Perani's Hockey World

What Perani's Hockey World does

Perani's Hockey World was a specialty sporting goods retailer founded in 1976 by Bob Perani in Flint, Michigan, focused on ice hockey, inline/roller hockey, goalie, lacrosse, and figure skating equipment. The company operated a network of 22 retail showrooms concentrated in the Midwest (Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Indiana, and Pennsylvania) with additional locations in Florida, complemented by an e-commerce storefront at hockeyworld.com, toll-free phone ordering, and a Team Sales / bulk-ordering program for youth associations, adult leagues, college and junior teams, and rink programs. Product assortment spanned sticks, skates, helmets, gloves, protective gear, jerseys, bags, custom goalie equipment, figure skating gear, referee and coaching supplies, and clearance items from brands including Bauer, CCM, Warrior, TRUE Hockey, Sherwood, Brian's, Vaughn, and Reebok.

The underlying technology footprint was that of a traditional specialty retailer: a retail operations platform supporting in-store point-of-sale, an e-commerce website with customer account management and order tracking, a toll-free phone order desk staffed by sales representatives, and supporting email/newsletter (eClub) marketing. No proprietary software, AI systems, or custom platform architecture is described in the input data. Differentiated service offerings included custom skate fitting, skate sharpening and profiling, custom goalie gear, custom team uniforms, and a customer loyalty program (Rewards for Life / Hockey World for Life), with price matching from competitors and a 30-day return policy for unused items.

Perani's revenue model was unit-based retail pricing across all channels (hardware sales of equipment and apparel), with pay-as-you-go billing, price points ranging from $12.99 for basic accessories to over $1,000 for premium goalie equipment, and no subscription or recurring contract terms. The customer base was fragmented across individual hockey players of all ages and skill levels, goalies requiring custom fitting, inline/roller hockey players, lacrosse players, referees and coaches, and institutional buyers placing team bulk orders. In April 2026, Perani's Hockey World was acquired by Pure Hockey, the largest dedicated hockey retailer in the United States; the 22 stores were rebranded under the Pure Hockey banner, the e-commerce site was absorbed into purehockey.com, and customers were migrated to the Pure Rewards loyalty program, effectively ending Perani's independent commercial existence.

Name

Perani's Hockey World

Legal name

Perani's Hockey World

Website

https://hockeyworld.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1976

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Perani's Hockey World was a specialty hockey and lacrosse equipment retailer founded in 1976 in Flint, Michigan, operating 22 retail stores across the Midwest plus e-commerce, phone, and team sales channels serving individual players, goalies, leagues, and bulk team buyers before its April 2026 acquisition by Pure Hockey.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sporting Goods Retail

NAICS

Sporting Goods Retailers (45911)

SIC

Sporting & Athletic Goods, Nec (3949)

akta.pro primary industry

Ice Hockey & Field Hockey Equipment Retail (CRAMAEAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Team Sports Protective Gear & Sports Medicine Retail (CRAMAEAJ), Team Sports Equipment & Uniforms Retail (CRAMABAE), Lacrosse Equipment Retail (CRAMAEAF)

Keywords

• Hockey equipment retail
• Sporting goods store
• Hockey team sales
• Skate fitting services
• Ice hockey apparel

Headquarters

HQ city

Flint

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices22 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Retail Store Sales: Brick-and-mortar retail sales of hockey equipment, apparel, and accessories through physical store locations across the Midwest region.
2. E-commerce Sales: Online sales through hockeyworld.com website, including order processing and fulfillment for customers across the US.
3. Phone Sales: Customer orders placed via phone with sales representatives during business hours.
4. Team Sales: Bulk ordering program for hockey teams, leagues, and organizations providing uniforms, equipment bundles, and custom gear.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Perani's Hockey World is a specialty sporting goods retailer that sells ice hockey equipment (sticks, skates, helmets, gloves, protective gear, apparel), inline/roller hockey equipment, lacrosse equipment, figure skating equipment, and referee/coaching gear from leading brands such as Bauer, CCM, Warrior, TRUE Hockey, Sherwood, Brian's, and Vaughn. The company operates 22 physical retail stores across the Midwest and adjacent markets, an e-commerce website at hockeyworld.com, a phone-order channel, and a team sales/bulk ordering program serving hockey teams and leagues.

