how the jerSey-born Ski barn brand haS been providing nowbirdS with gear and apparel for more than four decadeS

by Jessica Jones-Gorman • Photos by amessé PhotoGraPhy

It was early winter in 1970 when Dick and Carol Fallon first took their five children shopping for skis.

“We were not a family of skiers,” their son Ray Fallon said, recalling his introduction to the sport. “My father was a carpenter and thought skiing was something the whole family could enjoy for the winter. But when he took us around to area ski shops and tried to buy equipment, there was no customer service for the average shopper. The salesmen in the stores only wanted to deal with expert skiers.”

So, in an impromptu vocational pivot, Dick Fallon decided to go into the ski business, and by the winter of 1971, he and his wife had opened the very first Ski Barn in Little Falls.

“He knew he could do a better job with customer service, and built a brand around that,” Ray said. “He did $80,000 in business that first year and Ski Barn just continued to grow from there.”

A second store was launched in 1978 in Paramus, then in the 1980s another location in Princeton. The last store has since moved to Route 1 in Lawrenceville and the original Little Falls shop was transported to Route 23 in Wayne. An Eatontown location opened in 2004 and then moved to Shrewsbury in September of 2014.

“We put about $400,000 into a buildout at the Shrewsbury store, and it kind of took on its own flavor,” Ray explained.

“Where our other shops have 20-foot ceilings, this store is cozier with 12-foot ceilings, exposed beams, reclaimed barn wood, and natural floors. Our customers love the new location, and business there
is up twenty percent.”

A second generation of Fallons have been running the store the past 20 years (both Ray and his sister Debra are now in charge), and Dick and Carol’s grandchildren represent a third generation now involved. Each follows the family’s original commitment to customer service, however, and Ski Barn continues to pride itself on being a unique specialty store in the region.

“Here you’ll find all of your skiing and snowboarding needs, plus warm winter gear,” Fallon said. “We sell no other sporting goods, we’re not a running store, nor do we sell hunting gear or other sports equipment. Our staff is completely passionate about skiing and knows the sport well. If you go to Dick’s or Sports Authority, you can buy the basics, but you’re not going to get a seasoned skier helping you with your purchase and giving you valuable advice about what you do and do not need.”

Fallon said that regardless of whether a shopper is an expert or beginner, there are suitable helmets, poles, goggles, skis, and snowboards on hand, plus jackets, pants, and other outerwear pieces from brands like Norhtface, Bogner, Parajumper, Spyder, and Descente.

“We feature a popular and successful junior seasonal rental program, too, in which we rent equipment each season for kids,” Fallon said. “Between all four stores we have over 20,000 seasonal rentals, and that’s where the expertise of a shop like Ski Barn really shines. Each customer is personally fitted one at a time. Our staff is out there on their hands and knees, properly fitting each boot—the type of service my father was looking for when he launched this business in 1971, and that’s what we still provide today.”

The company, which now sells outdoor furniture in the off-season, does approximately $14 million in business each year (not bad compared to the opening haul of $80,000 in 1971). It starts measuring for seasonal rentals on September 1 and fields numerous requests for ski-inspired winter wear, which Fallon said will be particularly bright this year.

Equipment, which improves with yearly advances in technology and design, is chosen according to style and ability.

“Skis are wider and shorter now with more of a side cut, which actually makes skiing easier and more fun,” Fallon said. “There is a much faster learning curve now; novice skiers and snowboarders are able to pick up the sport much more quickly.”

And although the business is largely weather driven, Fallon explained that skiing in the Northeast has picked up because technology on the mountain allows resorts to produce a consistently skiable surface. All snowmaking guns combine air and water to form snow, but its type or “quality” can be tweaked by regulating the amount of water and other additives in the mixture to make a range between a hard dense flake (used as a base) to top-layer “dress snow,” which feels soft under skis.

“In the ’80s and ’90s you’d have to stop skiing when it became too icy in the East,” added Fallon, who has been active on the slopes for more than 40 years. “That’s no longer the case because they now also run ice grinders and groom the terrain until it’s enjoyable to ski upon. It’s helped the busi- ness tremendously and has been a wonderful boost for this area.”

“There is a real family feel about being up on a mountain with your children, participating in a sport together,” he said. “You can’t take a soccer or lacrosse vacation in which the whole family participates, but skiing is something everyone can do together. I think it unites children and parents, brings them together in a healthy, fun atmosphere. That’s what my father wanted for his family and business and that’s what we continue to build upon today.”

Ski Barn
846 NJ 17, Paramus
201.445.9070 / skibarn.com