Serving the Atlanta Tennis Community BY EMMY POWELL, NET NEWS EDITOR
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NETNEWS MARCH/APRIL 2022
“I trained every stringer for years. I am proud to have my second employee, Randy Bagley, still a vital part of our organization,” says Dale. Bagley says his job at Your Serve has never felt like work. He used to hang out at the store and would play tennis with Dale, who he says has been a great friend and more like a brother for about 46 years. During the last 17 years, he has watched Dale’s son, Adam, help run the day-today operations. “With both Dale and Adam, I still feel like a part of their family,” Bagley said. “The job itself has been extremely rewarding in that a great number of people who come into the stores are not only customers; they have become friends over the years.”
Photos by Laura Barnard
Y
ou see the signs and storefronts across our great city. From Buckhead to East Cobb, Johns Creek and most recently in Woodstock, Your Serve Tennis has been a cornerstone for tennis players across Atlanta since 1976. Your Serve Tennis is the largest specialty store in the country in terms of the number of locations. There are 10 stores in operation, including the most recent, an outlet store, which just opened in Woodstock. The stores stock everything you could possibly need from racquets, shoes, clothing, and gifts, but this didn’t happen overnight. It has been a long but gratifying journey for the father/son team of Dale and Adam Queen, who own and operate Your Serve Tennis. It all started in Dale’s garage. He had been working for Dunlop and soon realized there was a great need for someone who could string tennis racquets. Back in the 1970’s, people still played with wooden racquets, and you could usually find them only in a department store. Imagine having your racquet shipped off for stringing and waiting days for it to be returned. Dale’s stringing business picked up steam, and at the young age of 19, he opened his first store, Your Serve Racquet Shop in the Northwoods Plaza in Doraville.
