The Death of DC Snow?
If you follow snowboarding you know that the industry isn’t that big nor is the market as vast as say the automotive industry and all its subsidiaries. This means that we have countless companies from big to small vying for the almighty consumer dollars while trying to stay relevant to the masses. Stick around in snowboarding and you will see companies of all sizes come and go that’s just how it.
When I got this email a few months back my speculations that DC Snow wasn’t doing so hot were confirmed:
I wanted to reach out and thank you, because it’s been such a pleasure working with you during my time at DC. Yesterday due to some unfortunate Quik budget cuts, PR was consolidated and I was laid off. I wanted you to be some of the first to know, because I really have enjoyed working with you and will miss it! For those of you who know me well, you know I’m not one to sit around and wait. I have loved working in this industry and plan to continue my career in this industry. So this is just the first step, I will be around
I tried looking up the little media blurb on Boardistan and Transworld Business about this but for some reason couldn’t seem to find them. They would have been posted around October 21st.
To go along with my suspicions about Quiksilver and DC in September Boardistan published this article about Quiks 52 week all time low. Then on December 9th it was announced that DC’s Melrose store was closing.
Doesn’t look good does it? Here’s what else added to my suspicions that something was up. While visiting one of my local shops the manager told me about the latest warranty practice DC was doing with their boards. Now you don’t have to send the board to them you can actually take a picture of the board along with a picture of the receipt and email it to them, no questions asked. Very rare for a company to do this, as all the shops I’ve worked in when we had to warranty something they required physical proof and receipt. Upon further conversation it turned out that they had done this a few times for customers, sometimes with highly questionable photos from a camera phone.
Now back when I worked retail and was selling DC boards in their inaugural year we only had twelve decks. The hype was there and the kids wanted them. Out of every one we sold I think only two didn’t come back to us for warranty. Of those we had to warranty all were manufacturing defects as a result of rushed building. At the time they were being built by Rossignols factory in Spain. There were tons of manufacturing defects like spaces in the sidewall and edge, overlapping of the sidewalls and tip spacers, and other things that should have been caught in the quality control. When they switched factories from Spain over to Europe this was supposed to be fixed yet there still remained a steady stream of horror stories about boards having issues.
What about the promise of DC bindings during their first year? Anyone remember the Transworld Buyers guide where they had Devun Walsh with his set up and it said DC bindings even though they were a pair of Unions? We still haven’t seen any bindings from them.
Then there’s the whole Mountain Lab compound being up for sale. If you had a private snowboarding facility that you could have your riders research and develop products wouldn’t you try to utilize it for all you can?
Now lets look at the parent company. Quik might be flying high right now but their stock has gone up and down more times than a ferris wheel. Anyone remember when they owned Rossignol and Dynastar? How did that turn out? Yeah not so good and why was that? Too many brands under one roof plus they wanted to expand the DC line. Growth is great but only if sustainable.
Under the Quiksilver umbrella you have DC, Roxy, Mervin (Lib, Gnu, Bent Metal), and itself Quiksilver. DC makes men’s and women’s boards, boots, outerwear, apparel, and accessories. Roxy makes female specific boards, boots, bindings, outerwear, apparel, goggles, and accessories. Quiksilver makes outerwear, goggles, apparel, and accessories. Mervin has bindings, outerwear, male and female boards from two brands, and apparel. Notice a recurring trend here? There’s a lot of overlap from their brands on what they’re making. Diversity is great except when you have brands under one umbrella competing for the same piece of the pie. Especially when all your brands are hype driven towards the market. Granted there are other conglomerates that have multiple brands under their umbrella. Some work Jarden/K2 and some have issues like the Atomic Snowboards vs Salomon Snowboards of Amer Sports, but that’s another story.
Now granted I’m going off mere speculation and conjecture from sources that I haven’t named here. If you go to the SIA exhibitors page you can clearly see that DC snow will be represented at the show. Although this is what was listed as their companies description:
Leading footwear and apparel company in the skate, surf, snowboard, motocross and BMX industry.
