Post by yihunt on Apr 18, 2009 8:15:19 GMT -4
Fly-fishing retailers feel pinch
Friday, April 17, 2009
By John Hayes, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Michael Henninger / Post-GazetteChuck Thompson, owner of International Angler fly shops, poses for a portrait inside his store on Steubenville Pike in Robinson, April 16, 2009.Need a bobber and bait for tomorrow, the opening day of trout season? Any sporting goods store will do.
But if you need sculpin olive Marabou quills and long-bodied down-eye Mustad hooks to tie up some No. 10 Wooly Buggers for the selective brown trout you're planning to visit, your options are far more limited.
Even before the economy went south, shops specializing in fly-fishing gear and tying supplies were feeling the pinch from a new generation of competition. Sporting goods chains and Internet sites are casting for fly anglers, putting the pinch on independent merchants who pride themselves on customer service. Since the closing of fly shops in Murrysville and Greensburg in recent years, southwest Pennsylvania anglers are left with just a few fly-fishing-only suppliers.
A 2007 survey of anglers by Leisure Trends Group of Boulder, Colo., found that 8 percent of American anglers fished with flies, and $805 million was spent globally on fly equipment.
But for many years, fly fishing occupied a much smaller niche. Anglers turned to select mail-order houses to ship fly gear and supplies. In the early 1970s, a few anglers started buying in bulk and opening tiny fly shops in their basements and garages. The catch-and-release fly-fishing ethic caught on during the '70s conservation movement, and by the '80s stand-alone fly-fishing stores began opening in southwest Pennsylvania and across the country. Sporting goods chains started adding a few aisles of fly gear in the '90s, and the Internet surge has put additional pressure on regional fly shops.
"With something like this, personal service is terribly important," said Joe Kline, 80, of Bellevue, who has been fly fishing for 35 years. "It's not just the equipment, it's how to use it, where and when to use it, and do you really need it. It's very important to have confidence in your supplier. You can't get that at a big box store or on the computer."
In the early '70s, the mysteries of entomology and the physics of fly line were explored in Bill Lang's basement fly shop in Westmoreland County. Junior Parish sold hunting rifles and fly gear from his home in Mercer County.
"Everything was very one on one [then]," said Wayne Edwards, a fly fisherman since 1969 who worked at an early fly shop in Volant, west of Grove City. "Big box shops are now in every strip mall, and you can order anything on the Internet. But if you want service after the sale you can't get that anywhere but in a place that specializes in fly fishing."
In Washington, Pa., Gander Mountain store manager Troy Hellen, a fly angler since the '80s, says although fly gear comprises a small percentage of his total sales, he pushes the customer service. Hellen hired a "fly-fishing guy" to work two days a week, posts fly hatch charts, promotes free in-store seminars and stocks a "pretty big" assortment of tying materials.
"Big stores have space and ordering power, and I know some of our customers by name and their pictures are up on our bragging board," he said. "But a lot of the small [fly shops] have good selections, as well. The thing we can provide is everyday low prices on the general stuff: waders, vests, tackle boxes ..."
Gary Berlin, president of the American Fly Fishing Trade Association in Louisville, Colo., says fly anglers are tempted by the convenience of the chains and Internet, but many remain loyal to the pro shops.
"Fifty-five point six percent of total fly-fishing sales are made in single-location shops, and another 36.7 percent are at multiple-location shops, excluding national chains," he said. "It's loyalty to their favorite specialty retailers who know the current water temperatures, what the hatch is and what to use on local streams."
With a shop on the bank of the Neshannock, Bob Shuey of Neshannock Creek Fly Shop in Volant, says he has avoided much of the economic pinch.
"If you're a beginner and you start out with bad gear, you're never going to get into the sport," he said. "I tell them if you don't buy here, please go to another fly shop where they'll work within your budget to get you the right equipment so you can understand and enjoy the sport."
Product manufactures prevent regional fly shops from undercutting each other on high-end items.
"The only thing saving our industry at the moment is, regardless of where you buy top-line products, it's the same price," said Shuey. "Top-end manufacturers do not discount and the shops they service are not allowed to discount. We can compete on other things, but not top-line products."
In addition to Fly Tyer's Vice and Neshannock Creek Fly Shop, Ligonier Outfitters in Ligonier, Indiana Fly Shop in Indiana, and International Angler in Aspinwall remain community institutions. Smaller fly-fishing-only stores include DB's Fly Shop in Canonsburg and DeFranks's Flies in Chalkhill, Pa.
Four years ago, International Angler owner Chuck Thompson opened a second location in Robinson. The credit crunch is forcing him to keep inventories tight, but Thompson says the impending closing of the Sportsman's Warehouse on Mount Nebo Pointe Drive will take some of the pressure off fly shops.
