Tri-Zone - a unique business venture in Athlone

With this summer"s TriAthlone event fast approaching, Kiltoom native Conor Kelly"s new store, Tri-Zone, provides all the equipment, clothing and accessories that athletes need when taking on tough sporting challenges. 'Tri-Zone here takes in all aspects of sporting equipment and clothing - I saw that there was a market for this kind of specialist store and I just went for it,' says Conor. Situated on Pearse Street in the new Left Bank Mall, Tri-Zone World of Fitness opened its doors just last January but has already attracted plenty of attention nationally. 'I have people coming here from across the country - from places such as Donegal and Cork - who are looking for specialist equipment, whether that"s cycling, swimming, running or gym gear. We"re the sole proprietor in the region of a lot of brands such as Saucony (which Tri-Zone is also the largest national distributor of) and that attracts attention too,' he says. For Conor, a keen athlete himself, events such as the TriAthlone form an integral part of the local community spirit and he is looking forward to offering his full support to this year"s event. 'I"m a founding member and the current Chairman of the Tri-Club which has already grown a lot now it was established in August of last year. There"s 85 members now and its great to see so many people getting involved. TriAthlone generates a great buzz in the town and the triathlon season is starting now nationally so I"m geared up for that myself.' A son of well-known local businessman Brendan J Kelly, Conor studied Business Studies in Sligo and worked in auctioneering and property development for eight years before deciding to branch out into his own business. Having been a keen sportsman with both St Peter"s FC and St Brigid"s GAA Club it was natural that he would be attracted to the sporting end of the spectrum. 'I had always been interested in sport but I wasn"t up to the right fitness level until three years ago. This year I"ll be taking part in ten Triathlons so I"ll have to keep my fitness levels up for that!' he says. The Triathlons will be held in various locations around Ireland (including Athlone) and, following these, Conor will then compete in the Iron Man Traithlon competition to be held in Austria. 'It"s the longest distance in Triathlons and I"m basically been training 12 hours per week for it at the moment. I"m looking forward to the challenge but it"s going to be tough,' he adds. Keenly aware of its role in the local community, Tri-Zone is also offering its support to local athlete Wayne Reid who is working towards reaching the Elite rank in Triathlon competitions. 'He"s been doing really well and it"s important to show your support for people who are so committed to achieving their goals,' says Conor. Tri-Zone offers an exclusive range of state of the art sporting equipment as well as exceptional facilities such as the Contemplas. a treadmill system incorporating motion analysis software which has proved its excellence in the practice of structured running and gait analysis. This allows Conor to custom fit his customers with the correct footwear for an optimisation of their running style. 'There"s a camera system which analysis each person"s movements and that"s really been in demand as its such a unique system,' Conor adds. All price ranges are also catered for at Tri-Zone so you don"t have to be a serious athlete to enjoy the range of accessories, clothing and equipment available in-store. All kinds of gym wear are available and Conor will also be stocking casual wear in the near future. 'We have an extensive range of compression clothing here too which is very popular and is designed to help circulate the blood. We will also be stocking Oakley casual wear soon - I suppose you could say we dip into everything here!' he says. A range of bicycle brands are also available from Tri-Zone too, from Dolan to La Pierre. 'All price ranges are catered for, from standard models to top of the range bikes,' says Conor. With a stylish, spacious interior, it"s easy for the public to browse around and see what"s available to them at Tri-Zone. The new premises enjoys an excellent location in the Left Bank Mall with a number of excellent neighbouring businesses. 'There"s great facilities here including the car park which can hold up to 150 people. The Mall has a lot of great potential and I suppose it"s all about attracting as much footfall here as possible,' he adds. Open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 6pm, Tri-Zone can be contacted on 086 8061211 or email trizone@live.ie.