Empty Nesting in Berkeley

Well, we dropped off Jennifer in Eugene last weekend. Rebecca has been back at Chico for a few weeks already. Officially an empty nester now. So sad. So proud as well. They are both going to do great! I will see them a few times and then they will be back to work and ski during winter break. Can't wait.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, we are another week closer to snow. The fall sale prices are outstanding but people are not coming in waves or anything. It's sort of lazy days around here. But that is changing fast. We have a clinic this Friday night on boot fitting and skier stance analysis. We took reservations that completely filled the class. That means that we will be doing 20 basic stance analysis' (for free) for participants in about two hours. Plus a bunch of custom insoles as we go along. While the boys are handling the stance work, I will be giving a boot clinic to a local club. Should be awesome! The next week we have a ski club mixer in the parking lot, followed the next night by the UC Berkeley Ski and Snowboard Club sale night. Party time at CalSkiCo!

Also starting that week will be in store product training. Some of this is with sales reps and some is in-house. It totals about 10 work days for each employee spread out between now and Thanksgiving in 2-4 hour segments. It is a scheduling nightmare as everyone has to attend. We start with an overview of the shop mission and ideals. Rentals are last because I have learned that people forget things that they don't practice and rentals don't start until it snows. In between we will go over every category of products in the store, all policies and procedures, job duties, you know, the whole enchilada. Very fun but tiring for me to stay "ahead of the class" and ready for the next segment.

A few opinions and predictions for this season:

1- The "knee" brand bindings will sell out. We are stocking them for the first time this year and I will wish I ordered double what I did.

2- Anything with reverse camber and/or a tapered tip will sell well

3- Blizzard will do great as a new brand in our store.

4- Line brand skis will sell to the wall again. I will wish I ordered more.

5- Like other industries we will see some shake ups. A few brands may disappear. Some of them names you and I are familiar with.

6- Like every year, skiers will ski more or less depending on conditions in Tahoe.

7- We will have a great snow year!

Lastly on my mind is the SIA industry ski show. Every year the industry has a trade show where they unveil their new product for the following year. I have written on the blog about the SIA show before. Vegas, easy, cheap, fun, and a big party to boot. Long story short is that the venue, dates and expenses have all changed. The Denver location will change the dynamic in a number of ways. Not all of them good. Many shops (most shops?) will probably not attend. They will instead opt to use local showings instead. I am torn. I have always gone to EVERY show, and EVERY demo, and EVERY seminar, thinking that more info is what gives me the edge. I like to really get to know the gear as well as possible. Right down to the content of our basic socks. We need to stand behind our products and really believe in them. I still feel this way. But this years show will be tougher to rationalize. It may be more important to spend the time doing product testing. Possibly in Utah? Hmmm...

Lastly we are dabbeling in yet another brand of ski. After testing the Kastle skis, (say Kess-Lee) I fell in love. Prices are in the higher ranges. Stockli has done great for us as a "flagship" ski, and I don't know if there is room for two lines in this "elite" catagory. We love the Stocklis and would never consider not having them in the store. They are still the best built and most interesting line of skis in the world. But the Kastles have a great feel, and a rich history. I kept dreaming about the 88 waisted ski. Cathy Ito (john's wife) went with us to do the demo day and said to John at the end about the 88 model- "I want them. Get them for me." Mike Thawley simply circled the entire "5" column on his test cards for all but one model. This type of response cannot be ignored. Plus they are made at the Head facility which we respect. Head makes not only their own very high quality skis but also many other high end skis, such as the Palmer PO2 and the "price point" Stocklis. I kept in touch with the Kastle national sales rep and set up a program where we will have demo skis available and can order off them. Kastle has a solid business plan and great personnel in place in the US. The skis will speak for themselves. Come check them out!

Planning a trip to Utah?

Last year I did three Utah trips. So easy and such great snow. I have close personal friends that live in Sandy Utah, so that is convienient too. Last year I brought up the idea of renting the guest space. "funny you mention that..." was the response. That's where you come in. They are now renting the guest portion of their home to skiers for the upcoming season on a daily or weekly basis. I have stayed with Willy, Kristy, and their kids numerous times and it is a great place with a super location. You will feel pampered! Three bedrooms, game room, full kitchen, big screen TV, indoor parking for one car, ski storage area, and a hot tub. You will walk out to views of the Wasach range looking like you could reach out and touch them. I recommend both the family and the house highly. If you are planning a trip, call now to get your reservations!

