Have You Been To A Good Flyshop Lately

[savethefriendship]

This is a link to a blog that was written by the owner of the Trout Shop in Craig Montana. It's pretty interesting and maybe some have read it already. It is long, but a very interesting read.

 

http://www.thetroutshop.com/blog/view/2313

[skibum]

This is a link to a blog that was written by the owner of the Trout Shop in Craig Montana. It's pretty interesting and maybe some have read it already. It is long, but a very interesting read.

 

http://www.thetroutshop.com/blog/view/2313

 

 

Here's the follow up blog. Simms pulled their product 4 days after the original blog. Interesting situation and approach by Jerry.

 

http://www.thetroutshop.com/blog/view/7312

[gentlemang]

This is a very interesting article, and you are right, long to read.

I work at a large Canadian retailer, I have for 20 years. What this guy is talking about has happened in many other product mixes over the years. From tools to household furniture. Even in my store I have noticed many changes to our supply chain over the last 10 years. They went from 80% North American made to 65% North American sourced.

This fly shop owner has some valid points, but the manufacturers are going to go where the money is. The consumers are going to go where the price is, most of the time, it is built into our society. You buy something and someone else asks "did you get a good deal?" Nobody replies "actually I paid $5 more because I decided to shop local" Do you know anyone that has lost their job in the last 5 years because a manufacturer has gone out of business?

Unfortunately people beleive that the price is king and lets not worry about the consequences of buying something from China or India. Then wonder why their neighbor declares bankruptsy because the plant that they work at closes.

In my humble opinion, my suggestion is this. Know where your money is going. When you are making a purchase look at where the item is made and who is selling it. If you can handle lining the pockets of another country because the price is 10 cents cheaper, then fine, that is your decision, just understand what happens when you do that. The North American manufacturing industry is now reduced to this statement on a label. "Assembled in Canada (or US) with foreign parts" Very few true manufactures are left here. The retail industry certainly has moved to a global industry. Anyone that works in the shipping industry can tell you that.

I am conscious of this when I shop, but I don't always support my neighbors. I shop local when I can, but I can't always justify the price difference to myself.

I frequent 3 Fly shops, 2 of which are locally owned. I buy the bulk of my flies or other stuff at the 2 locally owned shops. I shop at these 2 more because of the people that work there and the information that they offer.

 

Bottom line: speak with your wallet. Even small items make the difference to the retailers.

 

Thanks, my opinion.

Greg

PS: I do not shop at walmart at all, because I believe that they started the over seas sourcing trend on the large scale and made our lack of manufacturing what it is today.

[lad]

I really enjoyed that myself and am a loyal supporter of my local flyshop, (Crowsnest Angler). The value of any fly fishing shop is the intellectual value of the people who work there first, then the products of the manufacturers.

[miked]

That was a great read, thanks for posting. I try very hard to support flyshops and will often go out of my way and spend more just to do so. There is just something about a fly shop that I hope will be around for a long time still.

 

[savethefriendship]

This is a very interesting article, and you are right, long to read.

I work at a large Canadian retailer, I have for 20 years. What this guy is talking about has happened in many other product mixes over the years. From tools to household furniture. Even in my store I have noticed many changes to our supply chain over the last 10 years. They went from 80% North American made to 65% North American sourced.

This fly shop owner has some valid points, but the manufacturers are going to go where the money is. The consumers are going to go where the price is, most of the time, it is built into our society. You buy something and someone else asks "did you get a good deal?" Nobody replies "actually I paid $5 more because I decided to shop local" Do you know anyone that has lost their job in the last 5 years because a manufacturer has gone out of business?

Unfortunately people beleive that the price is king and lets not worry about the consequences of buying something from China or India. Then wonder why their neighbor declares bankruptsy because the plant that they work at closes.

In my humble opinion, my suggestion is this. Know where your money is going. When you are making a purchase look at where the item is made and who is selling it. If you can handle lining the pockets of another country because the price is 10 cents cheaper, then fine, that is your decision, just understand what happens when you do that. The North American manufacturing industry is now reduced to this statement on a label. "Assembled in Canada (or US) with foreign parts" Very few true manufactures are left here. The retail industry certainly has moved to a global industry. Anyone that works in the shipping industry can tell you that.

