I'm not mad at the chains. If you read my post, I'm saying that sometimes the higher prices paid at a mom and pop are worth the intangible benefits you receive by shop there. There are also times you are better off going to the chains.
Paying more for the same product is obsurd. Shop A has a OBEY Tshirt for $30 Shop B has same OBEY shirt for $17. What do you buy? the $30 shirt from your local shop so you feel some sort of closeness to your community? PS - This video was a complete waste of time - but for some reason i really want to go buy a patagonia wetsuit and a sector 9 skate board
Again, I'm not AGAINST chains. I'm saying that sometimes you benefit from paying more at a mom & pop because of the better service and familiarity, etc. I agree with what you've said. The is definitely a need for these larger chains. Just not all the time and maybe not as often as we utilize them. Agreed with all of this. I would rather own 1 television made here in the US than have 5 TVs in my house made in China. The problem is the American consumer has been caught up in social status and greed. They want 10 of everything and they want the newest one and they want it cheap. The latest ipod, the newest Play Station, the trendy fashions... instead be happy with a few really good things than a ton of cheaply made crap.
^ product placement... yes, that patagonia label flashing all over the place made me want some new gear too.
I know what you're saying: Mom and Pop $5 screws + $1 personal relationship, advice, time saved explaining your project, store is around the corner = $6 Home depot $5 screws The extra dollar is worth the personal relationship, advice, time saved explaining your project, store is around the corner. Right?
I don't know about you, but the last time I paid $500 for a surfboard out of a surf shop was about the last time I got a free leash....over 10 years ago. It's more like $650, not to mention that the shop will get discounts when they buy bulk....so you can increase that margin of profit a bit more. That's easy...with the profits from clothing sales. That's about 100%. I haven't seen a surf shop that sells more surfboards than clothing since the 70s. Why are you basing this on a surf shop, anyway? Local shapers rarely own shops and unless they're seasoned and established, rarely only shape. This is a bit convoluted from the OPs statement, no?
Shop A is down the street. Your friend works there. The trendy logo on your OBEY T-shirt peeled off the first time you washed it. Your friend at shop A gives you a new one. Shop B is in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Actually, it's not a shop, it's a dude who sells cheap sh!t on ebay out of the bedroom of his parents house. You order the shirt online. You get the shirt in the mail and it says OB_Y, missing the E. That's because it's a factory second and the screen printer f#cked up. Good luck getting an exchange from Albuquerque. You can ship the shirt back for $13, but now it ended up costing you the same as that $30 shirt you could have bought down the street. So, you decide to go surfing with your friend, but wait, he's out of work because everyone shops on ebay now. He can't afford a wetsuit. Sometimes it's better to just buy your T-shirt at the local shop.
Exactly! That's all I'm saying. Sometime mom & pop can't afford to keep the same amount of stock as HD or Lowes. You need a specific screw they don't carry. So you go to the chain. Both can co-exist. Sometimes it pays to keep mom & pop in business.
The author of the post I replied to seemed upset that he doesn't get a free leash and traction pad with his new board anymore. I was only explaining why that is not a reasonable expectation. Those monetary amounts were only to demonstrate the small margin of profit a shop makes on a board. Surfers tend to think that because a board is so expensive that a shop is making a lot of profit. This couldn't be farther from the truth. Profit margins on surfboards are tiny in comparison to other goods.
Sh!t, i forgot to spell check before i hit submit. Why did god invent yeast infections? so women know what its like to put up with an annoying c#nt
I try to buy local as much as I can . 80% of the stuff I buy for surfing comes from one shop . The other 20% get the rest of my buisness cause they dont carry what I want at the other store and vise versa. On the Home Depot Vs Mom and Pop discussion. My mother inlaw work at a mom and pop hardware store for 15 years maybe more . When Home Depot opened up the store closed with in 6 months. Why is it okay for the mom and pop buisness to strave but not the Home Depot ??? She Works at home Depot now and so does the owner of the store she worked at Go figure
Question: since you been on the scene long time maybe its the same in your back yard but have your local shops been been in business many years too? If yes, I would say ours too and few more shops have added here and there. Surfing retail industry has fared better than most retailers over many years and maybe its because you don't find surfboards and accessories at the big box stores. I only hope you NEVER hear over the intercom customer assistance needed in isle 19 for a China copy of a Skip Frye Fish.
Me too; I bet if ya did a poll most would be devoted to 1 or 2 local shops. I'm sure customer service is one of the factors which equates into customer loyalty that does contribute to some shops being more successful than others maintaining/ increasing their stability and bottom line
I try and go to my local grandpop hardware store for everything. I always start there, but about 60% of the time, they dont have EXACTLY what I need. Then I drive down to home depot and they have everything... Thats one problem. I try and support my local surf shop, the real local grasroots one, but they dont have contracts with the best wetsuit companies and stuff. So, while I get essentials from there, I simple cant shop there a lot because I refuse to buy an inferior product for the sake of community. I am a consumer first and foremost. We all are. The problem with bringing production back to the us, is that our currency is inflated and our labor is over-valued in most industries. The simple fact for companies is that they cannot turn a reasonable profit on most large scale products in this country... He have ridiculously strict import/export laws. We have oversight on every level. We have the high labor pricing in the world. We force companies to buy insane insurance, follow insane protocols and limit the amount of impact companies have on the environment etc... So, while that all sounds great, it costs a ton of money. And in a perfect world, companies will do that. But companies had to lay off their employees. They cant help but to do so, because the cost of doing business in the US it too high.. The us needs to re-invent the way we make money and the way we do business, because manufacturing and labor positions are outsourced for good reason. It is just WAY too cheap. It is a no brainer. Why make cars in detroit when the total cost after production on a compact car from ford is like $5000 for the whole thing with labor, and in India, you can pump out the same vehicle for $1800 per car. I mean, its a no brainer... You cant ask companies to do that. It is bad business. When walmart etc took over DECADES ago, it was a sign of the times changing. Mom and pops will never survive. I mean, some here and there, but supply and demand is the simple concept in business, and you have to keep up with it or left behind.... Its like everything that was have automated. Atms, call centers, voicemail systems, web systems. We have eliminated like 70% of american jobs with our own creations, but created entirely new job fields for people to get into. I.e, E commerce, online banking, all the other things.... This is the information age. American ports in this country are almost useless now because of giant cargo planes... Its life in america. We always have to change.
