project. The first iteration of UtahSkis.com lasted from 2004 to 2010. When Bryce approached Roy seeking to find more permanent employment with Ski ‘N See, Roy knew exactly what position he wanted Bryce to fill.
When asked what determined the timing of the new and improved UtahSkis.com Roy responded by saying “we needed the right person, and Bryce was that person. I knew he was working on his degree and that he had some background in technology.” Bryce laughs as he adds the comment “he probably over-estimated my tech savvy.”
Bryce started working on UtahSkis.com in the spring of 2010 with the help Jeff Scott, the web designer and fellow University of Utah college student that Bryce hired. They worked for 4-5 months until they finally got the new UtahSkis.com off the ground. UtahSkis.com made their first sale in August 2010. From there Bryce and Jeff kept working hard to perfect the site. “It took about a year to get all the bugs out” says Bryce. According to Bryce, the first year 2010-2011 season, exceeded his expectations. “There is always that fear that you won’t be able to get it up and running, but the success surprised us” says Bryce. Roy, however feels like the first year was “over zealously projected”, but now that they have some experience in the ecommerce world they know how to correctly predict what type of year the site will produce.
The second and third year that UtahSkis.com was up and running (fall of 2011 – spring 2013) Utah received record low snowfalls, which caused some tough times for the entire ski industry, including UtahSkis.com. This cause UtahSkis.com to bend, but it did not break them. According to Bryce this season (2013-2014) has “already exceeded expectation” and we expect to see continual growth.
Timeline –
2004 – 2010 – First Version of UtahSkis.com
Spring of 2010 – Started Development on the Current Version of UtahSkis.com
August 2010 – First Item Sold
January 2011 – Hired First Customer Service Rep/Shipper
Spring 2011 – Moved from Warehouse to Office
November 2011 – Created Customer Service Center
November 2012 – Redesigned UtahSkis.com
Currently – Largest Team (Nine Employees) Utah Skis Has Seen
Continual Growth into the Future
Over the past four years UtahSkis.com has grown from a two-man operation to a lively office of nine employees.
When asked what the fundamental values of UtahSkis.com are Bryce answered with the statement “We want to offer the best product for the best price. We are a small business and that’s part of our roots, that’s who we are. Every sale matters to us, which makes a big impact on how we do business.” When you are doing business with UtahSkis.com you are doing business with Ski ‘N See. At Ski ‘N See we believe in customer satisfaction and we strive to create a great shopping experience online and in our stores.
Bryce Bagley hard at work in the UtahSkis.com office.
UtahSkis.com Office
