"Conan the Librarian" wrote...
Tim J. wrote:
"Conan the Librarian" wrote...

In today's Austin paper (front page, no less) was the news that the
venerable flyfishing shop, The Austin Angler, will be closing down July
31.

It's sad when that happens, but the days of moms and pops
building/maintaining
shops with a ". . .and they will come" mentality and getting positive
results
are a thing of the past.

Agreed, and I hope my post didn't come across as the usual "[insert
megastore here] came to town and drove away all the mom'n'pop shops".
In the case of the AA, you could say that their business had simply run
its course.

We've experienced the same thing in this area with
several shops either folding or severely cutting back their stock of
supplies.

Are they also "diversifying"? The only other mostly ff'ing shops in
this area are more along the lines of the Orvis marketing model. They
have all the high-end clothing and "accessories" out front and tying
supplies and tackle in a small section in the back. And they are also
"labors of love" to some extent.

Almost the opposite. Two of the stores in the very local area are small sporting
goods stores. They appear to be just dropping the FF stuff in favor of using the
floor space for stuff they're still selling, like guns and archery equipment. As
all tyers know, needs are many times very specific, so either a store carries a
bunch of supplies in variety or they may as well carry nothing because true
tyers will quit shopping there. As far as FF tackle, a store needs regular gear
whores around to make a living off that stuff. The casual buyer, like me, who
buys a new rod or reel every few years isn't going to help much to keep a place
in business.
--
TL,
Tim
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http://css.sbcma.com/timj