Orvis + Wal-Mart = Angry local shopkeep

I stopped by the fly shop in Lewisburg today and the guy had a
handwritten sign on the door advertising an Orvis blow out. 40% off
rods & reels, Orvis flies $12/dozen and 30% off everything else. I
entered and asked him what was up with the Orvis deals...

He said that Orvis is going to start selling their full line at
Wal-Mart and that he's dropping his Orvis dealership and shopping for
new vendors. He wasn't very happy about it, I assure you. He sounded
like he had considered dropping Orvis when they started selling
through Bass Pro but that ~Wal-Mart~ was simply going too far.

I find an Orvis/Wal-Mart marriage to be quite amusing. Orvis has
spent a lot of money on their brand image--and that image was ever
anywhere near Wal-Mart--indeed, the image they seek is one of folks
who don't even know where the nearest Wal-Mart is.

Will I be able to buy Orvis clothing at Wal-Mart too? What's next, LL
Bean at Kmart? I'm not the biggest Orvis fan in the world, but this
move surprises me. Somewhere in NYC somebody with a closet full of
Orvis gear is panicking right now...

I assured him that Sam Walton was indeed one of the Four Horsemen of
the Apocalypse, grabbed a pair of Orvis 7.5' 1X leaders, a dozen Orvis
flies, some Orvis strike putty and hit the road.

Amazed,
Tom G

"Tom Gibson" wrote in message
om...
...Orvis...and...Wal-Mart...

Hm......Wal-Mart AND Orvis have jumped the shark.

Stupid.

Wolfgang

In article ,
says...

He said that Orvis is going to start selling their full line at
Wal-Mart and that he's dropping his Orvis dealership and shopping for
new vendors. He wasn't very happy about it, I assure you. He sounded
like he had considered dropping Orvis when they started selling
through Bass Pro but that ~Wal-Mart~ was simply going too far.

Amazed,
Tom G

It's not that big of a surprise. Orvis bought Redington to get
exposure into the lower end market. The elitist market just isn't
big enough. If you could sell 10,000 high-end flyrods at $500 profit or
100,000 low-end flyrods at $100 profit which would you do?
- Ken

wrote:

It's not that big of a surprise. Orvis bought Redington to get
exposure into the lower end market. The elitist market just isn't
big enough. If you could sell 10,000 high-end flyrods at $500 profit or
100,000 low-end flyrods at $100 profit which would you do?

I'd sell 10,000 high-end rods and be happy with the $5M profit and my
good name, thank you very much.

When manufacturers make deals with Wal Mart, they often regret it. Wal
Mart quickly becomes the company's biggest customer, and then they
squeeze margins ruthlessly. Eventually, when the manufacturer can't keep
up, Wal Mart takes the business overseas, and ****s over the original
partner.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

"rw" wrote in message
nk.net...
wrote:

It's not that big of a surprise. Orvis bought Redington to get
exposure into the lower end market. The elitist market just isn't
big enough. If you could sell 10,000 high-end flyrods at $500 profit or
100,000 low-end flyrods at $100 profit which would you do?

I'd sell 10,000 high-end rods and be happy with the $5M profit and my
good name, thank you very much.

When manufacturers make deals with Wal Mart, they often regret it. Wal
Mart quickly becomes the company's biggest customer, and then they
squeeze margins ruthlessly. Eventually, when the manufacturer can't keep
up, Wal Mart takes the business overseas, and ****s over the original
partner.

And they don't only do it to manufacturers. A few weeks ago the ****ers
refused to take my MasterCard......said that MC charges them too much.

Wolfgang
content in the knowledge that he and wal-mart can live without one another.

On Thu, 22 Apr 2004 16:46:47 -0700, wrote:

In article ,
says...

He said that Orvis is going to start selling their full line at
Wal-Mart and that he's dropping his Orvis dealership and shopping for
new vendors. He wasn't very happy about it, I assure you. He sounded
like he had considered dropping Orvis when they started selling
through Bass Pro but that ~Wal-Mart~ was simply going too far.