Seems a little odd that for a trade show about snowboarding they don’t mention outerwear, boots, or boards. Then again they are a giant company that is highly diversified, so perhaps this is how they encompass everything. Footwear is a broad category and that does go into the realm of boots. While apparel doesn’t seem to lend itself to being outerwear.
I think the final clincher is the fact that Ken Block the founder of the company isn’t running the show anymore. There’s suits involved with money and that drastically changes anything with a company. The economy sucks right now and snowboarding is expensive. So could this mean the end of snowboarding for The Droors Clothing Company USA? Is the snow division gone entirely or just the boards?
Popularity: 9% [?]
DC should have never started making boards in the 1st place….. There a skate shoe company and not a board company. Don’t make your image something its not suppose to be.
Where are all these UltraPros DC has going to go. Let the bidding begin!!
if i were going to make a shoe, i wouldn’t put XXXXX SNOWBOARD Co. on the shoe. Half the dc boards i saw said “dc shoe co USA” on the bottom, may as well say Ed Hardy to me, but it was neat to watch them rise
I’ve never had a good experience with DC snow products. Nowadays, their shoe quality alone is mediocre at best; made for fashion, not for skating. It wouldn’t surprise me if they stopped making boards (at the least). Maybe trimming the fat is a good thing in this situation?
In Quik’s latest investor call for Q3, DC was doing extremely well, especially outside the US. The layoffs occurred in mid- late- Sept, and Quik seems to be completely rebooting snow. A lot of good people were affected (which is a shame), but I don’t foresee a complete dissolution of DC snow. I’m more curious to see how “technical” the new Quik outerwear will be for 2012/2013. The sky isn’t falling… Yet.
I think the shoe side isn’t going to go anywhere and it definitely carries the snow division. Good people? That’s somewhat debatable in this industry.
Good looks on their snowboard warranty policy. I was skeptical at first because it took them about a month to get back to me but now their going to send me a new board. I’m surprised it actually worked.
In in speculating that DC is folding, what happens to snowboard professionals, e.g Horgmo that have been carrying the DC banner? Are these guys likely to jump ship?
Torstein and heiskari are going to lobster, for sure and devun will probably go to bluebird.
Fuck ‘em. DC is another brand logo whore company. Their only motive is cash. Quick is ruining snowboarding. Board members do not make good decisions for snowboarding, then again Private owners, (*cough* Jake Burton) don’t make the best decisions either. (Forum should have died).
The money is in outerwear… not hardgoods. That is what they want. The snowboard is just a billboard. But it is brainwashing the next generations and driving shop guys and girls that actually care about the sport and industry crazy. We have tweens coming in asking for shit they should never ride, just because its DC and they saw a tee shirt on the Fantasy Factory.
But, unfortunately its these same tweens that shop online just for the graphic and name. they don’t care what they have, they need a logo…
SAD…
There are so many things wrong with this article that I don’t even know where to start. What company in this industry isn’t experiencing some kind of economical challenge? DC Snowboards are probably average in terms of quality. Some better than others… But DC isn’t going to shutdown their snowboarding segment. Their outerwear sales have grown substantially over the last few years. Closing the Melrose store makes sense – It’s fucking Melrose first of all. Second, I couldn’t imagine the rent at that massive store considering location. Last, it’s retail – a tough business for anyone right now. The decision to close that store is smart if it isn’t profitable.
You publish great shit sometimes – stick to the areas where you are qualified.
^ Agreed, fuck DC. Their shoes suck, and the only thing they’ve ever brought to the table is a brand. Honestly, I’ve always kinda wondered what business Quick had in snowsports, they ought to just stick to surf, that was what built the brand anyway. Oh well, good riddance to bad rubbish. Atleast this will open the market some, one less faceless brand flooding market’s with junk.
And what exactly am I only qualified to talk about Brett? Maybe I should just go the route of every other website and not give opinions that aren’t given to me in exchange for money.
