When Orvis fired up their sporting-clays style casting course in Bend – and with the “shopping as a carnival” approach of the big box stores (Bass Pro Shops, Cabelas, etc) seemingly conquering the outdoor gear world – I wondered if theme-park style retailing wasn’t the future of outdoor industry.
After all, REI stores feature climbing walls, Bass Pro Shops features huge fish tanks, and we’ve already mentioned Orvis’ “sporting clays” style casting course.
Soon, we’ll have another fly fishing industry entrant into the fray: San Francisco’s Leland Outfitters – already a very active online marketer – is opening a “fly fishing ranch” in Sonoma, complete with retail store, casting ponds, mini-stream, and a few other goodies [ed: The article isn't clear, but the ranch appears the ranch is a pay-to-play site, which we could have guessed, but didn't]:
sonomanews.com > News > Sports
Lots of work remains to be done on the rest of the ranch, but Leland staffer and local resident Eddie Schoenbin gave me a tour this week. It will be a real fly-fishers’ dream spot when completed, including casting ponds (with trout in them), a little stream in between the ponds, a meeting and seminar space and other amenities. No specific date has been set yet for the shop opening, but watch this newspaper for an official announcement. By the way, the ranch is not open for visitors, and there’s lots of work going on, so it is best to wait until they announce the opening before heading out there.
It appears to be a gutsy move in a tough economy (though it’s likely all this was planned long before the economy did a startling imitation of platform diving into a glass of water). And lest we forget, a major fraction of the fly fishing world’s revenues are spent in large, metropolitan areas.
Orvis rolled out its Bend retail store and casting course with a pretty serious media party (the Underground was invited, but had to attend a class that weekend, which suggests responsible behavior is hugely overrated), yet it’s probably too soon to get a clear sense of the casting course’s usage and effect on the retail side of the equation.
So what do the Undergrounders think? Will fly shops soon require an “attraction” to remain viable in competitive metropolitan markets – and in the face of competition from lavish big box retailers? Are you more likely to buy from Leland’s retail shop in Sonoma because of the amenities (casting pond, etc).
Undergrounders, the floor is yours.
Tought move in this economy, but I heard Leland is run on trust money anyways…just need to find a way to spend all that money. Find it hard to believe a fly-shop can really support a staff of 12+ full timers and acquire a ranch by selling rods….Unless….they are marking everything up 100X
Theo Lance(Quote)
I think its mostly a great idea, but an expensive gamble to set up. Its like applying true test drive logic to trying out rods: we wouldn’t buy a car they only let us drive in the parking lot, so why not also let $500+ fly rods get tried out in their true environment.
And seeing dumb stocker trout come after hookless dries could easily induce impulse purchases of the “miracle rod that perfectly presented the offering”.
Cliff Graham(Quote)
I don’t know about the trust fund angle (I’ve been accused of that, and it couldn’t be farther from the truth), but I do know Leland was recently advertising for an online marketing position (fulltime), which puts them ahead of 98.5 of the fly fishing industry.
Are you suggesting Leland’s employees should make every test-caster drink to excess, sleep it off in the bushes, then test-cast the fly rods while still hung over?
Tom Chandler(Quote)
As for fly shops requiring an “attraction†to remain viable, this strikes me as the idea of creating “destination retail,†as in Bass Pro and Cabela’s. (Build it big enough and stock it to the ceilings and they will come.) And I won’t venture a prediction if it’ll work out financially over the long run, but I certainly think the concept will go a long way to facilitating my purchase(s) of fly fishing gear if I’ve already let my wife spend a fair sum on cases of wine.
Patrick K.(Quote)
Fly shops may need something of an “attraction†to remain competitive with the big guys. It’s a pretty nifty move, I think…sort of going beyond some of the more mundane, so to speak, tactics of competing with the discounters (i.e., better customer service, narrower product focus and all the rest) I wish them luck.
