Occupy Snowboard Shops
Everyone wants you to occupy something these days because it’s this big movement that’s going to change the face of the world we live in. Or at least that’s what they want you to believe. Who really knows what is going on there. But in the snowboard world I can think of only three things you need to occupy Powder, Chairlifts, and Snowboard Shops.
The one common thing about occupying the first two is you should probably go to a shop and get the gear to get you there. I know you’re probably saying but the Internet is so convenient and my local shop sucks. Hey cool that’s your prerogative to shop online and maybe your local shop sucks or maybe you just haven’t bothered to get to know anyone there.
Before you click finish order on this Cyber Monday, why don’t you go down and reacquaint yourself with your local shop? Who knows maybe these guys are having a deal or have something they want to show you. Worried that they might cost more? Don’t be a fucking pussy ask them if they price match and if they say they don’t find out why. Pissed that your local scene sucks? Ask the shop what they’re doing to support grass roots growth in your area. Trying to get sponsored? Start at the shop level.
Education is key and schools in session! Support the shops, brands, and resorts that support snowboarding how you want it to be supported. You want to make a difference start at the local level and see where it leads. And if none of what this post is about reaches you, it is Cyber Monday go buy some stuff from brands that use Shopatron if you still want to make a difference.
After all that if nothing has reached you at least go snowboard this Cyber Monday and say fuck the corporate economic bullshit. I know I’ll be riding.
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So true. You’re not going to get knowlegeable sales staff and community involvement from Burton’s online store any time soon.
This!!!! x 1,000,000
10 years ago my city had 7 or so good shops. We now only have 1 within a 45minute distance. Good thing toronto’s not too far away lol.
Luckily I live in a big city, so it’s not hard to find local shops!
haha some fagles on the bus from the gondola were like yeah its cyber monday lets go online and they were being serious:facepalm: work like a salve at the local mtn and get hooked up at shopsand buy from them. support your mtn if your such a cheap ass and that jewish about a measly saving of pennies so u buy ur shit online fuck that. i can still remember the day i got my first setup on my birthday 5 years ago goin to the skate shop and getting my first setup/ rome solution and 390′s best choice ever.
still bull shit when you go to a shop to peep new gear and they try and sell u on burton garbage
What constitutes “Burton Garbage” every brand has crap.
Unfortunately these shops are not always pleasant places to be for us neat haircut, suit wearing, working stiffs.
I went to my local skate/snowboard/surf shop a year or two ago. One of the staff had apparently just completed a level on Tony Hawks and the cutscene had showed him how to do a new trick. He was practicing it on his skateboard on the shop floor and seemed a bit annoyed that I wanted past to…you know, view their items for sale and such.
So after a well timed sprint past the flailing arms and spinning board I reached the binding section. After listening to another staff member talk down to the poor guy (also wearing a suit) struggling to find boots that fitted I decided to forgo the chat about stiffness, boot compatibility etc and just grabbed a pair I recognised and remembered receiving decent reviews.
I went to the cashiers desk to pay for them and as I approached the girl who was serving heard her favourite song on whatever generic American rock CD she was playing in the shop (I’m sure they will be a cool band but it all sounds like Nickelback to me) she left me standing at the desk to go across the shop to turn up the stereo then kind of danced around for a bit. I told her I was in a bit of a hurry and she rolled her eyes and reluctantly returned to serve me.
I know I should have had some balls and called them all twats and stormed out the shop, but I needed the bindings for boarding the next day and they are the only shop in town with proper branded gear. Instead I protested by never spending another penny in their establishment. The shop in question sponsors events and all that good stuff you guys lap up but I’m sorry, I’m not putting up with that – online all the way.
No one ever said anything about knowledgeable sales staff are gonna be at a brick and mortar.
What constitutes “forum” garbage to me, is when my buddy walks in asking for a new board and they point him towards a reg camber forum, priced out at 530 or some shit. While they have never summers 5 feet away(and even a few arbor blacklists) that only run $30more. Now to me. You buy that forum and if you don’t like it your resale is knocked down a good $200 if ur lucky to sell it. Throw the n.s. up and its gone for $30 under what U paid. Thats the shit that fucking pisses me off at brick and mortar. Trying to sell boards using intimidation and bullshit. And trying to sell a board that no one would come off the street looking for, but they need to get rid of it.
