Photos: Chris Emeott
Local shares his passion at St. Croix Sports in Hudson, Wis.
Most people think working 40 hours a week is more than enough to stay busy. For Sean Coffey, it’s just the beginning.
Coffey owns and operates St. Croix Sports in Hudson, Wis., and is also a full-time police officer. Add in kids (a set of triplets in high school) and Coffey has his plate full. “It keeps me extremely busy,” he says. “But I love it.”
Sports have always been a part of Coffey’s life. His family got him involved with sports at a young age, but he truly fell in love in middle school when he played baseball for the Minnesota Little Gophers. The team traveled all over the world and played over 100 games a summer. “I was so lucky to have that opportunity,” Coffey says. “Kids these days just don’t get to do stuff like that.”
Coffey’s passion for sports was passed down to his kids. When they started playing hockey and other sports, he realized the need for a hockey store in the Hudson community. That’s when the idea for St. Croix Sports came to him. “There just wasn’t anything over here,” Coffey says. “People had to drive to the Twin Cities or New Richmond just to get their skates sharpened.”
St. Croix Sports opened in 2014 and specializes in hockey equipment but also has baseball, softball and other sports equipment. It also sells a lot of Hudson Raiders spirit wear. Coffey says it was a risk opening the store, but it’s been worth it. “People don’t like to buy hockey equipment online,” Coffey says. “I opened the store as kind of a service to Hudson.”
It’s not uncommon for Coffey to work 40 hours in a week at the store and another 40 to 50 hours with the police department, but he’s no stranger to long workdays. When Coffey was younger, he worked as a fishing, duck and goose hunting guide for seven years. On days when he had clients, Coffey finished his police shift at 3 a.m., got set up to hunt at 3:30, would hunt until 10, be at home and in bed by 11, and then back to the police station by 3:30 p.m.
His work schedule hasn’t changed much since his guiding days, except Coffey has exchanged sitting in a harvested cornfield surrounded by fake ducks and geese for selling hockey equipment. He considers his time at the store a stress reliever. Coffey constantly deals with people having the worst days of their lives while on patrol, and certain events in the last couple years have added a lot of stress to his job. “In my profession, you need an out,” Coffey says. “If I had a bad day, I can go to the store and talk about sports with people and clear my mind.”
St. Croix Sports has had a positive impact on not only Coffey, but also Hudson and the surrounding communities, and there’s no plan to stop anytime soon. “We go well together,” Coffey says about his business and his community.
St. Croix Sports
1830 Webster St., Hudson, Wis.; 715.808.8570
Facebook: St. Croix Sports
Instagram: @stcroixsports
