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It just could be there is light at the end of the tunnel
and it is not a train coming at us. Let me take us back a
ways first though. Years ago a small lunch counter served
a terrific hamburger, had avocado on it if you wanted it.
Then they dropped it from the menu. The cost of the avocados
had gone up. They stopped selling it. I asked them why they
didn't just raise the price of the burger. That had not
occurred to them. Later on they noticed that Mondays were
the slowest day of the week. To save money, they closed on
Mondays. That made Tuesdays the slowest. They closed on
Tuesdays.
I think you see where this is leading. Yes, they went out
of business. They just could not make ends meet being open
only on the weekends.
So, now let's try to remember the days of yesterday, the
times of the local hardware stores. Nuts, bolts, hammers
tools, outdoor clothing, guns, knives, fishing gear, bait
and one chap in particular who everyone knew well. He owned
the place. Could answer just about any question on just
about anything you might need to know. Now it might be true
that in the spring he stocked a few more minnow traps than
in the late fall. And he had a wider selection of large bore
guns in the fall than in the spring.
He had the newest selection of fishing rods and baits in the
early spring though, that was his job. Keep the inventory
stocked and appropriate to the coming season. He did not
pack up all of his guns in the spring, nor all the fly rods
in the fall. He looked at the big picture on a year around
basis. He was not driven by the sales receipts each and every
night. Nor week for that matter. It was his store and he knew
how to make a living with it.
So let's say the town booms. Grows like crazy. He needs to
stock way more goods. He takes in a partner, in fact a few
of them, sells off a few bits of stock. Now they all want
to make money on their stock. They must be smarter than he
is, after all, they had the money to invest, he didn't. So
they think they should call the shots on how the store is
operated. Now, he is working for them, no longer in business
'for himself'.
When the control switches like that some good things happen
at first. Prospects look good. Major credit becomes cheap
and easy. Growth is phenomenal. Then someone starts to notice
that 'Mondays' are the slowest day so to speak. That is kind
of what is happening in the fly fishing game with the big box
type stores. Why they are replacing the fly gear with lipstick
and diapers. Facts show there is more money per cubic foot and
that is the whole game. And it does not require as talented a
clerk to handle the sales.
The pendulum is swinging back. The shops that stood the
test of time will once again have a chance to make it. Sure
they may have to really watch how they buy goods and how
often they blow their profits and how the manufacturers
treat them, but, they are coming back on line.
When you don't find what you use to at 'Billy-Bob's' mega
store you will go back to Fred's Bait and Tackle or your
local Pro Shop; hopefully they are still hanging on. So
quit whining that the big outfit that came into your town
doesn't have all the fly fishing things you want at dirt
cheap prices. They can't afford to carry them. They make
more on diapers and lipstick and could not care less about you.
~ James Castwell
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