Store One I would guess the girl was 14. She was at this big box sporting goods store with her parents picking out a board, boots and bindings. She didn’t say much and was following her parent’s lead. Their credit card I suppose. It isn’t easy, you know, to hang around through the whole sales process- close enough to hear what’s being said but far enough way so that the sales More…
Archive for 2003
Watching the Big Box Selling Process; Thoughts for the Specialty Retailer
Monday, December 22nd, 2003Chop Chop, Fizz Fizz, Oh What a Morass It Is!
Monday, November 17th, 2003Apologies to the Alka Seltzer people for bastardizing one of their old advertising slogans. It just sort of sprang into my head the moment I saw Dwindle’s announcement on their Chop Chop Wood Shop. I assume it occurred to somebody that the name might be offensive to the Chinese, but this is probably just some form of obscure skateboard humor. Hope it turns out to be good business. Last issue, I offered More…
Snowboard Company Business Models and Core Retailer Problems; A Basic Incompatibility?
Friday, November 7th, 2003“They may put me out of business and they can’t even put a wax on a board!” said the snowboard retailer about the Zumiez down the street. I talked to him enough to know that he wasn’t kidding and he wasn’t being sarcastic and he wasn’t just trying to make a point. After a bunch of years as a successful, core, snowboard retailer, he may find himself history. Gone, done, toast, road More…
Now What? The Established Shop Owner’s Dilemma
Wednesday, October 1st, 2003You started it because it was going to be fun. You were younger- a lot younger. And perhaps just a bit naïve and optimistic. You didn’t know what it was about margins that made everybody think they were gross, but what the hell. If you could hang with your friends, do what you loved and have a few beers at trade shows, starting a retail shop obviously made sense. A bazillion years later, your More…
One Possible Future; An Industry Model for Skateboarding
Friday, September 26th, 2003Last month, I wrote about surviving a downturn, suggesting that this wasn’t just a downturn but a fundamental change in industry structure, requiring a change in the way successful companies competed. This month, I’d like to be more specific about how I see the industry evolving. It’s perhaps a bit pompous to do this, because my crystal ball is no better than yours. But my recent study of China’s fixed exchange rate More…
How to Survive a Downturn And Take Advantage of the Opportunity It Represents
Monday, August 18th, 2003In previous articles, going back to when skating was growing like the proverbial weed, I’ve talked about issues related to a downturn. Things like expense control, if you should sell your business, characteristics of a maturing market, cash flow management, the impact of a recession, and the potential impact of foreign competition. Given the continuing, current conditions in the skateboarding industry, it’s kind of time, and probably well past time, to bring More…
Product Line Size; The Impact on the Way We Do Business
Friday, August 15th, 2003It began, I suppose, a couple of months ago when somebody at Burton sent me their complete catalog, buying book, whatever you want to call it, including prices and terms. Damn near five pounds it weighs according to my handy, dandy bathroom scale including colorful blue binder. It contains all of the Burton Company’s brands and certain product for international distribution that won’t be seen in the States, so sure it’s big. More…
China’s Fixed Exchange Rate; What It Means for Snowboarding
Saturday, August 9th, 2003My very first article for TransWorld, which became Market Watch, was on foreign exchange. I guess in some sense we’ve come full circle. But it’s never much fun ending up where you started, so I want to ask your help in keeping Market Watch valuable to you and occasionally controversial. It use to be, when the pace of change and general dynamism of snowboarding was greater, that my problem was picking among More…
“Say, That Sounds Like a Good Idea!” The New Board Retailers’ Association
Monday, June 23rd, 2003Like the web site (www.boardretailers.org) says, the idea for the Board Retailers’ Association (BRA?) goes back to the mid eighties and has been discussed annually. But for the past year, Roy Turner, the owner of Surf City Surf Shop in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, and Mike Duncan of Sage Corporation, a web applications firm with roots in action sports, have been making it happen. Roy’s been in the surf industry for 25 More…
Strategic Planning; Questioning Our Most Cherished Assumptions
Tuesday, June 17th, 2003This article sort of popped full formed into my brain at the TransWorld Snowboard Industry Conference at Whistler in April. It happened in an elevator. A kid carrying a skateboard got in (Shows you what kind of lousy winter it was in Whistler). As the door closed, I asked him how often he replaced his deck. He said, “I’ve been skateboarding eight years and this is my fourth deck.” Let’s hope he’s not our More…
