Okay, what was I doing at the Ski Industry Summit (formerly known as Ski Week) and why am I writing about it for Snow Biz? Anybody got a problem with some early season turns in Vail when there’s hardly anybody here? Didn’t think so. Also, there was an open bar each night. But aside from the obvious hedonistic reasons to show, the winter resort business has to do some things differently. Baby More…
Archive for 2000
I Think I See a Plan. News From the Ski Industry Summit
Thursday, December 7th, 2000Benefiting from Recent Industry Initiatives; It’s Up to Each of You
Monday, October 9th, 2000By now, you should all have seen SIA’s study “Growing the Snow Sports Industry” and NSAA’s growth model for the resort business. They don’t claim that any industry initiative by a trade association is the salvation of the winter sports industry’s issues of participation and profitability. They say, if not exactly this way, “It’s up to each of you.” From the 20,000 foot level, where the oxygen is thin, here’s what More…
Tulips
Sunday, September 17th, 2000I walked out of ASR feeling positive about skateboarding and its market and will discuss why below. Still, when things look too good to be true, it’s been my experience that they usually are and I’m as susceptible to the hype as the next person. Let’s start, then, with this cautionary tale from Edward Chancellor book “Devil Take the Hindmost- A History of Financial Speculation.” Tulip Mania “Conditions in the More…
“I Don’t Think We’re In Kansas Anymore, Dorothy.” Skate Retailers in the Lifestyle Market
Thursday, August 3rd, 2000Let me start by telling you, in no particular order, some things you already know. 1) Margins on hard goods suck, but carrying them draws customers in and legitimizes you as a skate retailer. 2) Truth be known, hard goods from different brands are pretty much the same. You may have some brand loyalties, but you’ll buy what your customers wants. 3) You make most of your money in higher More…
The Dot Com Equation; What Does it Take to Make Money?
Friday, July 21st, 2000In internet years, it seems like ancient history. But it really wasn’t long ago when it was taken for granted that on line retailing represented a new paradigm in selling to consumers. Maybe it still does- or will. But so far, making money as an online only retailer has proven illusive. How come? How many pairs of surf trunks do you have to move at a “normal” margin before you show a profit? “It doesn’t More…
The Retailer’s Dilemma; Are There Any Snowboard Shops Left?
Friday, June 23rd, 2000Use to be that I’d scurry home from Vegas in March with my extra backpack full of snowboard dealer packages and, like a kid at Christmas, throw myself into them to see what was new. It still takes an extra backpack (though a smaller one- fewer brands but a lot more pages per brand). This year, though, there didn’t seem to be any urgency to reviewing them. Not having to make buying decisions, More…
Quality Financial Planning for Every Action Sports Retailer; No Accounting Degree Required
Tuesday, June 20th, 2000Rarely, but once in a while, I come across something I want to plug. Not too long ago, it was the new Board Retailers’ Association ( www.boardretailers.com . If you haven’t joined yet, get moving. Opps, there I go plugging them again.). This time, it’s some inexpensive, easy to use, financial planning software that the Retail Owners’ Institute has developed. So today, instead of ranting and raving about some possible industry trend, More…
Public Wisdom, Maybe; Comparing the 1999 and 2000 Buyers Guides
Tuesday, June 20th, 2000I hold in my hand the Transworld Skateboard Buyers Guides from 1999 and 2000. Everything you could possibly want to know about decks, trucks, wheels, and bearings are in these guides. Well, okay, Transworld exercises some discretion in which brands make it into the guide and which don’t. All the product from each brand isn’t necessarily included. Not everybody has actual suggested list prices so the ones included may be a little More…
Snowboards from Afar; The Potential Impact on Retailers
Tuesday, June 13th, 2000In the early 90’s, when snowboards started pouring into the U.S. from the Austrian ski factories, there were claims that consumers wouldn’t accept boards labeled “Made in Austria.” Mostly, those claims were made by U.S. factories threatened by foreign production. If there was a marketing advantage to a board “made in the USA,” it didn’t last long, and smaller inefficient U.S. producers went out of business. In our consolidated, mature industry, brands More…
Skateboards on the Internet; “You Can Get Anything You Want…….”
Friday, March 31st, 2000I girded up my loins (you’d think doing that would hurt) and sat down to research this story, fully expecting to have to visit dozens of web sites and to check each of them out utilizing my infuriatingly slow web connection. My web connection is, indeed, infuriatingly slow, but it looks like there may be less research than anticipated. You can pretty much find any deck, truck or wheel you want More…
