whoa. did you see the Poll today.

slaydit · Posted: Oct 25, 2004 12:07 pm Post subject: whoa. did you see the Poll today.

the question today was "What do you think of your local board shop"

is amaizing that 25% of the results was "theres no board shop around me" . and 50 % of the results that had shops said they were either Shitty or just ok. ....... Damn whats the problem with wakeshops opening up?

Is the overhead for product to high? or is there not enough wakeboarders?

anyone know?

roundbaywakeboard · Posted: Oct 25, 2004 12:11 pm Post subject:

I think the market is just too widespread. There's alot of wakeboarders- We just live all over.

Wakebrad · Ladies Man Joined: 11 Dec 2003 Posts: 12257 City: Dallas

My local boardshop's prices are rediculous. When I can get everything they sell there online for cheaper it's hard for me to spend the extra cash. I still probably spent a couple hundred bucks this year on things I needed right then.

dumassonwheels89 · Posted: Oct 25, 2004 12:33 pm Post subject:

I live north of Houston and the three closest boardshops are sun and ski sports, M2, and some shop in conroe. All are about 45 to an hour away.

nuckledragger · Posted: Oct 25, 2004 2:01 pm Post subject:

I think there are three reasons or problems.....First it is extremely expensive to open a shop. The owner has to have deep pockets (lots of cash) to put all the money up front for the gear. Think of all the gear that a shop has: boards, bindings, ropes, clothes, wetsuits, vests, etc. That stuff isn't cheap and to have a good selection, you have to have a lot of it. The owner has to purchase all that gear before you and I can buy it. He could have $50K to $100K worth of gear when the season starts. That is a lot of cash to put forward and a big risk if you don't sell it. Not a lot of people have that sitting around or are willing to take that risk.

Second, although the wakeboarding market is growing, it still really isn't that big compared to other board sports. Since the sport is seasonal for most people except Florida, the business in the winter months dies. The shop still has to pay rent and bills but if there are no customers where does the money come from. That is why a lot of shops have crossed over into carrying surf, skate, and snowboard gear. These sports help bring in customers and cash when wakeboarding is off season.

Last, I guess, the internet kills it for the brick and mortar retailers. Although some board sport industries require online retailers to also have a regular shop, the internet has made it so easy to purchase what you want and also at a cheaper price. The online stores don't have to pay the high rent prices or bills that the regular stores incur on a daily basis. Plus it take less employees and man power to run an online store.

Maybe this helps or just makes it clear as mud.........

Wakebrad · Ladies Man Joined: 11 Dec 2003 Posts: 12257 City: Dallas

nuckledragger, I believe all of the online stores have locations but they also sell on the internet. If they can get away with selling at these prices my local shop should be able to.

Everything else... I agree

Adam Greer · Posted: Oct 25, 2004 2:21 pm Post subject:

mine was awesome until a new owner got ahold of it, accused the guys that were core and cared about the sport i the area of stealing money (which they didn't do) fired them, then hired kids that don't even skate, snowboard, surf, or wakeboard to work at the shop, and jacked up all the prices. Now it just sucks.

LFADAM · Posted: Oct 25, 2004 2:41 pm Post subject:

we finally got a local shop on my lake and the prices are MSRP or lower, the guys that work there are local riders (most are REALLY good), its convienent and well stocked. It opened in March and Im hoping they stay there forever. Wake and Skate Rox.

colefooter · Posted: Oct 25, 2004 2:43 pm Post subject:

one boardshop near me sells for just too much, i could get cheaper off the net

89 skier · Addict Joined: 30 Jun 2004 Posts: 729 City: Dallas

It all comes down to the amount of merchandise a store can push through each year. The mega-stores like Oshman's, Academy, and others that sell everything from wakeboarding to golf to fishing to shoes, etc can make their profits off of everything, so they can afford to have lower prices on most products. Were board shops have to make their profit off of boards and a few other accessories, so their prices are higher.

It just like how Best Buy and Circuit City can offer cd's at $12 and CD warehouse or smaller retailers have to sell them for $15 to make a profit.

And lot's of boat dealerships have boardshops in them because they can sell all new stuff to people when they buy their first boat. They also usually offer a discount on pro shop items to customers when they a boat from them.

I want to know how Fireworks stores can make a profit off of two holidays per year. Those large warehouses just sit there all year long and are only open for about 6 weeks all year long.

bluefish86 · Posted: Oct 25, 2004 3:01 pm Post subject:

I have three board shops within 15 minutes of either my house or my cottage. Two are great. Really helpful, reasonable prices, I'm happy to buy stuff from them. But the other.... not so great. Higher prices and bad customer service. The owner's completely out of it ... I know more about his boards than he does, and I don't even really follow new equipment. He tried to sell me some 02 bindings as 03s, and that model of binding wasnt even made in 03.

HyPeDwAkE · Posted: Oct 25, 2004 3:40 pm Post subject:

The only one really close to me is TSR and they are super over priced, there are 2 more in town though... Go to Sail and Ski sometimes, never go to Gravity...

hyperrider · Addict Joined: 06 Aug 2003 Posts: 613 City: Edmonton

roundbaywakeboard, i think your right...everyone is so spread out its hard to find a place where you would sell alot of wakeboards.

Lauri H · Outlaw Joined: 04 Aug 2004 Posts: 226 City: Theodosia

nuckledragger and 89 skier, both have really good points. We opened a shop this past summer, and it has been REALLY tough! We are the only store within 50 miles that sells wakeboards. We opened up the store for just that reason. We were having to drive to Lake of the Ozarks (2 1/2 hours) for just about anything at a decent price.
Being a very small shop, I think our prices are very fair. We sell at MAP during the season, and below MAP when the next year's stuff comes out, which is what we agree to with our suppliers. It is very hard to see internet prices (e-bay) below what I can buy for as a dealer. Sad

wakedad1 · Addict Joined: 19 Sep 2003 Posts: 667 City: Discovery Bay

I want to open a shop in Discovery Bay someday and also sell merchandise on the net. We have a couple shops around here but we need a big store with a big selection. Any other Nor Cal riders agree that our shop at the Yaht Harbor needs a bigger selection Question

roundbaywakeboard · Posted: Oct 25, 2004 6:21 pm Post subject:

Lets all move to one state-where we can all have a private lake and it will be warm all year. We'll call it florida and we will have a boat dealer or board shop on every street corner. And we will be masters at Bingo, but wont know how to use the voting machines. Very Happy

nuckledragger · Posted: Oct 25, 2004 7:23 pm Post subject:

roundbaywakeboard, very nice.....lol. Laughing

Lauri H, good luck with the shop. I know how hard it can be. You just have to figure out where you can make your money, since pricing is so tight on boards.

hyperrider · Addict Joined: 06 Aug 2003 Posts: 613 City: Edmonton

roundbaywakeboard, i strongly agree Exclamation