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!