Brothers Nathan and Ryan Kitzman are avid hockey players. Each playing for the rep and house league divisions of the Hespeler Shamrocks, the boys also have a synthetic ice rink in their backyard.
However, they experienced a problem with the synthetic ice: their skates kept getting dull after spending time on it.
“My skates weren’t working on it,” said Ryan about the experience.
Needing to sharpen each of their skates after using the synthetic ice, their mother Sarah said it is very difficult to get skates sharpened in Cambridge right now.
“National Sports closed, we typically go to, I think we had a pass to Hockey Life, but that’s driving all the way in Kitchener," she said.
Then, the family learned about a personal skate sharpening device called The Sparx Sharpener, which is used by NHL players.
"It's world renowned, so we thought we would give it a try, but it's definitely not cheap to buy," said Sarah, "so we needed to talk to the boys and say, 'If we do this and have the ability to sharpen skates at our house, then we should maybe talking about making a business out of it.'"
And that's how the brother's skate sharpening business, Shamrock Sharpening, came to be.
"We worked together as a family to come up with a Facebook business account, we came up with a name, and Ryan drew with the logo, a shamrock with some skates and the wheel sharpening it," said Sarah, mentioning Shamrock Sharpening launched on Jan. 15.
To book an appointment, residents have to go onto Shamrock Sharpening's Facebook. Online, people can choose a date and time to drop skates off. Skates can be placed on the bench on the family's home on 28 Jerry Dr., and can be picked up after they're sharpened. The service costs $5 per pair of skates.
When it comes to skate sharpening, it's all done by Nathan.
Nathan also mentions it wasn't very hard to learn how to use the machine, thanks to online tutorials. He estimates he's already sharpened 20 pairs of skates since opening.
“They just showed me how to do it," said Nathan about watching how-to videos. “Because it’s the newer version, you don’t have to use your hands to put it (the skate) across (the machine), you can just put it in.”
Despite opening only a couple of weeks ago, and no active hockey leagues right now, Sarah said news about the business spread quickly through local Facebook groups and word of mouth of family and friends. The family expressed gratitude toward the community for supporting their business.
“We’ve really only had two people we know bring their skates. Everybody else has been from word of mouth and through sharing," said Sarah. “It’s pretty cool, it’s pretty cool how easy the Facebook business page is, and how fast it grows.”
Along with hockey skates, Shamrock Sharpening now does figure skates as well. After buying an attachment for the machine, the business sharpened its first pair of figure skates last weekend.
When it comes to the everyday operations for Shamrock Sharpening, Sarah said Nathan is the go-to guy.
"He’s doing all the messaging on Facebook, and letting them know when their skates are ready, and he’s the one who is answering them," she said.
“It’s fun, doing it at your own time,” said Nathan about running a business.“Talking to people and working with them and just doing the skate sharpening."
“It feels good, I’m helping everyone and there’s not many spots to sharpen skates around here."
Ryan agrees, mentioning a lot of people have been coming to their house for their services.
“When we have to sharpen our skates now, we don’t have to go out and buy it, we can just go downstairs," said Ryan.
As a parent, Sarah said it's been awesome to see Nathan and Ryan work together. All the money they've made has been going toward their education.
“We have an RESP, but Nate thinks they should get 10 per cent, that they should be able to take out 10 per cent for some spending," said Sarah.
With hockey starting back up again, Shamrock Sharpening is looking at changing their hours in anticipation of the higher demand. Currently, its business hours are Tuesday to Thursday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Those looking to book a skate sharpening appointment with Shamrock Sharpening, click here.
