Tim Robertson When buying a new tennis racket - and apparently this has been true for decades - at Todd & Moore Sporting Goods in Columbia, the customer can actually take out a demonstration racket or two for a few days, return them and take out another two, just to get the feel and to make an informed decision as to the new racket.

Other folks, the uninformed, have been buying new rackets on recommendations and on appearances, but sometimes the new rackets were disappointments even though they were bought and claimed non- returnable goods.

Tennis racket buyers still do best with the personal service that comes with buying over the counter at their local sporting goods store rather than the Internet with huge discounts.

Tim Robertson runs the Todd & Moore tennis section, and he is also the store's general manager and its vice president for retail sales, where he has worked for more than 35 years.

Robertson was born in Leaksville, N.C., where the town later merged with two others to form Eden, N.C. Robertson's father worked for Dupont in textiles, and his mother managed the house. Robertson has one older sister who works in banking software in Kansas. His younger sister lives in Myrtle Beach.

The Robertsons moved from Eden, N.C. to Myrtle Beach, S.C., then to Charlotte, N.C., and to Jacksonville, Fla., and back to Myrtle Beach by the time Robertson was in the seventh grade. He attended Myrtle Beach Junior High School and graduated from Myrtle Beach High School, where he was a varsity basketball forward. During high school and particularly during the summers, Robertson always worked. He put in his time at Mammy's Kitchen, Hickory House Drive- In, Bell's Hamburgers, White Point Family Seafood House. He even painted houses one summer.

He began his college freshman year at Coastal Carolina planning to take a pre- law major, but after two semesters, Robertson left for Orlando, Fla. in the fall of 1971, the same time Disney World opened. Robertson worked in photo film processing in Orlando, moving up to becoming an analytical chemist.

Robertson moved to Columbia to attend USC in the fall of 1972. He arrived during the early summer and shopped for a summer job he could adjust for the class schedule in the fall. He interviewed successfully at Todd & Moore and began part- time. By the time classes were to begin, instead of working part- time and attending classes full- time, Robertson was asked to work full- time and attend classes part- time.

At the time the most popular high- end tennis racket was the Wilson Kramer, which could be bought from Robertson at Todd & Moore for $18.99 plus strings. The strings could go on the racket for another $6- $20, depending on which nylon or which split lamb's gut was specified. For about $40, Columbia tennis players could equip themselves just about the same as the winner of the U.S. Open at Forest Hills in Queens, N.Y.C.

Today, the best rackets run over $300, and the top gut strings add another $70.

Besides tennis, as general manager, Robertson oversees all the sporting goods. And for more than 35 years, Robertson has seen trends and developments bolster his sales figures. The first trend he experienced was well under way when he first stood behind the counter in the tennis section. Dallas- based Lamar Hunt bought the professional tennis tour from Jack Kramer in the 1960s, and with fresh money and serious management and innovative marketing, tennis took off.

In 1972, Frank Shorter won the Munich Olympics Marathon, and distance running became the rage, boosting shoe sales beyond anyone's projections.

Golf has always been strong since Arnold Palmer was invited to play with President Eisenhower, but now the baby boomers are passing 60 and taking up the game.

Robertson and his wife Robin have two sons. Older son Todd works at the library at UNC- Pembroke, near Laurenburg, N.C., where he lives with his art professor wife and their three- year- old daughter. Younger son Colin works in

distribution for the Financial

Times newspaper in N.Y.C.

In the tennis section at Todd & Moore, the racket stringing brace- and- stand machine can be seen situated behind the counter. It's made by Babolat, and it's called their Star 5. When 12- year- old John Temple Ligon strung rackets, he used a racket brace- and- stand contraption he bought for $15 from Bobby Burns, that summer's teaching pro at Forest Lake. The Babolat Star 5 starts at $3,000.