For more information go to: http://www.vrbo.com/258240

PS- This is an unsolicited advertisement, and no animals were harmed writing this blog entry!

UC Berkeley Ski Club Meeting notes

I went to Chico State. I was in a Fraternity (Lambda Pi- #1 in fun!). I was one of the rowdier guys, in one of the rowdier Frats, at one of the rowdier colleges. I know rowdy. Thursday night I was on the UC Berkeley campus to promote the shop at the ski and snowboard clubs annual "big meeting". I do it every year. I enjoy working with their group. I get to know a few board members pretty well each year. I always like them. I also always feel tame at the campus while attending the big meeting. The auditorium is always packed with several hundred revved up students. This year seemed even bigger and rowdier than ever. Many students seemed like they had spent the last few hours pre-partying. Others just had the look of wild abandon that college students often have. Lot's of girls wearing jeans with bikini tops (just an interesting fashion trend I happened to notice). A little bit of party action at the meeting too. No details as I wouldn't want to cause trouble for anyone. Nothing against school, federal, or state laws that I can recall! In any case there was a LOT of energy in that room. Some of it was just youth. Some was, I suppose, ingested before the meeting. But in the end it was more than that. It was a passion for snow sports. Most of all these students were just charged up to a fever pitch over the thought of hitting the snow soon! It was contagious and got me a bit fired up too. Kinda like Warren Miller movies used to be - back in the day. With no microphone, I gave a short spiel on our sponsorship role. I think maybe 10 people heard me. I had stickers, posters, t-shirts. Never got them out. The club did a great job gathering swag from all over and the meeting kicked off with the board members tossing dozens of swag items from goggles to sweatshirts into the crowd. I will save my swag for when they come to the shop on October 7th for their special sale event. I also brought a ski. The ski was a prize for later in the meeting. Head USA has been the ongoing primary sponser and graciously donate skis each year. So I did my little gig and made arrangements to pick up the ski in the morning. Then I busted out and headed home. I knew from past years what was to come at the meeting. Lot's of fun for them. Less interesting for me. I arrived at about 9:30am Friday to retrieve the ski at the "ski club house". It is, I believe, unofficial but many of the board members live together there. It has been the club members party central for the past few years. Bodies were all about. Some were asleep, some were awake. Most seemed to be in between. The was a VERY large and very empty champagne bottle that impressed me quite a bit. There was also ample evidence that there was much fun had there the night before. Now they were in 'morning after' mode. There was some studying. I will admit that. I did see one person working on a laptop. Overall however, there was the look and feel of students trying to have as much fun as possible. At the expense of everything else. I am sure that all these kids are very bright or they wouldn't be at Cal. They will (for the most part) go on to lead productive lives. They may be future senators, astronauts, and surgeons. But not yet. Not right now. They are not any of these things yet. Yes, they may hide behind their various majors, but they share one thing in common, and I know it when I see it. These kids are ski bums!

The Sun sets on the Tent Sale

Well the tent sale is officially over. We had a great event! Thanks to the many industry sales reps that put in time at the shop during the sale. Thanks as well to my great staff. Overall numbers for sales are the highest the store has ever achieved for the annual event. We sold about 60 pairs of boots and 60 pairs of skis over the 7 days. I think next year we will shoot for an average of 10 per day in each category. That will give us something to shoot for. So now it is back to work again. The store will be set up with everything inside and the Tent Sale pricing comes down. Now we move into our "fall sale" prices until the snow falls. Still great deals around here! We will be open on weekends only for a bit, so there is time to play some during the week for me. Martin and John both worked yesterday to get some of the shop work done. There are a lot of ski mounts and tunes to catch up on and Martin is busy later this week with other things. Thursday and Friday I will go in and spend time getting the prices changed over with new displays. So that left me with a few days to relax! Yesterday I went for a good bike ride with Jarrod (our Salomon rep) and Becky. Lot's of climbing. Left from Montclair after Jarrod had an appointment with Montclair Sports. It gave me an excuse to stop by there and say "hi". I like the store. They do a great job covering a wide range of sports. Skiing is just one of the many groups they cater to. Took a nap after the ride while Jarrod was off to do a Salomon footwear clinic in Walnut Creek. Then he had to drive back up the hill. Nice to be young! Tomorrow is golf with John, Erle, and David who is a customer. Today is errand day. DMV, Post Office, Grocery Store, Blog, Draw blood for yearly physical. That sort of thing. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do- ya know?

Will Il Moro meet El Nino?

