“Now, this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” Overall, Vegas showed signs of being the end of the beginning of the snowboard industry’s consolidation process. Which is convenient, since I’ve always wanted to use that quote. The first person who identifies […]
The buy/sell cycle seems to be on everybody’s mind these days. The brands are concerned because the decline of in season orders means they have to take more inventory risk. Retailers, on the other hand, are thrilled to be able to get quality product in season at discounts, though are perhaps concerned that it’s tougher to hold […]
If your only business is snowboarding, you need money for three reasons. First, your business should grow at least as fast as the industry, and that growth translates into more cash tied up in the business. Second, extreme seasonality and the extended dating customers are demanding requires more working capital. Finally, tough competitive conditions are probably reducing margins, […]
It doesn’t matter if you’re a retailer, distributor or manufacturer. It doesn’t even matter if you’re in the snowboard business. In every industry, companies get in trouble for the same basic reasons, and require the same things to recover All businesses in trouble share two characteristics: denial and perseverance in the face of inescapable change. It’s easy to […]
“Blanks are killing the industry.” “Yeah, but they give the skater a good deal.” “But pros are what builds the industry, and we can’t support pros on blank margins.” “The problem is that we have too many pros to support.” Etc., etc., etc. In this highly emotional debate, there’s some truth to everybody’s position. A lot of people seem to […]
It was three or four months ago that I stopped getting the nearly weekly calls and emails from somebody who wanted to open a new skate shop. As weeks dragged on without the sound of enthusiastic voices eager to make their mark in skateboard retailing I wondered if that wasn’t a sign of a market top. […]
You might have thought I could have gotten around to this before now, but there were no more SnowBiz issues after Vegas, and I kind of forgot about this for a while. Sorry. As we’ve watched snowboarding evolve, we’ve noticed how closely products of different brands resemble each other. Differentiation is based largely on marketing and making […]
Following Vegas, in the last issue for the season of TransWorld Snowboarding Business, I wrote about trade shows and the issues we have with them. To make a long article short, I basically said, “We’re screwed!” Lot of people agreed with that, which was hardly a surprise. But I was bothered all spring and into early summer […]
I’m glad, I guess, that I’ve gotten to the age where I don’t feel completely compelled to take too much advantage of these “all inclusive, drink at much as you want of anything for free” conference packages. Because if I were so inclined, I suspect all the worrying going on at the conference might have driven […]
Okay, let’s review the rules. 1) The consumer eventually gets what they want to the extent the market is capable of providing it. 2) Companies do whatever they perceive will give them a competitive advantage, or at least let them survive. 3) The less real differentiation there is among products in the same product […]