And yes, I am more likely to buy from a shop because of the amenities. But…that’s never the only reason. There seems to be some Retail Price Protection in the fly-fishing industry. It appears that Sage and Simms and Orvis are priced the same (for the most part) no matter where you buy them. That helps and so might a casting pond…
Leland seems rather progressive, which is a good thing. They have the discount web presence in Red Truck Fly Fishing, too – You know, business plans are always optimistic and it may be a good time to strike, to differentiate yourself from all the other guys.
John H.(Quote)
It seems to me that the metropolitan fly shops make (or used to make) a lot of money on travel packages. A wealthy guy walks in and says “I want to take a group of clients to (Chile, Alaska, Christmas Island, etc.). Here’ my corporate credit card. Set us up with whatever we need.†(I’ve actually been in a Bay Area shop and witnessed this.) I suppose if they can convince some of these same customers to visit the Sonoma property and then juice them up on complimentary wine they might make some additional sales. With SF sales tax now at 9.5%, they have to do something to compete with the online shops that sell the exact same products but don’t charge sales tax and offer free shipping.
On a side note, when I heard about this project last year I was given the impression that it was going to be a pay-to-play property with bass and trout ponds; something similar to the “Private Waters†properties owned by The Fly Shop.
SMJ(Quote)
What is happening to the industry more generally? Is fly fishing expanding in popularity or contracting? I don’t fish enough anymore to get a feel either way, but my sense is that it’s not really expanding and might even be waning somewhat.
MikeL(Quote)
It’s been slowly contracting (or stagnant at best), and – if I recall correctly – the average age of fly fishers keeps going up.
Tom Chandler(Quote)
No, but simply for liability and zoning reasons.
Cliff Graham(Quote)
Yikes. That’s a demographic nightmare for the industry. Oh, well, more room on the rivers for the old folks like us I guess.
And on a side note, the film “Rivers of a Lost Coast” implies that back in the day fly fishing was just what everyone did regardless of socio-demographics. It wasn’t just a sport for the rich but for blue collar folks as well. Everyone had the fever back then, or so the film said. What’s going on these days? What is fly fishing such a narrow niche?
MikeL(Quote)
Real fly shops sell Copenhagen, candy bars, and Red Bull. They stopped selling rubbers because the guides never got a chance to use them. Harrumph.
But hey, if this guy can get some people interested, and sell some gear, what’s the harm? The SF shop is pretty good, although it galls me to pay the sales tax to the Marxist fools who run SF.
Philip(Quote)
The SF shop is pretty good, although it galls me to pay the sales tax to the Marxist fools who run SF.
Unfortunately it’s only going to get worse in the near term. There seems to be no end to the sales taxes that Californians are willing pay.
MikeL(Quote)
Initially I was excited to hear about a place that I could maybe take my 5 year old to teach how to fly fish without having to drive hours to a good stream. This facility will be a pay to play club for those willing to fork over a few hundred bucks. The opportunity to become a community resource, an alternative to video games and a place to teach the next generation to enjoy our passion was probably not in their business plan. There will probably be banner for Nomads of the Seas hanging up in the club house.
Flyfishpapa(Quote)
Thanks for the update. The article said nothing of that (I guess the “not open to visitors” bit was code for “pay up”). I’ll add a note to my post.
Tom Chandler(Quote)
That kind of changes the equation, but I suppose it depends on how much play one gets for the amount paid. Does anyone else remember the Trout Haven pond just outside of la Honda? Not much sport, but if you wanted to have an hour’s fun with a kid and a cane pole, you could, for less than ten bucks. Often some nekkid hippies in the creek, too!
Philip(Quote)
I didn’t necessarily expect it to be free or (conversely) expensive, but the article should could have been clearer. In that respect, it reads like a real PR puff piece.
Tom Chandler(Quote)
Sounds like a great addition to the neighborhood — I’ll have to go see if I can turn a little “wine into water”! I hope they researched the wind in Carneros — it separates the men from the mice in a big way!
Hey Philip, real fly shops sell beef jerky too. Luckily you’ll find the best jerky on the planet right next door at Angelo’s (gratuitous plug for my favorite lunch spot)!
Axel Schug(Quote)