Amazed,
Tom G

It's not that big of a surprise. Orvis bought Redington to get
exposure into the lower end market. The elitist market just isn't
big enough. If you could sell 10,000 high-end flyrods at $500 profit or
100,000 low-end flyrods at $100 profit which would you do?

Buy low-end flyrod futures?

Anyway....

Considering your theory, what did it mean when Orvis sold Redington back?

/daytripper ("economically unsafe at any speed")

" says...

He said that Orvis is going to start selling their full line at
Wal-Mart and that he's dropping his Orvis dealership and shopping for
Indian Joe opines---guess this is the death of the 500$ flyrod [ 39$
product cost- 262$ cost of sales- 199$ profit]
Reminds me of my old sailboat racing days--Lands End used to sell sailing
hardware until they found they could sell imported dresses that cost 12$
to manufacture for $149 or in the worst case ON SALE for only 30% off !!!
How can we be elitist when the fly shop gets $3.75 for an Scientific
Anglers 7X leader and
Wall Mart has them on sale for $1.oo? different package !!!
Welcome to the MacWorld of globalization.

And they don't only do it to manufacturers. A few weeks ago the ****ers
refused to take my MasterCard......said that MC charges them too much.

I had the same damn thing happen to me. Walmart got Visa to lower its rate
to them, MasterCharge wouldn't follow suit so they banned 'em.
Here's an elitist question. Its already been brought up here, in that many
of Orvis' customers wouldn't know where a Walmart is. Walmart does the FLW
tour for bass fishermen. Bass fishermen also go in to get parts for their
boats. There's two hooks for the bass fishermen. Where's the hook to bring
in a fly fisherman?
We go to the fly shops to get that detailed knowledge. Its a whole
different market than fly fishing. I equate it to the quilters market that
Wally World tried to get into. There are a few folks who will make a quilt
out of the 99 cent a yard fabrics that WM sells, but from the get-go, its
going to be an inferior product. Same amount of work as a quilt made with
10 dollar a yard fabric, but the colors fade, the fabric dyes break down the
fabric, the texture is not the same. Walmart lost out on that one. I think
this will be the same. Yes, it will bring in some people who've never fly
fished before, but they'll spend the money, not get the expert advice and
end up with a fly rod in the back of the closet or a spinning reel on the
thing for crappie.
Right now, I think they just want to associate themselves with a
"high-class" name, aka KMart's work with Martha Stewart. Luckily, Orvis
won't have its namesake going to prison.

--
Frank Reid
Reverse email to reply

"Wolfgang" wrote in message
...

"Tom Gibson" wrote in message
om...
...Orvis...and...Wal-Mart...

Hm......Wal-Mart AND Orvis have jumped the shark.

Stupid.

Wolfgang
" says...

He said that Orvis is going to start selling their full line at
Wal-Mart and that he's dropping his Orvis dealership and shopping for
Indian Joe opines---guess this is the death of the 500$ flyrod [ 39$
product cost- 262$ cost of sales- 199$ profit]
Reminds me of my old sailboat racing days--Lands End used to sell sailing
hardware until they found they could sell imported dresses that cost 12$
to manufacture for $149 or in the worst case ON SALE for only 30% off
!!!
How can we be elitist when the fly shop gets $3.75 for an Scientific
Anglers 7X leader and
Wall Mart has them on sale for $1.oo? different package !!!
Welcome to the MacWorld of globalization.

"Frank Reid" wrote in message different
market than fly fishing. I equate it to the quilters market that
Wally World tried to get into. There are a few folks who will make a
quilt
out of the 99 cent a yard fabrics that WM sells, but from the get-go, its
going to be an inferior product. Same amount of work as a quilt made with
10 dollar a yard fabric, but the colors fade, the fabric dyes break down
the
fabric, the texture is not the same. Walmart lost out on that one.
Indian Joe evokes---quilting must have really changed from grandmother's
days--she made quilts out of old pieces of cloth -a piece of overalls, part
of material left from making Aunt Sally"s wedding dress--even a piece of
old Great Grandfather's civil war uniform.
A recently read story by a southern author made a reference to a quilt made
of remnants of old men"s suit coats-- "That quilt has alot of funerals ."