From Sweeping Floors to Owner, Ben Logan Marks a Decade Leading Fontaine Source for Sports
/By Scott Arnold
A teenager who once swept the floors at Fontaine Source for Sports is now celebrating a decade as owner of one of Peterborough's longest-standing sporting goods businesses.
ben logan has now owned fontaine source for sports for 10 years, moving to the new location on park street in 2023 (photo by scott arnold)
A decade has gone by in what feels like the blink of an eye for Ben Logan.
This year marks 10 years since the Peterborough native took over Fontaine Source for Sports, a business that has been serving the community since 1953. While the milestone is significant, Logan admits it still doesn't quite feel real.
"It kind of, I don't know where the time went, to be honest," he said.
The store itself has undergone plenty of change during that time. Nearly three years ago, Fontaine’s made the move from its longtime Queen Street location to its current home on Park Street, in the former Delafosse Library building. Yet even now, Logan says customers still walk through the doors and tell him they haven't had a chance to visit since the move.
what used to be the reading corner at the delafosse library is now the skate corner at fontaine source for sports (photo by scott arnold)
After all, the old location had become a Peterborough institution.
For generations of local athletes and families, a trip to Fontaine’s on Queen Street was a rite of passage. Whether it was getting fitted for a first pair of skates, picking up new hockey equipment or having gear repaired, the store became woven into the fabric of the community.
Maintaining that reputation was one of Logan's top priorities when he became owner in 2016.
"It was the most important thing when I took over that we kept that service-oriented business," he said. "When you come in, we want to fit you right with the right gear. We want to fit the skates right and sell you the right bike for what you're doing."
That philosophy has remained unchanged.
"We sincerely care about the product we're selling. We want to sell the right product to the right people."
It's also a big reason why Fontaine’s continues to offer a wide range of services that have become increasingly rare in retail. The store sharpens and profiles skates, repairs bikes, relaces baseball gloves and even restrings lacrosse sticks.
after decades on queen street is downtown peterborough, fontaine source for sports has now been located at 729 park street since 2023 (photo by scott arnold)
Some of those services have expanded thanks to new staff members bringing additional skills to the business.
For Logan, the story of Fontaine’s is also deeply personal.
Born and raised in East City, he attended King George Public School, Armour Heights Public School and Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School. He never left Peterborough, and in many ways, he never left Fontaine’s either.
His journey with the business began as a teenager.
His older brother had worked at the store first, and through family connections, Logan was introduced to longtime owner Terry Bovair. At around 16 years old, he started the same way many teenagers do: sweeping floors, moving boxes and helping wherever he could.
He continued working at the store while playing for the Lakefield Chiefs and later while attending Fleming College.
As years passed, more responsibilities followed. When the store's manager moved on, Logan stepped into a larger role and gradually became more involved in the day-to-day operations.
Eventually, he reached a crossroads.
"I said by the time I'm 30, this needs to be mine or I'm going to move on," he recalled.
The two sides eventually reached an agreement, and in 2016, Logan became the owner.
He immediately had ideas for how to grow the business while preserving its foundation.
One of those ideas was expanding Fontaine's hockey department.
"I wanted to go deeper into hockey," he said. "I wanted to be head to toe. I wanted to have every one of the newest products, the high end, the entry level and be able to service the customer from start to finish more."
Over the past decade, that vision has become a reality.
fontaine’s has been a go-to spot for sports enthusiast in peterborough since 1953, wit ben logan taking over ownership in 2016 (photo by scott arnold)
Today, Fontaine’s is an elite custom dealer for virtually every major hockey brand and carries the same high-end products offered by much larger retailers.
The store has also grown its baseball and lacrosse offerings while expanding its team business and in-house decoration services.
The move to Park Street represented another major step forward.
Logan knew the new Miskin Law Community Complex was on the horizon and saw the potential of the location immediately. Situated near the Memorial Centre, Healthy Planet Arena and the new twin-pad facility, the location also provides easy access from across the city.
"Park Street is the main vein to go from the north to the south," he said. "It just made sense logistically."
The larger building has also allowed Fontaine’s to improve its operations. The store now features dedicated service areas for bikes and equipment repairs, a far cry from the cramped quarters of the old shop where everything happened in one small space.
fontaine source for sports doesn’t just sell sporting goods, they also have their own service department with a team a staff dedicated to servicing bikes (photo by scott arnold)
While the business has changed, so has the sporting goods industry itself.
Logan has watched technology transform equipment over the years. Customers can now have their feet scanned in three dimensions to find the perfect skate fit, custom stick fitting kiosks have become commonplace and e-bikes feature technology that would have been hard to imagine a generation ago.
Yet some things remain the same.
"When it comes down to it, we still sharpen skates by hand," Logan said. "It's something that we still continue to do that we're probably never going to change."
fontaine’s owner ben logan says one of the things he’s most proud of are his amazing staff, which includes Alex mcmann and sawyer riel (photo by scott arnold)