a smart, hardworking mom-and-pop does competitive research, adjusts inventory, labor, layout and hours of operation and invests in marketing, they'll compete with a chain, no problem. In fact, they can benefit from a chain/big box presence because it can save them from having to stock certain items that they don't make $$ on and they can devote more shelf space to the better-margin items. A dumb, lazy mom-and-pop sits behind the counter and *****es and moans about Wal-Mart, conflates brand loyalty with personal friendships and associations, refuses to spend any real $$ on marketing and eventually goes out of business.
Honestly, I wouldn't care if I heard that at any store, as it doesn't neccessarily mean I'm going to purchase it. Personally, I find the fear and hate of pop-outs have been overstated as threatening the future of shaping as we know it. I believe there will always be work for quality shapers. While the number of pop-outs have certainly increased, the number of people in the line up have increased expotentionally. I'm pretty sure that the careers of quality shapers aren't in jeopardy and the young and aspiring won't be disuaded from giving it a shot. I have yet to hear of a company sinking because of the pop out market.....and I've been "on the scene" a long time.
Attention: obvious statement alert Buy what you want from whomever you want - its called free market. Support your local shaper if you want or go buy a zillion dollar pop out - just don't buy hollister ranch stuff because its gay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thank god someone beat me to this! as a shop employee, i hate when people (wanna-be "bros") come in w/ a sense of entitlement. it's a surfboard, not a used car. there's no negotiating that should be going on. i don't negotiate w/ my shaper when i custom order a board, so why would i do it in a surf shop? (i'm friendly w/ my shaper, we've drank some beers together while discussing designs & design theory, but i'm not looking for a "bro deal" or anything..i think its rude to ask outright for a discount & disrespectful to the craftsman as well...) the price is the price & that's it. you either pay it or you don't. asking for $50 off & a free leash or trac pad thrown in along w/ wax (most shops do this automatically...it's become 2nd nature to me) & the shop is pretty much losing money on the deal! people need to get a grip...part of why boards from ...lost, ci, rusty, firewire, etc. seem to cost so much more is b/c they are coming here from the other side of the country. the shipping costs for 10-20 boards can nearly equal the cost of the boards themselves. so yea, that gets passed on to the customer, just like every other business. a custom ci, including shipping, will generally come in around $500, assuming plain white pu/pe, sanded finish. the shop doesn't really make any money on that. they're banking on the idea that you'll come back in again & buy stuff. so buy a locally made, handcrafted surfboards & put your shaper's kids through college!
analogies... a few analogies, maybe thought-provoking, maybe not, but it's just my view of things Food: Option 1: buy processed stuff cheap, mass quantities, etc. My problem with this is mainly...where the hell did that stuff come from? How much stuff in there is dangerous but not enough that the FDA gets silenced by the "powers that be" who don't want to lose the political support of Monsanto or whomever. Option 2: buy more expensive stuff from local growers who I know and trust. It takes a little getting used to because your options are limited by the climate and what gets grown when, but for me it's a "peace of mind" issue. Cookware/household goods/clothing Option 1: shop at Wal-Mart, get stuff cheap, lots of stuff! Option 2: buy locally made goods OR off the internet from companies I've looked at and come to the conclusion that their workers are being treated fairly. It takes a little research (and of course they could be lying) but for me it's worth it. I think of the Nike sweatshops and want to vomit as I think about little kids sewing running shoes while an armed guard keeps everyone in line. A lot of the people working overseas for what we consider "reputable companies"...are treated like slaves, and I refuse to turn a blind eye to that. Driving Option 1: rock the commute Option 2: I cheat here a bit because my girlfriend lives in Baltimore and I in Annapolis. On the weekends I drive up there and we seldom use the car. I buy groceries at the farmer's market in Baltimore and don't drive at all during the week. It'd be hard to pull it off without that one round trip drive each week, but I do the best I can to push Exxon out of my life. It takes sacrifice for me to live close enough that I can walk to work. Annapolis is damn expensive, so I can't afford a mansion and live in a 200 sq ft apartment. Surfing It's actually the hardest thing to pull off "right" because I now live 100 miles from the nearest surf spot, but I try to minimize the driving. I buy from a few surf shops that I know and trust. They've always treated me well, and that's why I shop there. I could probably get a cheaper deal elsewhere sometimes, but the RELATIONSHIP is more important to me. That's the pervading theme in all these things... ...with food, I know personally the people who grew or raised most of my food, I have a less isolated life in the city because I don't spend hours sitting in my car each day, I do the best I can to advocate justice in the consumer industries, and I have a some cool places to hang out and talk surfing when I feel like it. Don't take this as some sort of judgmental thing. If you don't live like me, I don't hate you. I just prefer to live as I do because it's more satisfying.
