Tackle shop trouble

[Ryan "Ribblecraft" Turner]

I can't believe how difficult it is for the small/new tackle shop to actually buy tackle! I have started using a new local shop, "The Rod Rest" in Heywood near Rochdale. [I will post details on the shop list]. It's run by two brothers, they're top chaps, the shop has certainly got that old style, "wanna brew n a fag mate?" feel to it. Over the last six months or so the lads have been trying to give their customers a good range of tackle, I'm not talking about specialised gear or hand built cane here, just your normal stuff like line, leads and groundbait. The trouble is, the neighbouring tackle shop that's situated in the next town about six miles away wont let the reps sell to them, they will pull their order if the rep stocks them! I could name names but i will just name makes. Van den eynde, Sensas, Maver, Nash, the list does go on. The gangster attitude of this much bigger shop that has already pushed a very old and much loved shop under in the last few weeks, [surely they are hell bent on world domination!] has certainly lost them a customer or two over here. The deceased shop I mention is on the list on this site, sadly it serves as an epitaph to a friendly family business of fifty years that my grandad first took me to. I dont mean to bang on but it really is a poor do when one shop in one town can tell the kids in another town that they're not allowed to use these very popular brands of tackle,it's these brands that the kids of Heywood are reading about. Anyway it ticks me off and i had to say something. Before i forget, i do want to thank a few manufacturers and reps for not letting another fine shop die before my eyes, Dynamite Baits, Middy, Octoplus and Shakespeare have all been cool therefore I am now buying the said brands, as for The Gangster Angling centre they should be arrested!

 

[Mel Crighton]

BR your comments surprised me , I have a tackle shop near me that has 4 outlets, but whennI ask a few months back for a Korum rod they did not have one but phoned all the local tackle dealers within 25 miles to locate one for me, and I got it at a discount, they are not all the same, when I visit the store it's always a brew and a chat, good service means loyal customers,bet that shop dosen't have that kind of service.

 

[Merv Harrison]

Unfortunately BR, this type of 'underhand' method of business affects all smaller outlets, I'm in the nursery trade, (shrubs/conifers etc, and we have our own experience of it. When my wife had her own shop, it was quite common for reps to tell her that certain lines were 'unavailable' to her because of threats from other 'like' businesses.

 

[Merv Harrison]

Sorry, meant to say that with a bit of searching around, it is usually possible to source a supply.

 

[Wolfman Woody]

It's that same all over and many in the tackle trade thinks this is how it should be. Eg, there's a store near me sells a well known Japanese reel and a store 10 miles away can sell the same reel, but a guy in the middle who would probably sell just as many can't. So he sold a different make of reel when it was first announced and now it is very, very popular. Store A also wanted to sell it after a while alongside his other reels and was told no! Justice is served.

 

[Ryan "Ribblecraft" Turner]

Merv, my mate in said smaller outlet can go to third party wholesalers but feels like he doesnt want to do this. The problem seems to be self employed reps one or two of which are big name anglers, one in particular who actually coaches kids is allegedly the worst offender as he reps for about five major companies. This guy was apparently in the anglers mail in some sort of bother with the european ground bait people, a very well known ex england international match angler? i didnt read it... yet. Anyway reps from the likes of shakespeare who are actually employed by the company and on a wage rather than a commision based earner are more than willing to help these smaller shops. Once again its down to the dollar.

 

[Ryan "Ribblecraft" Turner]

By the way I think Bob Church is one of the good guys who helped em out with stock too.

 

[Baz]

I had a friend who was looking to buy into a tackle shop. When it comes to certain makes or products, there was some kind of agreement where shop A could not stock the same products as shop B, if the shops were less than five miles appart. I think this was some kind of unwritten agrement, which could easily start tackle shop wars.

 

[Ryan "Ribblecraft" Turner]

The fact is, the reps of these big companies Van den eynde in particular, should encourage the tackle trade not stifle it. There is a large free to fish park lake just behind The Rod Rest tackle shop, there are also a lot of kids who fish there and can walk to the lake via the shop, thats ok as long as they dont want any V.D.E groundbait. Considering the V.D.E rep is the Team England Juniors coach you would have thought he'd let the kids have some bait!