This could be an epic confrontation. The Il Moro boots came in from Dalbello today. They are very cool. Even to an old fart like me. Very bling. They have a chain attached, rasta colors, and cool graphics too. They are ready to take on the winter. Hopefully all the reports about this being an el nino year come true. Lot's of storms mean lots of powder days. That means lots of fat ski days. Are you thinking reverse camber perhaps? Yes, I think so too! It is indeed my hope that this year Il Moro will meet El Nino...

The second weekend of the sale has passed and business is still looking great. We slipped a few thousand dollars, so sales are now about even with last years numbers. Can't complain about that! Things in general look good at the shop too. I like our product mix as it is coming together all in one place for their first time. The ski wall is great. I really like our offerings. I want more display room but that is nothing new. The accessories look good, and clothing is still showing up a bit at a time. It typically comes later than the hardware, but from what I have seen it will work out real well. Back in the shop we have added quite a bit of tooling as well as a new storage chest for boot fitting supplies. No more cardboard boxes on shelves. Yeah! Thanks John! On the negative side of things the gondola is still not running. Boo! For now the little plastic Austrian tourists cannot get to the slopes. They came with the tram. Now they cannot use it. They are stuck down by the sales counter hanging out the Mattel sisters (Ski Barbie and Ski Skipper on their lift chair), and the Joe Skier Bobblehead. The Mattel sisters and Joe Bobblehead have both been pretty rowdy in the past, so the Austrian tourists are probably living it up pretty good anyway.

Sorry, I sort of digressed into little toys there for a minute. Back to the sale. Where was I? Last weekend it seemed as though everyone that came in made a purchase. This weekend had a few more lookie-lou's. "Just looking" is a line all retailers have heard a billion times. It is probably the most common response to "Can I help you?", which is the most popular form of retail greeting in the land. You get used to it, but it still rings hollow and cold in my ears. That is why a good sales person will not ask the "may I help you" question. You typically get the auto response cited above. Even if you are a smart sales person, who can always find a way to engage the customer, people still find a way to wiggle out of help. Some just don't want it for one reason or another. Some don't know a darn thing about skiing and are embarrased to ask dumb questions. Many just want to get the feel of the place before becoming engaged by us I think. If you pay attention, they will seek you out in a few minutes. Others don't want anyone to try to sell them something. That's fine too. We don't want to push you, but simply to assist you. Oh well, people can opt out of our expert assistance if they like... But if I can't help them I cannot find out why they are not going to buy anything if they leave without anything. If I don't know this, how can I improve the store? Do a retailer a favor and let them know why you didn't buy anything. I won't hurt my feelings. Or if it does, I will promise not to openly cry in front of you.

From the outside of the store looking in, I sense that the customers are eager for ski season. That was to be expected. There also seems to be a lot of consumer confidence regarding the economy. Also there is the usual hope for a good winter. New designs in equipment are interesting and moving forward quickly. People will be really turned on when they try the new wide skis. Not too long ago the Nordic Jumping ski we have on display seemed freakishly huge. Almost cartoon like. As I was lusting after the Line Prophet 130 today I realised that it is substantially wider than the jumping ski. It's not much shorter either! Radical. These new fat rockered skis are radical. How many will we sell? I don't know. I had to guess. I do know that we have the right skis. I do know that it is the wave of the future. I do know we will all be getting them!

Boot fitting continues to be the focal point to a great extent for many of us here. Storage of the boots alone means that they are everywhere. You can't avoid them. The boot area always has activity even if the ski area is quiet. You go through the boot area every time you bring a ski back into the shop for tuning or mounting of bindings. All the reports I generate show the impressive numbers generated by boot sales. We have also had a lot of midweek boot work as well, so I am always trying to coordinate appointments. An injection foam boot liner has been ordered for one customer who will get it foamed next week. I have a customer flying into town from Salt Lake to do a boot purchase with full stance alignment tomorrow night. Friday Morning we have a corporate group coming for boots and skis. I need at least two and preferably three boot fitters on hand for that. One person can sell skis to everybody pretty quickly. Boots are different. Boots take a long time to get right. I love boots. I love fitting them and working on them too. I like having the proper tools and knowledge to get it done right. I like having a staff that is so qualified to do the boot thing. This gives me the flexibility to do other things as needed. During the sale, I tend to be sort of a "master of ceremonies". You can't do that very effectively if you are stuck back in the boot area. I love boots. They are always on my mind. Maybe this week I will get to do my first boot fit of the year!