Product overview

Perani's Hockey World is a specialty sporting goods retailer offering a comprehensive range of hockey equipment and related sports gear. The product portfolio centers on ice hockey equipment as the primary offering, supplemented by inline/roller hockey, lacrosse, and figure skating equipment. Key product categories include player equipment (skates, sticks, gloves, helmets, protective gear), goalie equipment (leg pads, catch gloves, blockers), team sales, custom equipment services, and accessories. The company operated 22 retail stores across the Midwest (now transitioning to Pure Hockey brand following acquisition), offering in-store services like skate fitting, sharpening, and profiling. The legacy Perani's brand at hockeyworld.com is being fully absorbed into Pure Hockey's ecommerce platform at purehockey.com, with all stores being rebranded.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ice Hockey Equipment Full range of ice hockey equipment including hockey sticks, skates, helmets, gloves, protective gear, jerseys, bags, and performance wear from brands like Bauer, CCM, Warrior, Easton, Nike, Reebok, Graf, Sherwood, and others, for ice hockey players of all ages and skill levels.
• Inline & Roller Hockey Equipment

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Pure HockeycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 April 2026Pure Hockey, the nation's leading hockey equipment retailer, acquired Perani's Hockey World in April 2026. The acquisition combined two long-established hockey retailers, with Perani's nearly 50-year legacy and localized customer relationships being folded into Pure Hockey's broader retail infrastructure and omnichannel platform. Following integration, Perani's stores were rebranded under the Pure Hockey banner and added to the Pure Rewards loyalty program.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• Sport Chek: Sport Chek is Canada's largest sporting goods retailer carrying a broad hockey assortment. While it serves a different geography (Canada), its product mix, team outfitting services, and scale make it a strong regional analogue to Perani's specialty-retail-with-hockey-focus positioning.

Broad incumbents

• Bauer Hockey: Bauer is the dominant ice hockey equipment manufacturer selling direct-to-consumer alongside its specialty retailer network. As a key supplier to Perani's and increasingly a DTC competitor, Bauer represents both partnership opportunity and structural channel pressure for specialty hockey retailers.
• CCM Hockey: CCM is a leading global hockey equipment manufacturer competing with Bauer across sticks, skates, and protective gear. CCM operates direct ecommerce alongside third-party retail, making it a broad incumbent whose distribution strategy directly affects Perani's economics.
• Warrior Hockey: Warrior is a US-based hockey and lacrosse equipment brand with growing direct channels. Overlap with Perani's product offering (sticks, gloves, protective, lacrosse) and the brand's growing DTC posture make it a relevant broad incumbent comparable for distribution and merchandising strategy.

Direct peers

• Pure Hockey: Pure Hockey is the acquiring parent and the largest dedicated ice hockey specialty retailer in the United States, operating 110+ stores nationwide. It is the most direct peer — overlapping product mix, target customer (hockey players, teams, goalies), and go-to-market model across both ecommerce and retail.
• Hockey Monkey: Hockey Monkey is a US-based specialty hockey equipment retailer offering ice hockey, roller hockey, and goalie equipment through ecommerce and limited retail. It competes directly with Perani's across product category, customer segments, and omnichannel fulfillment.
• MonkeySports: MonkeySports is a US specialty hockey and lacrosse retailer with ecommerce plus brick-and-mortar stores. It is directly comparable on product depth (skates, sticks, protective, lacrosse), customer base (youth through adult), and the combined retail/team-sales model.

Emerging players

• SidelineSwap: SidelineSwap is a peer-to-peer marketplace for new and used sporting goods including a strong hockey category. It represents an emerging competitive vector — price-sensitive hockey buyers seeking alternatives to full-price specialty retail — comparable on customer overlap though not on product model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/hockeyworld

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Perani's Hockey World