Interesting idea but I think there’s some elements missing here. DC was by the the most profitable and the fastest growing section of Quik in the last few years. With that kind of success, comes less heat from a board to control costs, etc. They’d be focusing their efforts on areas that need attention – particularly their flagship brand. The sale of Rossi and consolidation of their activities with Mervin put their snow category across the company into a stronger position as they can now leverage those efficiencies to get better margins through each brand. Each brand they have targets a different market segment – in smaller markets like Australia, the cross-over is an issue but Europe and North America would have no issues with it. I know retailers are experiencing good sell thru at the retail level, they have made great inroads to BMX, are rebuilding their skate image with Berra and Block’s new Gymkhana thing – they’re not retreating from anything that I can see. Oh, and Ken Block personally owned Mtn Lab, he’s no longer CEO and he had issues with not having planning for the park on his land. Neighbors didn’t like it. Hence the sale. So, why would they ditch DC’s snow gear? Low margins and general industry decline would be one reason – get ahead of the curve. Or they are just into making bad decisions… They have a mixed track record on that, so maybe. I could be way wrong on all this, just my own analysis. Will be interesting to see what they do.
I went one of my local shop(s) and they looked at me like an idiot when I mention this. Not too many people that are educated. I mean if you owned a bread buisness and Robin Hood Flour was having issues wouldn’t the baker know??? Thank god for Angrybaker.com.
Brett. To answer your question of what companies aren’t having trouble. Lots. Signal for one. They’re getting bigger, not smaller. I can’t speak for every company out there, but I find it hard to believe the biggest little company out there is the only one improving.
Oh and this is snowboard industry related, how does that disqualify Angry from writing on it? If that’s the case you should be all pissy over the whole editorial section of this wonderful webpage. You love you some DC huh? Oops.
First of all, who gives a shit. Secondly, very amusing how you’ve translated your experience working for a shop into creating analysis of stock prices. Thirdly, “but their stock has gone up and down more times than a ferris wheel.”? Last time I checked, the market is a pretty volatile thing, period, so, pretty moot point. More importantly, a ferris wheel is stationary, it’s the segments and pieces of it that move up and down. On top of that, they move up and down in a cyclical fashion, etc. So much room for a better metaphor, all I’m really getting at here. And finally,– “When they switched factories from Spain over to Europe…”. Ummmm… seriously?
Just trying to bring a little light to Brett’s comment here for ya.
Obviously you give a shit you’re commenting. Market is volatile and does go up and down problem is there’s only has micro spikes after riding high for a while. Probably should have gone and looked at that before making this comment and looking like a typical fanboy that’s butt hurt their favorite hype brand is dying. Suppose I should have said Austria instead of Europe it was 2 a.m. I was tired but whatever shit happens.
I’m definitely confused on how you claim to love snowboarding and hate on a brand that’s done so much for it. You have to remember that designers, employees, and CEOs are always out to make a quality product. As you said yourself, sustainability is what keeps money coming in, and the brand isn’t run by a bunch of suit-wearing wearing meat-heads, it’s run by people who love skateboarding and snowboarding and all the other sports the brand supports. DC, just like any other brand, has had bumps in the road. The past few years have seen the best sales due to many changes: the brand reinvented their boot fit, introduced new boa technology, upgraded to EXOtec materials for outerwear while keeping/dropping pricing, and expanded the materials and camber-stories.
-The layoffs that went down were a result of massive hits to the general economy. Every company in the industry felt the effects. Quik sold Rossignol because that brand tanked and sucked millions of dollars out of the company. Very few companies could survive that hit but they did.
-Owning multiple brands strengthens a company, it doesn’t weaken it. Billabong owns 13 companies, Nike owns 4 huge companies, Burton owns more than 5 brands, etc etc etc. When certain brands have down years, the other brands are maintaining growth. Diversity keeps companies AND shops in business, which is probably why the Melrose DC closed. Check your listings and you’ll see that DC is highly distributed to the point where a DC store is only hurting brick and mortar stores, most of which are supporting the skateboarding and snowboarding line to the fullest (205 hits on the store locator for LA and surrounding area). I think you will change your mind if you really look into and test product.
-Who needs a Mt Lab when you’ve shot multiple on it and have riders participating in $2 million video projects that take them to the corners of the earth?
