sup boards at MEC

[CTsupper]

While I appreciate and prefer a local shop, at least where I am, there isn't much option. I bought my surftech from REI combining a couple different sales and discounts. If it weren't for that, I couldn't have afforded a board. Our local REI is at least trying to be active in the community and seems like a good place- not a typical big box type store. 

[aircube]

yo EasyRider, if Surftech wants to sell out to places like MEC, oh well....let them become the "Walmart brand". 

 Here in the Peg  MEC is selling surftech and Jimmy Styks.  I don't like MEC much to start with and surftech and jimmystyks are not going to bring me into the store.  I always check your stock(at EasyRider) and prices first because you have experience, a name and a face.

[paddlejones]

hate to break it to you Easy... but closed distribution is not in the CORporate vocabulary and probably has been dead for at least 15 years or more

not the first or last brand with this business model in your area

[Easy Rider]

To all . . . (Kona / ehrawn / bean / paddlejones) it is not the fact that they opened up distribution to many more doors in my city, nor is it the fact that they decided to go into big box retailers . . . I have had both of these situations happen to me countless times.

It is the fact that they did the above, MONTHS AFTER my booking order had been placed AND that they NEVER TOLD ME ABOUT IT.
Neither of these has ever happened to me in my 25 years of retailing.

Those are the reasons I felt the lack of support and chose to no longer do business with them.

[bean]

You have every right to be pissed, but I sincerely hope you do what's right for your business in the long run. 

Before you cut ties with any major suppliers, it may be interesting to to see if the local MEC even has anyone qualified selling SUP's. 

As you are a more specialized shop, you will have the advantage of being able to stay a step or two ahead of MEC in emerging technology.  As you know, people are not always willing to pay for the latest tchnology, but it does tend to bring them inside. 

[PonoBill]

I don't know squat about retail, and I'm kind of happy about that, but I know a lot about PR smarminess, and I gotta say, Sup Reps post made me gag. "there I was, talking story with Gerry, or was it Laird...." Bleeeech. I fart in your general direction.

[bean]

Apparently, you bring out the worst in SUP Reps and in turn they bring out the best in you ... we smell you all the way to the east coast!

[raf]

Becoming a boutique shop, I'm guessing, is exactly what EasyRider does NOT want to become.  He wants to sell the best brands, brands he believes in and can recommend without reservation, with knowledge and expert consideration towards his customers.  A "boutique shop" sells marginal fluff.  

When big brands move from the small, expertly staffed local shop to big box stores, they are cheapening their product.  The only reason people want those boards in the first place is because the small shop experts, the guys and girls who spend real time on the water, on lots of different boards in all conditions, and are always listening to what people want, need, and expect laid the ground work.  When the small stores stop selling the products, the brand suffers, because there are no more experts.

The most challenging aspect of opening a shop (Grand Opening in 2 days!!! ) has been cultivating relationships with brands and their reps.  I think all a person can do is be honest and enthusiastic, and when you are met with dishonesty or unhelpfulness, move on.  As with anything in life, money and its promise will sour relationships and turn friends into enemies.  Keep the Aloha alive, forget it and move on.  

PS. as for the Gerry Lopez name drop, Surftech by no means has an exclusive with Gerry.  I've got 2 beautiful GL boards in the shop right now, from Riviera.

raf
owner of Soposup, New England's 1st dedicated SUP shop
www.soposup.com

[PonoBill]

Ok, I'm feeling a little guilty for not being constructive. I just hate seeing dumb attempts at PR. This is the age of skepticism. NOBODY buys bullshit, we all have highly tuned bullshit detectors. Here's how you do it REP. It's called truth:

I know seeing Surftech boards in major retailers is galling to the local shops that built this business, but all retailers that sell our brands understand that we are in a highly competitive market. If the only brands at major retailers are Chinese knockoffs, how does that help anyone? We need to compete everywhere the customers buy. If REI or MEC says to you "we want to sell your product in all our retail stores throughout North America, what would you say? No?

I'm sorry you didn't get a direct notification that more stores in your area are selling our boards. If you've ever dealt with the central purchasing departments of these big retailers you'd know we don't have that much visibility into where they rollout and how they time it. And they don't give us a lot of latitude in how we announce things. They hold their cards close to their chests. 

I honestly wish things were not like this, but my first loyalty is to our company and our employees. If we're going to stay in business and compete successfully, we have to do what we can to get in front of the customer. I make a special effort to take care of our local dealers, way out of proportion to their sales. I know what we owe you.



How's that? Seems a little better than pretending to care about the ohana.

[pdxmike]

Ok, I'm feeling a little guilty for not being constructive. I just hate seeing dumb attempts at PR. This is the age of skepticism. NOBODY buys bullshit, we all have highly tuned bullshit detectors. Here's how you do it REP. It's called truth:

I know seeing Surftech boards in major retailers is galling to the local shops that built this business, but all retailers that sell our brands understand that we are in a highly competitive market. If the only brands at major retailers are Chinese knockoffs, how does that help anyone? We need to compete everywhere the customers buy. If REI or MEC says to you "we want to sell your product in all our retail stores throughout North America, what would you say? No?

I'm sorry you didn't get a direct notification that more stores in your area are selling our boards. If you've ever dealt with the central purchasing departments of these big retailers you'd know we don't have that much visibility into where they rollout and how they time it. And they don't give us a lot of latitude in how we announce things. They hold their cards close to their chests. 

