At some point, every business owner considers selling their company. Most that don’t go out of business are sold at some time in their history. But between considering it and selling are a host of issues, surprises, conundrums, and general confusions for the business owner who has never been through the process before. I have spoken with or heard […]
Business. It was all business. Well, maybe not quite all. The ladies and gentlemen at Mervin Manufacturing were dressed in all white outfits (they claimed not to be angels) and Mike Olsen was shooting money out of a cannon at irregular intervals. But the snowboard side of this year’s SIA show in Las Vegas showed that […]
It all kind of came together for me at the industry conference at Banff, though I couldn’t say if it was on the lift, in the spa or at the bar. Probably at the bar. The time is over when a small or medium sized independent player in this industry can just focus on getting from one […]
Open on the table next to me I have the preliminary and actual prospectus for, respectively, Morrow and Ride Snowboards initial public offerings. As of December 13th, 1995, my broker assures me, Morrow is not public yet. Ride’s prospectus is dated May 6, 1994 and those of you who bought their stock at the time of […]
I think the first time I heard about SIA it was when somebody asked me to write a check for membership. “What are we going to get out of this membership?” I asked. “We have to be a member to go to the show,” was the less than enthusiastic endorsement. So I signed the check. Turns out there’s […]
I seem to remember from my first economics class that if supply goes way up and demand doesn’t keep pace, prices can be, well, negatively impacted. When I look back at the 1994-95 season, I am disturbed because it appears that there were more boards produced than were sold to retailers; maybe a lot more. Below, […]
Actually, there’s nothing to it. The differential in rates of inflation between the economies of two countries equals the percentage change in the exchange rate over the same period. This is known as the Purchasing Power Parity theorem. There. That should be clear. Of course, government intervention in the markets can also affect exchange rates and everybody knows that […]
In 1903, 57 companies were started to make cars. 32 left the business. I recently heard it on National Public Radio, so it must be true. Snowboarding, of course, is going to be different. In your dreams. They say that when you die, your finger nails and hair keep growing for about three weeks. In Las Vegas I […]
As a snowboard retailer, you have a position in your market. You own it, and it’s yours to loose. The best way to loose it is to forget who your customers are and what they want. The other day I was in one of these warehouse stores. There was a snowboard with bindings for, I think, $299.00. The board […]
It happened to skate boards and surf boards. Now, it’s the snowboarding industry’s turn. The transition from a fast growing, hot trend to a mature industry is about more than consolidation to fewer players. It means lower margins, slower growth for many companies and aggressive competition increasingly based on price and service, not to mention savvier consumers […]