-DC being generous on warranties isn’t a bad thing
-Again with the Spain to Europe statement. Do you even know how many factories there are and which ones are credibly good? New DC boards are made out of the GST factory along with Flow, Forum, Arbor, Stepchild, Bataleon, Rome, Santa Cruz, Fanatic, Sapient, Northwave/Drake, and Volcom products. I for one will agree that the durability and technology is much better today than it was at the beginning of the snow program.
-As for the team, they probably won’t be going anywhere. Lobster is a small brand and won’t offer anywhere close to what DC can. Many pro snowboarders need to see as much money out of their career as possible while it lasts, not for the fact that they want to be millionaires (bc we all know that’s not likely to happen), but so they can have money to support themselves and their own families. This sport doesn’t offer lengthy periods of prosperity and health. It’s brutal and most riders look to other job opportunities in the industry by the time they hit their 30′s.
-Micro spikes is the name of a product made by Kahtoola (http://www.kahtoola.com/microspikes.php), not a term to describe increases in the stock market.
-DC has many of the best “extreme sports” professionals in the world on their teams, and has for years. I think that speaks for itself… unless you think those guys are ignorant and stupid…
Informant,
I make the Volcom’s. I don’t work at GST. Just an FYI
Someone thinks they’re in the loop. Ah the powers of google.
So much misinformation from the Informant. Volcom = Signal, Arbor = Elan, Flow = few different factories, Sapient is out of business, Rome split up and has a good chunk coming from Playmaker, hmm where do you get your information.
Probably been in snowboarding longer than you buddy. And I’ve ridden more products than any mortal man should.
DC has done some hiring, they have a full 2013 line, they have new technology, they are working on more. For me, I don’t see them going anywhere, maybe they drop some riders or something. Being a part of a big corp doesn’t mean you have a ton of people working there on the winter division.
Warranty, pictures are fine as long as the pictures show the whole story, especially if they go thru the shop, which is nice when there is a good shop that actually will do this. Another reason why shops are important & why some suck.
why the crap does everyone see this as Fact? This is clearly published under the EDITORIAL section! if you feel the need to spout technical definitions, try looking up the definition for “editorial.” And bagging on a blogger for grammar and so fourth, just makes you an asshole that is in dire need of some pussy….free pussy.
Joe gets that this was an op/ed piece. Never stated it was fact.
Actually GST does make some Volcom boards, that are for sale in the European Volcom Stores. Signal make the custom board for the team.
This article is pure speculation – as ever you fail to take a global view on things, you see a lot of DC product on the slopes in Europe, they have a strong Brand and most people who buy snowboards dont have a clue about the industry, but buy products based on it being a brand they think is cool, and the graphics, hence why DC shifts a lot of product.as it another cool extreme sports brand to the general public.
All though i am no fan of DC Snow, i think you need to think a bit before you post this shit, as your article is being taken as fact on a lot of forums. Its the same when you slated Rossignol, its all good being Angry, but if you want anyone other than 15 year olds to take you seriously then you need to get your facts right, and stop slating companies based on the fact you dont like them.
You write a lot of good stuff, but articles like this ruin your good work.
And for fucks sake being tired is no excuse for the Spain Europe mixup, just makes you look like another dumb yank, which your clearly not. Sort it out – if your too tired to get a basic fact right, your probably too tired to write a decent article!
Then why is Signal making something like a couple hundred Volcom boards now? Doubt the team is blowing through that many boards. People are stupid if they want to take speculation as fact it is their inability to mentally process the written word, that is not my fault at all. You don’t like the way I do things don’t read it. Good, bad, indifferent opinions are like assholes everyone is one.
Warning: Op/Ed coming at you…..