I honestly wish things were not like this, but my first loyalty is to our company and our employees. If we're going to stay in business and compete successfully, we have to do what we can to get in front of the customer. I make a special effort to take care of our local dealers, way out of proportion to their sales. I know what we owe you.



How's that? Seems a little better than pretending to care about the ohana.

Much better, but you forgot to remind SUP REP that the last step is to put your name, position and company name at the bottom, rather than doing it as an unsigned, anonymous post on an internet forum. 

[sbsup11]

PonoBill, I love your response!

Perhaps that info is the exact type of thing that would be helpful to Rep.

I feel badly for EasyRider that he ran into a difficult situation, and it sounds legitimate that he took the actions that he did. In fairness, all he has done is state his point and say he was bummed, and all the other noise started to turn this thread into another internet hate-fest. I respect the aspect of this community that is self-regulating, as I have seen some forums that just cuss IN CAPITALS all day long and it gets old.

So again, PonoBill, good on ya for making a constructive remark.

Stating a case, pointing out problems, and recommending solutions is a mature way to handle issues. True, we just need to vent sometimes, but a key part in making sure the issue doesn't occur again is moving forward, and that sometimes takes an objective viewpoint.

From talking to different companies at demos  and stuff, I haven't ever gotten the impression that Surftech, Starboard, Naish, or any other major reputable company is actually out to intentionally HURT the seller or consumer. Maybe they don't know the best way to RELATE to them, but I can't even imagine the struggles a manufacturer must run into everyday. There is no way they are trying to intentionally anger the people keeping the lights on.

Especially the companies that have been doing it for so long already, not just jumping on the bandwagon in the last year or two cuz the sport is blowing up. I'm pretty sure Surftech has been building boards since the early 90's, same with Starboard and Naish (these are some of the big ones in my mind). It's probably a similar story for many of the solid brands. They develop technology, harness great shapers and move the sport forward, and for that, I'm stoked.

When I'm trying to figure out how legit a brand is, I often ask the person riding the board, who is your shaper? Newbies and lame brands don't usually know how to answer that question.

[pdxmike]

PDXmike, sounds like you're pretty mad...

Have you personally been wronged?

sbsup--no, I'm not mad.  And I haven't been directly wronged.  But I have been directly affected positively in two ways recently by Easy Rider.  First, because he took on the effort of bringing Dave Kalama to Canada and organizing his clinic, I was able to sign up for a clinic with Dave in Seattle the day before.  Without Easy Rider, Dave wouldn't be in Seattle, and there'd be no clinic for me and a bunch of others on this forum to attend. 

Second, Easy Rider is a sponsor of this site.  If you want an example of "Ohana" in SUP, this site is a great one.  People from all around the world can talk about SUP here.  I am grateful to the site sponsors, especially the several who actively participate in it, like Easy Rider. 

So, I didn't like SUP REP's implication that Easy Rider was wrecking the "Ohana" of the sport by making his complaint.  First of all, it's ironic, since the forum SUP REP used exists in part because of Easy Rider.  Second, it was a legitimate complaint.  Third, SUP REP never directly addressed the complaint--he just made the ohana remarks and said how great Surftech is. 

But most important to me, when a retailer places an order, they do it based on how many boards they think they can sell.  If the manufacturer increases the dealers in the area without telling the retailer until after the order (or never, in this case) it can have an instant negative impact, because suddenly the guy who ordered the boards is in competition with several more retailers for the same customers.   That cuts into income, and in Easy Rider's case, he's using his income to--like I said--help bring us this forum, and to bring Dave Kalama here for the clinics. 

So those, along with what I wrote earlier, are the reasons I think Easy Rider's complaint was legitimate, and SUP REP's response was poor. 

[melonhead]

"So, did Surftech behave as Easy Rider said, or not?"

pdxmike,

  If SUP REP is anything like Surftech's customer service, you'll be waiting a long time for a reply . . .

I'm sorry you didn't get a direct notification that more stores in your area are selling our boards. If you've ever dealt with the central purchasing departments of these big retailers you'd know we don't have that much visibility into where they rollout and how they time it. And they don't give us a lot of latitude in how we announce things. They hold their cards close to their chests.  

.

Bill, the store I work at competes directly with MEC for many products (not just SUPs) and anytime we go to a showing, the reps tell us EXACTLY what MEC is going to carry so we can buy accordingly.  There is approximately zero percent chance that SUP REP didn't know what boards MEC was going to carry months in advance.

[sbsup11]

I'm not very familiar with how the retail relationship works, but in that relationship do you tell each manufacturer when you are going to stock their competitors product?

Would you call Starboard and tell them you are going to stock Naish, or Surftech if you are bringing in Jimmy Lewis?

Isn't that similar to them not informing you that they are opening a new location? It just seems reasonable that if the core shop wants visibility from the manufacturer to inform them of new locations, shouldn't the shop inform the manufacturer of competing product?

Obviously I don't have a business degree, and might have it all wrong. I find this thread fascinating...

[raf]

The assumption is that the shop carries competing brands.  Reps are welcome and should visit the shops for whom they are a liaison.  The writing will quite literally be on the wall in that case.  
Competition between brands within a single shop can be a good thing.  It gives brand A an opportunity to differentiate itself from brand B and C.  It becomes a problem when A,B and C all bring pretty much the same thing to the table.  

Opening a new account with a new store near one that already carries your product won't increase the product sales very much.  The first store should already be tapped into the market.  All it really does is decrease the profit margins on that product in that area because now 2 stores are competing for the same market pool.  This hurts both stores, but will hurt a local shop much more than a chain that can sustain lower margins.