I’m just back from two years In Ireland, where I made a futile attempt to have one pint in every pub in Dublin. I’ve missed a bit, but I did hear about Volcom’s quarterly conference call last Friday, the 29.4% decline in its stock that followed, the industry discussion that has ensued about the […]
Volcom’s Quarterly Conference Call: It Didn’t Sound 29% Bad to Me Read More »
Not long ago, I finally came up with a definition of core retailer that I liked. I was really proud of it because it had taken me about 13 years to settle on one I thought was accurate and useful. Now, not all that long after I accomplished that feat, I’m not sure it really matters. I’ve
What’s Happening to Core Retailers? Things We Won’t Argue About- and What They Mean Read More »
I always looked first at gross margin percentages when I was running a business. Before revenue, before anything. Because those percentages were what determined how many dollars I had to pay all the salaries and operating expenses. Higher had to be better. It just had to be. Except that I was never dealing with major price differences in
Margins- Percentages and Dollars; Where to Focus? Read More »
Seems a silly question I suppose. Action sports are what we do. It’s what we’ve always done. It’s what we love. Our trade shows are more fun than anybody else’s. We get to take vacations and call them business expenses or, even better, product testing. Uh, not that I’ve ever done that, Mr. Tax Man, sir. But I’ve heard about it. I’m
Action Sports; Are We Still in That Business? Read More »
Yes. And no. The snowboard industry consolidation that started around 1995 or 96 could probably have better been called extermination. Literally hundreds of brands went away either because their founders got tired of losing money or because the Japanese stopped paying cash in advance for snowboards. Though there were exceptions, these brands didn’t get subsumed under the multi-brand umbrella
The Impact of Consolidation; Wasn’t That Over Years Ago? Read More »
At the Skateboard Industry Conference earlier this year and in these hallowed pages, I’ve argued: 1. That advertising and promotional tactics like running ads and hiring teams pass for marketing in this industry but aren’t. 2. That marketing (maybe better called market research) is the process of finding out who your customer is and
Doing Marketing; What, How and Why? Read More »
Some month ago, I got a call from an actual skate retailer. “It said at the end of the article that you work with companies in transition,” he asked almost as a question. “It’s true,” I told him. “Okay,” he said. “Help me with mine.” The story unfolded like this. He’d been in business for a bunch
Conversations with a Skate Retailer; A (Pretty Much) True Story Read More »
I remember when this was a simple business. Or at least I thought it was a simple business. You had a pro team, ran some ads, built relationships with core shops, sold C.O.D. or on 30-day terms, and were thrilled if you could get enough product to fill orders. With supply shortages, the fact that quality wasn’t
A few years ago I wrote a column called “Are there Any Core Snowboard Shops Left?” It generated a good discussion, though I got burned at the stake by quite a few people. Happily, I was wearing my asbestos underwear. The question, however, is still valid because of some of the problems core shops are having and
The Dilemma of Being “Core;” Identifying and Managing the Conflict. Read More »
As I said in the last issue of Boardsport Source, the way companies choose to compete in the action sports industry and, I suppose, in most industries, is largely responsible for the maturing and consolidation of fast growth industries. Ask the skate and snow people. People way smarter than I have acknowledged that surf’s time will come.
Hard Truths about the Action Sports Business; Use Them to Make Lemonade from Lemons Read More »