Superior Solution

GearBoss by Wenger introduces a new modular storage system that will get your equipment room organized.

Walk into many equipment rooms during the football season and you’ll see familiar sights: helmets and shoulder pads strewn about; jerseys, pants and footballs flung everywhere; equipment managers trying to navigate between rusted, paint-chipped shelves. In short, a disorganized mess.
If this scene reminds you of your facility, then you have an environment making inventory management nearly impossible, creating safety concerns and failing to generate pride in your program.
GearBoss by Wenger has a recommendation – organize your equipment room with the new GearBoss II modular storage system. Wenger Corporation, the leader in athletic storage systems including the original GearBoss high-density, cart-based equipment storage and transportation system, has introduced a new, moderately priced storage system that not only provides a practical storage solution for athletic facilities, but also helps protect your equipment investment.
Like the original GearBoss system, the GearBoss II system is based on carts – each used to store particular types of equipment – which can be moved to create greater accessibility and organized to get gear in and out more efficiently. This “open aisles” approach dramatically improves inventory management and helps keep equipment in good shape.
The advantages of having a storage system dedicated to football during the season are many, according to Gregg Nelson, senior market manager at Wenger Corporation responsible for the GearBoss line. “Major college coaches are well aware of the importance of the equipment room in contributing to the overall efficiency of the program,” said Nelson. “By talking to our high school and small college customers, we learned they also needed to economize space and make managing equipment easier. They said they loved the original GearBoss product, but many could not afford it.” Wenger thus saw a need for a new storage system that would be a major upgrade over traditional shelving yet still be affordable to virtually any school. The Gearboss II line was born.
Many of the features built into Wenger’s GearBoss II system were originally developed for the top-of-the-line original GearBoss modular storage system. “Our approach to design and construction in the GearBoss II line is based on what we learned from our original GearBoss customers,” said Nelson. “We wanted to create a system that was affordable to high schools and small colleges but retained the most important and most popular features of our high-end system, and we think we’ve succeeded.”
The Wenger approach to developing a new product is comprehensive. “We started with our experience in high-density modular storage systems,” recalled Nelson. Then, Wenger listened to their customers’ feedback about the new system and explored how they could incorporate specific, customer-driven features. “We engaged the marketplace,” said Nelson, “We learned what their needs were and we designed the new product to meet those needs.”
The GearBoss II equipment storage cart units are made from durable metal tubing and grill work. The carts are placed on fixed tracks that are mounted on the equipment room floor. Once full of equipment, carts can be moved together to maximize the cubic storage density and then easily moved to create access when equipment needs to be used.
In addition to improving efficiency and inventory management, GearBoss modular storage systems provide a greater degree of security and sanitation to protect equipment investments and athletes’ health. Plus, according to Nelson, having a better-organized equipment room is something in which coaches, managers and players can take pride. “Having a disorganized equipment room is off-message for a program,” he said. “Pride is part of what coaches teach and it’s hard to be proud of an equipment room that’s in disarray.”
Nelson went on to point out that, when considering options for equipment room storage systems, flexibility is important. “From large colleges that use the original GearBoss system to smaller colleges and high schools that will choose GearBoss II, in many cases it will be a mix of products that makes the most sense,” he said. “And some programs will look for ways to save or modify existing shelving and incorporate GearBoss cart systems in a customized configuration. That’s where a Wenger representative can really help by reviewing all the options and building a flexible system based on customers’ needs and budgets.”
Great design that automatically creates a better-organized and more efficient way of managing equipment inventory? Check. Features and options that will make any equipment room a place which coaches and managers can point to with pride? Most definitely. But what about the cost? “We didn’t set out to be the least expensive system on the market,” said Gregg Nelson, “we set out to be the best.” That said, with the savings offered by the GearBoss II system, the protection provided to the equipment investment and Wenger’s flexible approach to working with customers, the idea of modular equipment storage is now within reach of virtually every football program in America. When you’re ready to take your facility to the next level, it is the obvious choice.