You got an e mail from someone in the PR department saying they were out and this leads to your first clue that DC is going down? It’s fucking PR, are you kidding me? Did Ken Block e mail you and tell you why he was forced out, laid off, fired or otherwise pushed out of his own company? It was some PR person for fuck’s sake. Next, their stock hit a low for the year, combined with a flagship store closing and that equates to confirmation of their demise? Did you take a look at rent on Melrose? Did you take a look at Billabong stock when they hit some lowly lows? Have YOU owned a business in the brick and mortar sector? Working in retail isn’t the same as owning a retail store. These are clues to how the company is operating and how they may shift focus, but speculation runs incredibly wild when you string these semi plausible theories together. So far, it’s just theory without any significant facts to back up your theory. For example, I am in the industry and have been for a lot longer than you. I know a lot of people in numerous areas of the industry. It took me one e mail to get the reply from and potentially reliable source at DC. They said they sold 13,000 boards last year. Maybe they did, maybe they didn’t. It’s just another semi plausible theory, that they sold enough boards to justify their continued existence. Your opinion, which you are completely entitled to, appears to border on paranoia. Next, the warranty story as another semi plausible theory…..kinda gets shot down immediately when you begin to consider a few rudimentary aspects. What is the landed cost of a DC board? That’s right, YOU have no idea because YOU aren’t involved with DC. What is the acceptable warranty rate for DC? Is it 3%? 5%? 1.5%? That’s right, YOU don’t know because YOU aren’t involved with DC. Is it a semi plausible theory to think DC may enjoy additional discount points from their manufacturers on a number of fronts? For example, maybe they pre pay for production for an additional 3 point discount. Covers a loose warranty policy that is designed to retain customers at the most crucial time: when the customer is unhappy. Maybe the promise of future business is enough to garner another 1 or 2 point discount. Point is, your warranty clue is no clue to anything besides how DC deals with warranty issues. It’s great that you say it’s just like, your opinion. But at the same time, you are telling a mass of people that DC is going out of the snow business and your opinion is based upon speculative theory after speculative theory. This warranty aspect really is a pisser because you just flat out don’t know the reason or effect of their policy, you are just attaching it to fit your argument. Again, I accept it is just your opinion, but opinions without any backup lack credibility. It’s OK that you mixed up your geography, no big deal. But the point you stated with the geography mix up is also associated with this warranty business. I can accept the fact DC may have made a slew of product that was of questionable quality. So what? Do you know the landed cost of a DC board? Do you know their margins? Do you know their rate of return? Without any of this information, the speculation lacks credibility and becomes an exercise in silliness. But, it’s like your opinion.
Bindings. You ever work in the snowboard binding business, outside of selling widgets on the retail floor? Did you know that it is incredibly easy to lose a lot of money in bindings, just based on the multiple parts you need to select, combined with the competition of well established brands who dominate the binding market? For example, Burton has refined their binding cost over many years, they probably enjoy the best quality parts at the best prices and control production and delivery better than any other binding maker. Union, you say? Fine, let’s talk SP, biggest binding maker in the World. You think they don’t have a handle on their costs and margins? Is it a semi plausible theory to believe DC may have attempted to make bindings and they never found the right combination of quality/price/margin and so they have continued to explore ways to do it or they have decided not to go down that road? And if anything I suggest is true, is it semi plausible to think DC is not going out of business even if they said they were going to make bindings, but never did? Let’s shift to real property…..DC Mtn Lab. Should Red Bull maintain Shaun’s pipe forever or was it designed for a different purpose than what the end consumer assumes? In other words, Red Bull calculated how many media impressions they could generate if they built a pipe, told a story about it and had a fantastic PR campaign to sell the story. Rumors are they spent upwards of $1 Million on the pipe and the inside info I have says they generated well over $10 million in media impressions. Sounds like a decent proposition to me. Let’s look at the Mtn Lab. What was done there? Lots of photos, videos, team meetings, partying, etc. Did it run its course? Most likely, how many new and differen images could be generated out of that place without periodic overhauls of the