Results 1 to 25 of 70
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10-24-2011, 11:07 PM #1
Holy Crap, We just bought a Ski Shop...
Title pretty much says it all. My wife and I, along with a small group of like minded investors recently purchased a local shop I have been working at for the last 7+ years. We are now two and half months in, things are off to a great start, ski swap is next weekend, and it appears that we picked a good year to get this deal done.
Not sure what my intentions are with this thread, or where I see it going, but it seemed worthy of a post. Maybe this could become a place to introduce myself and our shop to this community. Maybe it will be a place people where people can let us know how much better the other shops in town are. Either way ideas, comments, critiques, and general BS is more than welcome.
A little beta on the shop-
The shop was started in the mid 70's and has been in operation ever since. We focus on Custom Bootfitting and Ski and Snowboard Tuning.
-Ski Hardgoods: Volkl, Blizzard, Atomic, Tecnica, Lange, Rossignol, 4Frnt, Nordica, Salomon, Fischer, Marker, Look.
-Snowboard Hardgoods: Bataleon, Salomon, Ride, K2, Rossignol
-Clothing and Accs: Trew, Powderhorn, Eider, DNA, Under Armour, Spyder, Oakley, Smith, Smartwool, POC, Giro, Dakine, Scott, Hestra, Swany, 686, Ride, Coal, Skullcandy, Contour, etc...
I'm sure i'm missing a few. We are open year around and in the past have focused primarily on watersports in the summer, although we have plans to change that. Longboards, SUP, Golf?? who knows...
Anyway, If you ever in my neck of the woods be sure to stop by and swap a ski story over a cold one. I can promise a Mag will never be denied a deal. Skiing has always been at the center of my life, and I am so incredibly excited for the future.
LET IT SNOW!!!
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10-24-2011, 11:18 PM #2
Congrats Bro, you gotta put a SPAM warning up though. Good ups on pulling the trigger, way better working for yourself than anyone else. Best wishes
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10-24-2011, 11:18 PM #3Addicted to blow...er.
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good luck!
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10-24-2011, 11:23 PM #4
congrats man - way to take the plunge and do something related to what you love for a living.
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10-25-2011, 12:20 AM #5
Congrats! I envy your big brass balls.
"That's what she said."
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10-25-2011, 12:42 AM #6
Congrats Brian, I wish you every success. Its only spam if you mention the name of the shop. Like, for example, you would say, "Hey maggots, come on down to Spokane Alpenhaus for free swag." Otherwise its not spam.
Did you guys buy Vince out?
Not sure of the economics or politics, but how about differentiating yourself by bringing in a few indy products? Say, Lhasas? On3p? DPS? Praxis? Ski Logik? You get the idea."We need sometimes to escape into open solitudes, into aimlessness, into the moral holiday of running some pure hazard, in order to sharpen the edge of life, to taste hardship, and to be compelled to work desperately for a moment at no matter what. -George Santayana, The Philosophy of Travel
...it would probably bother me more if I wasn't quite so heavily sedated. -David St. Hubbins, This Is Spinal Tap
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10-25-2011, 12:43 AM #7
Congratulations!
Remember one thing tho - make sure your employees understand that not every skier drives a Merc or BMW SUV, or wears fur, bogner one-pieces, needs a system ski, etc. Shouldn't be a problem in Spokane, and it sounds like you have plenty of experience and knowledge in the sport, but a lot of ski shops lose sight of that. I never cared for being looked down upon.Last edited by Jumper Bones; 10-25-2011 at 12:55 AM.
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10-25-2011, 03:29 AM #8
Find out what your customers are into that you can fit into for summer sales. SUP is hot now. Congratulations on being a part owner of a business you love.
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10-25-2011, 03:39 AM #9
congrats... advice.. throw out skis. sell real snowboards
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10-25-2011, 04:53 AM #10
Good luck!
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10-25-2011, 05:21 AM #11
We are going through in March, We'll stop in on our way to Rossland and get all the stuff we forgot at home. Good luck.
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10-25-2011, 09:56 AM #12
Thanks for the congrats...
Yeah Duke, he still has the boat business but there has been a full severing of ties between the ski shop and the boat shop.
We will be looking hard at the ski wall again this spring but, all things considered, I am really happy with our wall this year. We added Blizzard and Atomic this year, a move that has really paid off. As for "indy" 4Frnt is a start, and we have had good success since adding them to the line up 3 years ago. You'll see new stuff in the store ever year I can promise that. We'll just see how the testing goes.
Bushman,
Hope you do end up making it through, have you been to Red before?
And Cyber Cop,
I'll take your suggestion under consideration. Snowboards currently comprise about 20% of our hardgoods business, it would sure be a noticeable change for our customers. What exactly constitutes a "real" snowboard? If you could carry five Brands what would they be?
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10-25-2011, 10:06 AM #13
Congrats Brian. I'd like to chime in on the question above.
Since you're in the NW, I'd feature Lib Tech and Gnu. They're really popular, made in WA, great boards. If you carried enough of them, I honestly don't think you'd need another brand. I guess them and K2 would complement each other nicely.
I wouldn't carry Rossi and Salomon boards.
Another option would be Prior snowboards. Made in Whistler, bomber freeride decks. They make some nice splitboards.
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10-25-2011, 10:31 AM #14
good luck and best wishes to you and your wife.....hope its a fantastic season.....both snow and sales
always forward but never straight
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10-25-2011, 10:34 AM #15
Best wishes for success!
watch out for snakes
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10-25-2011, 10:46 AM #16
sounds like you know what you are doing. shoot me a PM if you ever want to swap stories some time.
good luck.Big skis from small companies at Backcountry Freeskier
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10-25-2011, 10:54 AM #17
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10-25-2011, 10:56 AM #18
Sent you a PM a couple of weeks ago. I will be up in Spokane next week.
Congrats...sounds like a dream come true! I always wanted to own a ski shop/adventure travel business. Good luck!
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10-25-2011, 11:03 AM #19
that is awesome! good for u man!
snowboards...JONES!
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10-25-2011, 11:11 AM #20
Congrats! Some Indy brands would definitely bring me into your store to fondle the goods, but my loyalty usually stems from great bootfitting and a great shop (for those nasty repairs/mounts I am too afraid to do myself). If you have that, I will gladly check you out sometime.
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10-25-2011, 11:16 AM #21
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10-25-2011, 11:38 AM #22
Yeah this is good advice. Regardless of personal opinion, not selling burton is definitely shooting yourself in the foot. its the most popular, best selling snowboard brand, without exception.
Other advice...order more splitboards than you think you will need. They barely exist past october in my experience.
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10-25-2011, 11:43 AM #23
Working in a field you are passionate about? How cool is that! Congrats and best of luck.
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10-25-2011, 11:45 AM #24
If a customer asks how magnets work, play hard to get.
Johnny's only sin was dispair
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10-25-2011, 01:54 PM #25
I'll just relate a tale told to me by a successful specialty retailer years ago. "The products we love and sell pay for all of the costs related to running the business. I get to keep all the money from the shoe polish and our summer sidewalk sale for myself."
Congrats and have as much fun as you can. It'll spill over.A few people feel the rain. Most people just get wet.
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