People Snowboard blog
Torment Magazine : People Skate & Snowboard interview
How do you deal in a seasonal industry?
Boom or bust. We have such a narrow window to sell merchandise at a sustainable margin, it’s really like two months or 75 days that we have strong sales to determine if we get to keep going. No one is going to bail you out, and while some brands or reps do try to help, it’s often too little too late. It can just soften the blow, but I’ll be the one eating hotdogs for dinner until I can move that inventory that no one wants for another eight months. Selling skateboards is a lot more predictable—markdowns are not an expectation and the consumer hasn’t been trained to expect a deal near a given date.
This is a flaw of the snowboard industry model. Consistently devaluing products because we're trying to clear out over production is not healthy. We end up with a graphic change and little else, but now that $500 is $350. I want $350 boards to exist, but not like this. It’s bad for the environment, and hurts the profitability of brands who will make cuts to things like their snowboard team or promo for events. Precisely the things that should be invested in are the first to get cut because the consumer doesn’t see it. That discounted snowboard actually costs more, it’s just being taken from a different place.