park and other visual factors? Is the timing of Danny Davis’ injury at the DC compound and the subsequent announcement of the place being for sale just a coincidence? An ill timed accident that lead to a devastating injury and the potential liability associated would have to force any reasonable entity to second guess their commitment to a project like the Mtn Lab. The next accident like Danny’s might lead to lawsuits that never end. Combine that with angry neighbors and little or no permit planning…..hey let’s sell this place, Utah is weird anyway. I would love to hear more about the dangers of overlap. I would love to hear more about your knowledge of the success of K2/Jardin and the issues of Amer Corp. Your , like, opinion is cool and all, but lacks loads of credibility when you make a sweeping statement and don’t offer any backup to the statement. It’s as if you sit on all these boards and are privy to information, yet you refuse to share the information as a backup to your, like, opinion. Overlap with the Quik brands is bad because they are competing with each other internally? Interesting theory you have. If companies acquire other companies, those companies can’t overlap or duplicate or compete? I’d have to argue that it isn’t a bad strategy to have internal competition. It balances out the P&L and when you have one underperforming brand, other over achieving brands can make up the difference. It’s usually known as a “portfolio” because you aren’t counting on everything to be 100% successful. It’s no excuse for DC, shit I don’t even like the brand and never really have. For a guy who has been around snowboarding for so long, Ken Block doesn’t seem to have the passion for it, just the business mind. So what? Most snowboard related brands lack passion, BFD. A brand as well known as DC came up with a one sentence description for their trade show guide and this is some indication of them pulling the plug on the snow sector? Holy shit, paranoia is off the chain. That one sentence clearly describes every aspect of their involvement in production of sports related goods. You nit pick and say apparel isn’t outerwear? What? Please see #1 below……
ap·par·el [uh-par-uhl] Show IPA noun, verb, -eled, -el·ing or ( especially British ) -elled, -el·ling.
noun
1.
clothing, especially outerwear; garments; attire; raiment.
2.
anything that decorates or covers.
3.
superficial appearance; aspect; guise.
4.
Nautical . the masts, sails, anchor, etc., used to equip a vessel.
5.
Ecclesiastical . a piece of embroidery, usually oblong, on certain vestments, especially on the alb or amice.
verb (used with object)
6.
to dress or clothe.
7.
to adorn; ornament.
8.
Nautical . to equip (a vessel) with apparel.
The final clincher is Ken Block is not running the show any more? What what? How long did he run the show before he and Damon Way sold to Quik? Could it be a semi plausible theory to think Ken Block and Damon Way worked hard to build the brand and as it became a huge brand worth a lot, they looked at it and felt they could both pull back from the daily rigors of running a brand and begin to enjoy other aspects of life? Is Ken Block beholden to DC for as long as the brand exists? Even if he sold it to Quik? This “final clincher” is just more proof that you are speculating out your ass and posting this and defending it as OP/ED is completely irresponsible to your own agenda. You can be angry and you have a right in many circumstances. Your anger loses a ton of credibility if you post things that just flat out don’t have enough backup to even consider the theory you present. Now there are enough people out there talking about DC going under because of your op/ed piece filled with wild speculations. Nice job, DC is out doing damage control and telling people like me that they sold 13,000 boards last year and are not changing anything, besides their growth pattern. Maybe it’s a line of bullshit and they will announce DC Snow’s demise any day. But I would step back a bit and look at all of these aspects you present with an objective view. That’s like my opinion in this Op/Ed shit show. Have an ANGRY day!
Since you brought up the subject of paranoia and credibility lets look at this. You make no mention of who you are or what you do. Seems kind of hypocritical to point out I have no credibility and am paranoid when you like 98% of the snowboard industry don’t have the balls to say who you are openly. Till you say that your comment doesn’t mean shit in the grand scheme of things. If you’re going to have an opinion be strong and don’t hide who you are, it shows more character upon yourself.
We should all just fucking kill ourselves….. The world is coming to an end!
yea maybe DC figures they have a little less than a year to get out and cash out, and enjoy the fruits of their labor… before the world ends
You couldn’t be more wrong about this. It’s really not even worth commenting on your lack of knowledge and ignorance.
Your sources for this article are so weak it’s cringe worthy.
Agreed. With DC going out of business I might as well kill myself.
Was there even snowboarding before DC?