I am conscious of this when I shop, but I don't always support my neighbors. I shop local when I can, but I can't always justify the price difference to myself.

I frequent 3 Fly shops, 2 of which are locally owned. I buy the bulk of my flies or other stuff at the 2 locally owned shops. I shop at these 2 more because of the people that work there and the information that they offer.

 

Bottom line: speak with your wallet. Even small items make the difference to the retailers.

 

Thanks, my opinion.

Greg

PS: I do not shop at walmart at all, because I believe that they started the over seas sourcing trend on the large scale and made our lack of manufacturing what it is today.

 

 

Well said, I respect you're opinion. You make lots of great points. Thanks for taking the time to read the article.

[Jayhad]

Yes I have, it's called Fish Tales.

 

Good read, good post DonGregorio

[Guest 420FLYFISHIN]

Don i am right with you! The american dream of walmart is what is killing them swiftly. I prefer to give my money to the Saudis who own the Bay over walmart. I find the closest fly shop to my house as the few $ difference in price will be evened out over the gas price or my time spent on transit.

[darrinhurst]

Excellent read, and well put Don.

 

I remember this issue came up when word spread that Bass Pro was coming to town. I, for one, am not a fan. Hell, the only time I've spent money there is when my brother in law got me a gift card from them. Otherwise, it's a pain in the ass to get there, and even if it weren't, I'd likely still go to Fish Tales or Country Pleasures as they are both far superior in knowledge and service.

 

My two cents.

[Crowsnest]

I’ll start off by saying that I can sympathise with the author’s post and agree with much of it.

However, in my business, we are an ‘End Service Provider’ (manufacturer if you will) and we have ‘suppliers’ (fly shops if you will) and we support those ‘suppliers’ by giving them volume/preferred discounts. However, we do not refuse those customers (public if you will) who want to do direct business with us but we do not provide the same price direct to the customer as we do to the suppliers, it is typically +10% to 20% more than the 'suppliers' price.

So a Customer can deal direct from me or from the supplier, who by the time adds his markup, is at least equal to my direct price, but is often even higher. The ‘Supplier’ can justify his increased price based on value added services he can offer, which I cannot. This may suit most customers, but not all.

Let’s use ‘car buying’ as an example. If Customer A wants to buy a car through the ‘dealer’ because he wants to also buy an extended warranty, undercoating, accessories, etc, and wants/needs to work through the dealer, then he should.

BUT, if Customer B, doesn’t need all that crap, and wants to buy direct from the manufacturer for a price which may/may not be competitive with the dealer, then he should have that choice.

 

b.t.w, I don’t shop at Walmart, Costco, Cabelas and refrain from shopping at other Gorillas.

 

[ironfly]

Sorry Crowsnest, but as far as the fly industry goes, I disagree. If you were in the fly business, and I was one of your "suppliers", I'd be pretty upset. All the "value added" services supplied by a fly shop are given freely, whether a purchase was made or not, and a 20% margin isn't going to keep anyones lights on. I would drop your product line, or never have picked it up in the first place, and one of my services to customers would be to let them know they could buy direct.

[ericlin0122]

not like I dont support local business. sometimes the price is just ridiculous here.

 

[Nick0Danger]

when you run a fly shop like fish tales, you don't have to worry about what your supplier does, or what bass pro shop does, cause you feel like family in there even when you only go in the shop once a year (although they always seem to remember wind your fly line on backwards, and remember to do it every time right hand retrieve instead of left hand retrieve yes he does it on purpose its a running joke). I do shop at bass pro there the only place i can get the ammo i like to shoot in my 22-250, do i buy fly fishing stuff there no, why cause there is no price difference between them and fish tales or who ever.

 

 

[Chadillac]

personally I don't really like to shop at bass pro all that much, its so impersonal most of the time. Wholesale sports isn't far behind with being impersonal, although I have had good experiences at both from time to time. But one thing that both these Huge chains don't have is passion. When you walk into an independent shop, it screams passion. That is why I have no problem paying more at places I have better experiences in. I own a retail business and I am told quite frequently that although larger stores may be cheaper, nothing compares to customer service and passion.