Be informed shoppers before getting pushed about at the shop, know what u want. Fuck the $10/hr douchebag working the shop floor
(end rant)
Timmy that’s not a garbage brand that’s just a dude selling something he’s either into or getting a bigger spiff/commission for pushing. I asked specifically what is “Burton Garbage” I would like to really know.
Jaime pretty sure if I asked the sales people about you from their perspective there might be a different story. Always 2 sides and I still stick by the mantra the customer isn’t always right.
burton is a pretty solid all around. the only “garbage” i’ve encountered from them are the cores in some of the EST bubbling up in the base. they make quality shit no doubt i just hate that conglomerate with a fiery passion and will never spend another penny on any of those companies. but who knows if it wasn’t for them maybe rome wouldn’t even exist.
I love my local shop, Action. Every time I go back home I make sure I stop by the shop for a couple hours. I rarely actually buy anything but when customers come in looking for a particular product I always make sure to tell them about how sick that product is.
If I’m in another shop or online and I see something I’m interested in buying I call Action up and see if they have it. It’s all about building a relationship with your shop. Go in there. Get to know the people working there. Be friendly. Even for “neat haircut, suit wearing, working stiffs” going to a shop can be fun. Have a conversation or two with the employees and then when you go in the next time Sk8rBoi will stop doing his spinny flippy trix and be like “Yo Jamesss! How have you been? Stoked to see you!”
Absolutely agree with getting to know the staff at your local shops. I’ve become friends with the guys at one of mine. Added bonus is that we’ll get some riding in together this season.
Also agree with the points made about two sides/perspectives/informed consumer. I’m a chick and (apart from the shop staff mentioned above) each time I walk into a shop for the first time, I’m not taken seriously at first. I get it; I’m sure these guys get tire kickers and girls who come in because they think snowboarding is a “cute” thing to do. That has to get tiresome for the staff after awhile. And while the expectation is that a person should just “do their job” the reality in a lot of situations is that when someone feels their expertise/opinion won’t matter, why bother.
It’s not until I begin asking informed questions and engaging in conversation with the staff that they begin to take me seriously as a rider. And you know what? Once that happens, they are happy to help! It’s like they get excited to be able to do their job, help another rider, and talk tech. Then my appearance doesn’t matter. They will go above and beyond.
One of the biggest compliments is when a shop guy says they’re surprised by how much I know (in comparison to other chick customers) and how usually the only input they get from the female customers is what colorways and graphics they like best. That’s where being an informed consumer comes in.
And yes, the next time I’m there, they remember and are right there to help, chat, whatever.
Where supporting local stores hurts is if you’re outside of the US. Here in Japan, prices on a lot of stuff can be double or more what it would cost to buy in the US and have it shipped over. Smith Vantage helmet, 30000JPY (385USD) in local store, 165USD MSRP in the US. It’s often not that bad on bigger items like boards but it’s still steep.
I still go to one local store (One Make in Kanda) for my boot needs. I told the guy there what I was looking for (Boa, mid flex, around 20000JPY), he took a look at my feet, noted that one foot was a half-cm longer and I should size to that one, and recommended the Salomon Savage Boa for my foot shape/requirements. I found the right size there and said I would think about it. I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering into every other store on the Kanda strip trying on other kinds of Boa boots. I didn’t find any that fit better than the one he recommended, so I went back and bought it there even though I could have gotten it a bit cheaper somewhere else.
To Jamie,
You don’t have to go to a skate shop, there are plenty of ski/ride shops out there that do cater to an older crowd. Eskimo ski shop in Centennial CO, is a perfect example of a family oriented, family owned ski shop that also caters to a snowboard community. Look harder in your area and I’m sure you’ll find the right shop for you. Also its usually best as an older consumer to go to boardshops earlier in the day if at all possible, kids are in school and the guy behind the counter is usually the shop owner.
supporting my store means getting ripped off, i live in ireland so for my shredding i need to go abroad, snowboard stores are pretty rare and the only one that have a bit of stuff is british owned and its like a chain company, recently bought a lib tech lando for 570 euro (767usd) a anon hawkeye for 110 euro (148usd) a pair of dc pants 175 euro (235usd) salomon boots for 165 euro (222usd) without getting a single cent off, now i am not a scabby bastard but you add up the total and if you own a business and wants customers to come back at least a bit of discount just for showing that you care about your business and not only profit, on top of that i might add that the staff are as friendly as a piece of wood even if you try to make some conversation about snowboarding and stuff, so next time online will be my choice.
