Support your flyshop! (philosophical and controversial!!)

[Eric-WD]

In the good old days you bought at the local store or did without. If they didn't have it, they would possably order it for you. then came along sears, they had everything including kits to make your house and it was all in a catalog, it was all a letter away, send in your check cash etc and it came in the mail or to a local store.

The local store compeated by having things that everyone needed and didnt want to order. Then more stores came to be, Stores got bigger and bigger and the margin of profit became smaller and smaller. To compete stores cut there salaries and hired younger workers who didn't know much about the product but worked cheep and there were a lot of younger workers to fill those slots. Lots of little stores that were marginal to begin with and couldn't or wouldn't compeate and went out of buisiness. People began to expect to find the product localy and at a price equil to the catalog prices. Retailers came in who supplied this and the catalog stores started to fail. (seen a wards lately?) But local Specialty stores still survived.

Now we are progressing around again, the sears catalog has become the net. you can get anything you want from the Net just send in a check or put it on your plastic and it will show up on your door step in a few days. the big retailers who drove out many of the small retailers are hurting as the cheep labour that they built there companies on is starting to dry up. to compinsate for the lack of cheep labour, the product they sell is geting worse.and they are starting to focus on things people dont want to order. (been to the grocery department in a wal*mart supercenter lately)

but other companies are starting to move in via the net to be the equivlent of the small retailer of the 50's they are hurting the bigger lower priced stores by selling at a tighter margin to more people and giving good service.

I guess my point is there is nothing new in retail, just a different trend, with each new trend those who will survive do, those who can't or won't change don't. There is room for the local fly shop. they just have to find ther nitch in the circle.

Eric

[tlerm]

Eric-WD

I just read your signature line. Made me laugh real hard. Man, is that ever true!

[Eric-WD]

the Signiture is a cleaned up quote from Larry the Cable Guy, I received an email full of his quotes, that one caught my eye.

Eric

[azcat1]

This is one of the best threads on this topic on any FF Board that I read in the sense that there are customer, shop, and supplier comments. One thing that I would like to add is that as a long time fly fisher I have seen many many shops come and go. In my experience there has been an explosion of manufacturers after the movie (A River Runs Through It) and this explosion along with the development of an explosive guide/trip side of the business has led to this collapse. The internet is really just speeding it along. What I mean is: everyone and their brother thinks that every river should have a fly shop. It's many people's dream. What they don't get is how the business works. Many customers, while they mean well by stopping by a shop to have a coffee and shoot the bull, don't spend enough in a local shop to keep it in business. Intentions are great but they don't pay the bills. In the meantime, manufacturers looking to cash in would open up every store they could rather than looking at limiting regions to only select shops to sell their products. I worked high end hiking/backpacking/climbing for many years and I saw the same thing change that industry- as the market matures many manufacturers (and therefore shops) are undercut by cheap knockoffs and and cheaper products. We will see more and more of this in the ff industry I'm afraid. I think that the shops that are in a destination location (e.g. West Yellowstone) that provide excellent customer service and provide an avenue for beginners to enter the sport will survive.
I do have a question for some of the wholesale and supplier experts on here: can you please talk about the wholesale side of the business and its impact on the demise of shops? It appears to me that this industry has a disproportionate amount of small privately held manufacturers and that their products are all (or many) are sold to a shop via a wholesale structure. Don't you think that this squeezes some shops?
AZ

[hutjensmpg]

I'm sorry, but did Capitalism get a soul when I wasn't looking?

No, I don't think so. BUT a large part of capitalism is the requirement to think and act in your own best interest.

So if a person enjoys the local fly shop experience (as several have expressed), then logic would dictate that you buy your stuff there. It wouldn't be acting in your own interest to stop by and spend a small amount while getting a discount on the net or at the big box on higher ticket items and then expecting the small shop to remain in business.

Some have expressed indifference to the local shop experience. To them it's fine to go elsewhere.

[Reactionfly]

I think many things have happened to change the industry. The internet is a big one. Sales by online shops, big box retailers, etc. have squeezed the market for local fly shops. Local fly shops usually have a dedicated client base, but as the economy suffers, loyalty goes only so far, and dollars make a difference.

Some of the bigger manufacturers have a well established network of shops and even with that they require shops to make yearly purchase qtys, and buy sizes they may not even wish to. The end result is wholesalers and distributors have to come up with new ways to enter the market. Low or no minimums is one way. Another is to offer shops exclusive rights to a product line in their state. That gives them that "difference" to other shops and will have them push that product over others they may carry.

Manufacturers do try to offer that compromise of quality and price that will appeal to a large audience, but it is a difficult line to balance on. There is a good size market who will spend a lot on a quality product. A lot also want a lot for almost nothing. Manufacturers who try to offer that are often short lived. Someone above mentioned small, private owned manufacturers. This is very true, and it presents a problem for shops as well, since they usually sell direct to the public.

In the end shops will survive, but in lesser numbers, and maybe more as "tackle" shops with a full line of gear, than fly shops. With the popularity of destination fishing, outfitters and pro shops will be an important segment of the market. They will all look for new and innovative ways to sell, and they will look for distributors who can help them solve overhead problems by allowing less minimum buys etc. It is a changing world, and fly shops will have to change with it. A lot of goods ones will be lost, and likely already have. It is too bad.

As for manufacturers, they will have to continue to try and innovate products and the ways they deal with fly shops. I am in the process of getting a network of dealers for a new line of product in Canada and the US and being flexible and discerning are two crucial elements in any success i might have.

[ohiofly]

Look it's this simple! support your local shop! through thick and thin! you know it's like a Marriage for better or for worse! My shop will order in things if needed, but they won't kill them selves on the price. If you want the local mom and pop, pay the price!

[Marco]

I don't know just what amount of expenditure constitutes "support" of a local fly shop. Just how much does the average fly fisherman spend at a fly shop yearly. I, for one, spend about $100-$200 yearly( if that). THAT ain't gonna make any body's boat float. My conclusion is that opening a fly shop is a very risky proposition in the best of circumstances. I'd love to own one too but it just doesn't make my sensibility threshold.

Mark

[socalsalt]

So we shouldnt support our local independent fly shop?

And so did you! I read Bamboozles post and couldn't agree more. It's a changing world. Deal with it.

It's also happening in the manufacturing end of things like our tooling trades and residential consumerism. Much is shipped offshore nw and my job of 30 yrs is quickly eroding.

It's a changing world. Quit whining and go to plan "B". It's not like we have a choice. Global economies are in a change of flux and we need to alter our entire perspectives and deal with it in a manner that will help in the long run.

What "plan B" is I'm afraid I have no idea but this is just the beginning....

Jeremy.......who pushed his two college boys to get as much education as possible. Next thing? Maybe learn Chinese...

[Eric-WD]

I walked into my local (the traditional sportsman) fly shop here in Lewiston yesterday, walked out with thread for my sons new rod and a reel. While visiting we started talking about the Internet and he mentioned that he is selling quiet a bit all over the world via an ebay store and that he is working on a website. He is adapting to current trends and will most likely survive.

With his website I will be able to shop with him even after I move.

Eric