 

[Merv Harrison]

How did you catch the one you're holding BR, that's what comes of leaving your terminal tackle in too long.

 

[Matt Brown]

I managed a retail outlet for 9.5 years so I can see both sides of the fence.

If you owned the shop 6 miles away in the other town and had spent years building up your business, and along the way you had worked with some sales reps to build up the tackle brands they represent, the last thing you would then want is a competitor to come along and sell product you had helped establish.

If both shops end up selling the same brands it is likely that overall sales will be split between the two shops. There are only so many customers who plan to a particluar product. Doubling the number of outlets doesn't double the number of sales.

After a while the original shop will only be selling half as many products by that particluar brand and therefore will eventually carry less stock and therefore offer less of a range of products to the angler. The original shop will then try other, equivalent brands instead.

The only way a new shop can do well is to establish a good reputation and a good customer base. A shop should try to become the sort of place that is attractive to both customers and sales reps. Then the reps won't care if they lose the deal with the first shop.

Setting up and establishing a retail business is hard, which is why 4 out of 5 fail in the first 3 years.

 

[John Jones]

Couple of years ago I went into a small tackle shop while away on holiday and asked if they stocked a particular Shakespeare rod. The owner explained that Shakespeare would only supply in quantities of 25 or more so it simply wasn't economical for him to stock their products. On the other hand he said Shimano supplied any quantity from 1 upwards. Seems to me a crazy policy by Shakespeare if it's true. Was it b......t or is there any truth in it?

 

[Matt Brown]

I would suspect that Shimano charged a far higher price per rod if ordered individually than had they bought more.

Normally there are discount tiers whereby the discount would be 20% off retail per rod for a quantity up to 5, 30% for orders of 5 rods or more and so on.

The discounts and quanity rates above are just guesses.

Distributors try to get the dealer to 'commit' to their brand. Sometimes these deals seem fair, sometimes they are ridiculous.

 

[Baz]

The two shops I refered to, both monopolised their area of tackle sales.
One was more or less match fishing gear, the other was specimen angling gear.
My mate was going to buy the match fishing shop, and change it to specialised tackle.
That is where the problem lay.
But the first specialist shop didn't like the oncoming competition, as my mate would have "really specialized". with top class gear.

 

[Baz]

As things are today, both shops are more or less crap. Both still selling what is the in bait and little else.
This is why I travel a twenty mile round trip
to a better class of shop, better service, and they do know about anglers needs.
I once asked in this better class shop how do they turn their casters?
The owner said come with me and I'll show you.
He took me downstairs into the cellars and shown me the process. Any shop that will take the time to show somebody around their maggot/castor processing will get my custom any day.

 

[John Jones]

Thanks Matt for the inside info, sounds highly logical the way you put it. It just seemed nonsensical to me that Shakespeare would expect an independant tackle shop owner of limited means to lay out for 25 rods which he might not move for months if ever.

Talking about the way tackle shops are run, I remember on my first ever visit to the Hampshire Avon going into a well known tackle shop for a day ticket for the Severals. On asking advice I was talked down to as if I was a complete idiot (yeah, yeah, I know!) and told amid sniggers and knowing looks that ' this is proper fishing, not what you lot up in the Midlands are used to'. So many presumptions and even more arrogance. I never went back and told all my mates to give it a miss as well. Some tackle shops don't deserve to make a living.

 

[The Monk]

Hi Bed Ronder

Nice to see Heywood has another tackle shop, I passed it the other day and was pleasantly surprised. My understanding is that the larger companies who supply these shops base their circulation on the amount of money a shop turns over, ie the shop spending a large amount will command a certain demography, money talks mate, sad but true. I hope Rod Rest sticks it out for a while though and good luck to them

 

[Ryan "Ribblecraft" Turner]

Merv, caught that one by design, very specialist form of maggot dippin did the trick! 13lb 3oz specimen! The monk, it is nice to have a tackle shop back in the wood. You should pay them a visit, the lads are really sound and they would appreciate your custom.

 

[The Monk]

I will mate, used to fish Queens and Pilsworth a lot in the old days and write the angling column for the Guardian (Middleton one that is), done a bit over the years for the Heywood Advertiser also

 

[Merv Harrison]

13lb 3oz, Good God, thats got to be your personal best !!!!!!!