Going out of business

[BrownSugah]

What are everyones top BRANDS that you see surviving the next 5 years of the SUP market ?? Some major brands are folding already and losing team riders. Want to know who will last.

[SlatchJim]

Infinity has been at the board building business since before I started surfing, and their adaptability should carry the day. 
Wardog's shop and his business mode are also readily adaptable.
Kings looks like it will be around as long as Dave wants to be.
Blue Planet also appears to have a good range and selection in a great location.
Not sure about east coast builders.
Naish and Starboard appear to be the biggest operations in play now.
I'd say the consistent theme is that the high volume low margin operations have a lot more riding on inventory turnover than the smaller and more custom operations.  Being adaptable and not overextended is a most solid plan for long term survivability.

[PonoBill]

Pretty good summary Slatch. Dave Daum (Kings) is smart and agile, he pulled back from a more expensive location and bigger operation. Both Wardog and Robert (Blue Planet) I'd expect to do fine--same reason. Smart, and good marketers. Jimmy Lewis should be fine, and I'd expect Naish and Starboard to survive well given their broad lines. The made it past the windsurfing crash, they can probably deal with a general downturn.

Then again, you never know.

[supthecreek]

Sunova has no hope... with me as the marketing guy 

[JEG]

 

[blueplanetsurf]

Who is going out of business?  Are you saying Riviera is going out of business?
If a brand is downsizing and has less team riders, maybe they are just cutting costs and not going out of business.
It's better to have a small, profitable business than a big one that loses money or barely beaks even. 

[NorthJerzSurfer]

the Riviera rumor seems to have some legs based on how many times it has been mentioned on this forum.  Their retailers seem to be discounting their boards heavily as well everywhere I have seen- And with no announcement of any new models for next year it doesnt seem to be because they are clearing out room for anything from them.

I personally saw a local sup brand close up here in NJ. Nice guys and was a shame since they did have an retail location- They were bringing in Hawaii shaped pop outs.  But I think a lot of these brands all saw the $1100-1500 POS that were sold in the early days of sup and had big dreams....but now really are competing with <1k boards of better quality (And much more educated consumers and readily available used market) and the margin isnt there to stick around.

[comeu]

So, only brands sponsoring the Zone will survive

[Wetstuff]

I like SJ's list also, but you have to add Sunnova—they are pretty unique.  Ricky Weeks gets high marks for putting the Allwave* on many people's buy list and making a euro-centric brand stand out in the U.S. (from what I saw—all without visible thanks from Germany ..or is it Switzerland?)  I'd venture he has been involved in the bulk of the buying decisions for Sunnova also...

What's cool about Sunnova, not only do they have a great shaper in Bert (as Kings, Infinity, L41, BluePlanet..) but Martin was a big production fish prior to Sunnova. Then, being totally vertical in a reasonable economic environment allows them to both accordion the volume and quickly shape to the needs of the market.  I'd hate to be a major brand with long production lead times and erratic receivables at undernourished retailers.   Let the sorting begin.

Jim

*you can still buy a 2016 Allwave for $800 with free shipping.

[addapost]

I don’t think BIC is on many zoner’s radar screens but they are a big player. I don’t think they are going anywhere and since they just bought SIC I think they should be pretty safe too. I hope Rivi stays alive. For some reason I’ve always liked their boards. Probably the wacky colors. We carry them and every time we get a delivery I can’t wait open the boxes to see the colors.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Piros]

Here's my 2 cents on it. The shops that are surviving well sell multi brands and can order direct from the factory. The days of going to the distributor and then shipping to retailers are gone , the margins are just too small. Sup sales have definitely dropped way off in Aus but kite and windsurfer sales are still strong so the shops also need to be multisport. Sunova is the big winner at the moment with the best price point quality boards from a major manufacturer and their business model of letting the shops order direct from the factory including Sunova branded Go Foils has been very successful. So much so that the main distributor of JP Australia now sells more Sunovas than any other shop.

Team riders are dropping like flies because there is so little left to give. The Surfboard Warehouse model of selling heaps of boards super cheap is working well , originally they were looked upon as cheap Chinese stuff but they have stood the test of time over the past 5 years or so and quality is not an issue. Plus their ordering online model is very good and fast as they have a ridiculous amount of boards in stock packed and ready to ship .They can only do that by sustaining a 400 board per month turnover (including short boards) if that drops only slightly they can easily fall into the abyss.

Starboard has a great client base and seems to be still going well, don't know how with their prices of over 3k on surfing Sups. Naish like JP have suffered the most against Sunova (in Aus) and Fanatic have dropped the ball completely. Jimmy Lewis still has a good foothold here and from the few shops I have seen in Hawaii Robert has done a great job at Blue Planet with constant innovation and great personal social media work expect to see these guys around for a long time.They are the only exception to the above using the old school model.

The foil craze is still unknown on how big it will get and Naish has done an amazing job of the board & foil combos so has JL but again Sunova with the deal with GoFoil & their price point boards will they steal this as well. IMHO

I personally think it would be suicide to open up a single brand Sup only shop now same as opening up a shop/restaurant in a shopping mall. 

[PonoBill]

Nice analysis Piros, and I think right on. The distributor model is ridiculous in an internet world. If you want to use a distributor your price needs to be cost times manufacturer percentage times distributor percentage times reseller percentage. It's the reason boards that cost $500 to build sell for $1500 and no one is making money.

Buying electronics on the web is illustrative. An IOT switch manufactured in China for $2 sells direct for $4 or through an online reseller for $8 or through a name brand with distribution in a big box store for $40. An iPhone manufactured for $30 sells for $900 once everyone gets a bite and development costs are amortized.

[JimK]

I don't think the distributor model is dead in SUP They add alot to the cycle
* Smooth out demand flow for MFG
* carry Inventory retailers can't
*Manage brand image in the market
* Create a point of contact in an area to deal with warranty/brand marketing

But what brand survive
The ones that adapt fastest and with the best options for the market
Bic and Fanatic have been through this in windsurfing so they get the "nod"
Starboard and Naish are big and  are high vis
SUNOVA for sure they are innovative, able to react to market faster and they have something for everyone (not mind being real good guys to work with)
Quality custom guys like Infinity, Blue Planet will be good too

The "Fast Buck" crowd will go by the wayside I've seen it in WS& Kitesurfing and I'm sure it will happen here

BTW Windsurfing numbers have grown for us the past 2 seasons and it looks like that will be the story again  in 2017
       Foils are the question mark for 2018 niche fad or a real movement (guys like Slingshot and GoFoil are going in what looks like the right direction)

JimK
Extreme Windsurfing

[Weasels wake]

Shortly after this website was created, or there abouts, Blaine Chambers (Paddle Surf Hawaii) was the hot brand that was taking off, primarily in the islands at first then spread to the mainland.  I still see a PSH board every now and then, but they are always old and well broken in.
So what's the latest with that brand?  I have no idea.  Customs only now?

[K-541`]

I just want to know how many big entry level sups are sitting in garages and stuffed under decks ect .It doesn’t take long for the average joe to get bored with paddling on the local pond. I don’t think any of the retail shops will admit that the glory days of boards flying out the door are over.