Mick why do you feel you deserve a discount just because you bought a slew of stuff?
i don’t deserve a discount,i never had before. the thing i’d like to see is these people care about what they are selling and not only thinking about profit, it was like thank you and fuck you, i would have been happy having chatted away few minutes with a helpful and friendly staff picking my choices as always before in different smaller shops, i don’t deserve a discount it just pisses me off that i have to pay them a lot of money and they don’t make a slight effort to invite you back, smile, discount or whatever it is!
So the consensus is I have to befriend the employees at the shop if I expect decent treatment as a CUSTOMER? Fuck that. Customer service is what every fucking business screams about. Nobody actually backs that shit up. Especially snowboard shops. Fed false information from the companies to be used as a tool to sell the falsely informed product to unsuspecting customers. “We put hybrid wood into our cores and that’s tight, yo”. Too bad the information being shoveled down employees throats is so inaccurate most of the time. Reps rarely know what they are talking about, so by the time it gets to me, the customer, the information is twice as wrong. I am dropping a G on equipment, shouldn’t I have a reasonable expectation to be treated as a valuable customer and given information that is technically accurate, not shit that came out of the last sales meeting? What the fuck is a shop going to do to keep a “grass roots” snowboard scene going, take everyone hiking? No, they tell you to come on down for the latest premiere where they can ignore simple customer service in the name of Johnny Pro showing up and gracing the shop with his godly presence. Hey, you got to meet Johnny Pro who is such a douche, JP Walker looks like a nice guy. Just learn about your goddamn products you sell, not just from the asshole rep who just parrots what his asshole sales manager parrots what the engineer dumbed down for the sales manager. Can’t any fucking shop employee get a real clue that company’s reps aren’t engineers and most of them don’t know anything beyond “that’s a sick magne rocker cambo combo, bro”. And you want me to Occupy these shops and happily hand over my cash? Fuck that and fuck you. I am happy to pay the full 40% margin if they actually treat me with some decency and respect. I have a hard time coming up with one shop in my 10+ years of living and snowboarding in numerous states. Not one shop that actually has the bases covered. Fucking kooks. Cyber Monday me and I can jack to some hot porn between orders!
^ So what you’re saying is you don’t snowboard?
I have been a buyer and a seller for ten years at my local shop (privately owned, one family). During those years I have been a sales rep as well. We have the classic “lets pigeon hole an entire industry because we feel that we can” going on; gotta love the internet. You cannot say that all shops live up to the bro bra cliche. But I CAN say that all internet sites have one thing in mind, profit.
Any body that has a bad experience at a shop, come to mine. We have a solid reputation for trying our best to get you what you need. We even help you learn what you need as well. And if that doesn’t work, the other local shop (2 miles away) sells other brands and we can recommend stuff from them as well. We work as a community. The money spent at our shop helped pay for my tuition (degree in international Business). It helps us do our weekly charity events. it helps us pay the wage of the high school kids we hire. We also do not pay minimum wage; we pay more. Washington state minimum wage is 9.00$ we pay more. it costs more, but we feel we are just investing in our own community.
Back to the customer service side of things; as a rep I learned that a lot of shops suck. there isn’t much you can do. but if you have a board in mind, go to the dealer locator on the brand website and find the next closest shop, call them. I am sure they would love to help you. Tell the owner of the shop that they suck… they will change. customer feedback is very important to shops. Websites don’t care. We care so much about feedback that we offer free demos a lot of the time if you are not sure if you want a Hybrid style rocker or flat, or parabolic….etc…
We need to occupy. we need to take back our dollars. they need to stay in our communities. this is one of the few somewhat impartial websites out there. there is a local shop out there that will support you.. I am 100% sure of it.
Ehamil@alpinex.com if you need advice… its free!
See, shop owners rule!