First published on April 17, 2009 at 12:00 am
Friday, April 17, 2009
By John Hayes, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Michael Henninger / Post-GazetteChuck Thompson, owner of International Angler fly shops, poses for a portrait inside his store on Steubenville Pike in Robinson, April 16, 2009.Need a bobber and bait for tomorrow, the opening day of trout season? Any sporting goods store will do.
But if you need sculpin olive Marabou quills and long-bodied down-eye Mustad hooks to tie up some No. 10 Wooly Buggers for the selective brown trout you're planning to visit, your options are far more limited.
Even before the economy went south, shops specializing in fly-fishing gear and tying supplies were feeling the pinch from a new generation of competition. Sporting goods chains and Internet sites are casting for fly anglers, putting the pinch on independent merchants who pride themselves on customer service. Since the closing of fly shops in Murrysville and Greensburg in recent years, southwest Pennsylvania anglers are left with just a few fly-fishing-only suppliers.
A 2007 survey of anglers by Leisure Trends Group of Boulder, Colo., found that 8 percent of American anglers fished with flies, and $805 million was spent globally on fly equipment.
But for many years, fly fishing occupied a much smaller niche. Anglers turned to select mail-order houses to ship fly gear and supplies. In the early 1970s, a few anglers started buying in bulk and opening tiny fly shops in their basements and garages. The catch-and-release fly-fishing ethic caught on during the '70s conservation movement, and by the '80s stand-alone fly-fishing stores began opening in southwest Pennsylvania and across the country. Sporting goods chains started adding a few aisles of fly gear in the '90s, and the Internet surge has put additional pressure on regional fly shops.
"With something like this, personal service is terribly important," said Joe Kline, 80, of Bellevue, who has been fly fishing for 35 years. "It's not just the equipment, it's how to use it, where and when to use it, and do you really need it. It's very important to have confidence in your supplier. You can't get that at a big box store or on the computer."
In the early '70s, the mysteries of entomology and the physics of fly line were explored in Bill Lang's basement fly shop in Westmoreland County. Junior Parish sold hunting rifles and fly gear from his home in Mercer County.
"Everything was very one on one [then]," said Wayne Edwards, a fly fisherman since 1969 who worked at an early fly shop in Volant, west of Grove City. "Big box shops are now in every strip mall, and you can order anything on the Internet. But if you want service after the sale you can't get that anywhere but in a place that specializes in fly fishing."
In Washington, Pa., Gander Mountain store manager Troy Hellen, a fly angler since the '80s, says although fly gear comprises a small percentage of his total sales, he pushes the customer service. Hellen hired a "fly-fishing guy" to work two days a week, posts fly hatch charts, promotes free in-store seminars and stocks a "pretty big" assortment of tying materials.
"Big stores have space and ordering power, and I know some of our customers by name and their pictures are up on our bragging board," he said. "But a lot of the small [fly shops] have good selections, as well. The thing we can provide is everyday low prices on the general stuff: waders, vests, tackle boxes ..."
Gary Berlin, president of the American Fly Fishing Trade Association in Louisville, Colo., says fly anglers are tempted by the convenience of the chains and Internet, but many remain loyal to the pro shops.
"Fifty-five point six percent of total fly-fishing sales are made in single-location shops, and another 36.7 percent are at multiple-location shops, excluding national chains," he said. "It's loyalty to their favorite specialty retailers who know the current water temperatures, what the hatch is and what to use on local streams."
With a shop on the bank of the Neshannock, Bob Shuey of Neshannock Creek Fly Shop in Volant, says he has avoided much of the economic pinch.
"If you're a beginner and you start out with bad gear, you're never going to get into the sport," he said. "I tell them if you don't buy here, please go to another fly shop where they'll work within your budget to get you the right equipment so you can understand and enjoy the sport."
Product manufactures prevent regional fly shops from undercutting each other on high-end items.
"The only thing saving our industry at the moment is, regardless of where you buy top-line products, it's the same price," said Shuey. "Top-end manufacturers do not discount and the shops they service are not allowed to discount. We can compete on other things, but not top-line products."
In addition to Fly Tyer's Vice and Neshannock Creek Fly Shop, Ligonier Outfitters in Ligonier, Indiana Fly Shop in Indiana, and International Angler in Aspinwall remain community institutions. Smaller fly-fishing-only stores include DB's Fly Shop in Canonsburg and DeFranks's Flies in Chalkhill, Pa.
Four years ago, International Angler owner Chuck Thompson opened a second location in Robinson. The credit crunch is forcing him to keep inventories tight, but Thompson says the impending closing of the Sportsman's Warehouse on Mount Nebo Pointe Drive will take some of the pressure off fly shops.
First published on April 17, 2009 at 12:00 am