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.

The only other shop that seems to be making out OK is a newish one
called Sportsman Finest that is split about equally between ff'ing and
hunting gear. (Ironically, Joe Robinson, formerly of the AA is their
head guy in ff'ing.) Hunting is king down here, so they can probably
keep their heads above water with that gear and afford to sell the
ff'ing on the side.

Even chains like Dick's Sporting Goods have discontinued carrying tying
supplies. Almost all of my tying stuff and most other fishing gear are now
either bought at shows or on line.

Yes, I am the same for both of my major hobbies (ffing and
woodworking). I don't know whether to think we are constributing to the
"problem" of mom'n'pop shops closing down, or we simply are responding
to market forces as well. (Likely the latter.)


Chuck Vance