Angry dude, I am not the one who put out an op/ed piece, I just responded to one. Of course my comment doesn’t mean shit in the grand scheme of things. Have you considered looking at things objectively prior to expressing your opinion? You can string together any series of clues to make your case, yet if you look objectively at the whole thing, maybe you wouldn’t have such wild speculation put out as your opinion. It is totally irrelevant who I am because I am not stating anything as fact here, I am just questioning your logic on this particular issue. I’m Steve and I have worked for lots of companies in R&D, sales and marketing. Again, doesn’t matter who I am, I’m not the one putting out defamatory articles with no evidence. If you attempt to deflect the attention away from you by saying I am paranoid for not saying who I am, I again must conclude you refuse to look objectively enough at the subject, not who I am, to be able to answer any of the questions I posed. I didn’t say one way or the other that DC is going out of the snow business or stays in it. I’ve heard the rumors, asked people directly at DC and have decided to accept their answer and will not be surprised if their answer turns out to be untrue or true. Lighten up, Francis.
Steve you know you’re the one that seems kind of wound up about this maybe you need to “Lighten up, Francis.” I wrote this then went snowboarding like I do every day and didn’t give a shit. I’m going to take a stab in the dark here and say it sounds like you work for DC and this might have effected you. Chances are you’ll work for them now, be on to another company tomorrow, and then on to another after that. I chose the angle I went with for a reason it’s worked I’m content with that. I don’t play by “the rules” of the snowboard industry and I never will. In the end you’re either playing the game or changing it, I’m trying to change it. Love it or hate it I don’t really care I don’t do this for you or anyone in fact no one could read my site and I wouldn’t care. If you want to argue with me or even lecture me it does matter who you are to some extent.
Also you can assume all you want about me and probably even asked around but not a lot of people know a lot about me for good reason. I like having a private life. You can speculate on what I have or haven’t done in snowboarding. You can also speculate on what I do or don’t know in snowboarding as well. In the end I know what I know and have done what I have done and share it with the people I need to.
Haha, you are totally wrong. Have a nice holiday.
inTheDark, as far as I can tell this op/ed piece was written objectively, granted it is just speculative opinion, but Angry never states whether or not he’s for or against the speculative fall of DC Snow. The question mark in the title suggests that the article above IS merely speculation. By inserting the question mark Angry avoids making a statement of fact by asking a speculative question, he then goes on to list why/what he suspects is going on at DC. And honestly all Angry has done by stirring the waters around DC Snow is provide the company with some free publicity, anyone who panics about the possible loss of DC as a snow related company will definitely seek to find out for themselves the truth of the matter or even go out and buy everything DC that they can. So just speculating, Angrys negative op/ed piece probably increased consumer awareness of DCsnow and anyone who gave a damn about sporting DC anything is probably scrambling to ask Santa for the products in question…..Just sayin.
He says in the beginning of the article that his speculation was confirmed based on an e mail from a former employee in the PR department who was let go, for who knows what reason. It’s not about raising awareness of the brand, it’s about speculation that the brand is on the downside of its lifecycle. I don’t work for DC, but I am involved in the industry and any time a rumor hits about a brand, there is some effect. I just like to see accuracy in public forums and the media and this entire piece seems questionable if you look for accuracy in the story.
Do you not know how to comprehend the written word? I said in that “my speculations” I didn’t say all speculations I said mine as in me as in what I believe. I’m not saying hey everyone check this out look what I just confirmed this is true. I said I as in what I believe not in what you believe, they believe, or anyone else. If you can’t comprehend the word MY and taking it as what I believe that is your fault along with everyone else.
If people want to get upset with strong OPINIONS they shouldn’t read this site.
The problem is that the way you have written the article makes out that the opinion you have reached is based of facts that could only lead to the logical conclusion that DC has serious issues.
The way i read the article is that disgruntled former DC employee emails you with what can be only described as a thinly veiled attack on his former employers, which you take as a sign of trouble, and then you a collection of completely random assumptions to conclude that DC is in trouble.
Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but that opinion is only respected when it is logically and coherently put together.
The article is not an opinion piece, but an attack on DC, written is such a way that appears you have based it on fact, and based on the image you like to put out that you are hardwired into the snowboard industry and know whats up and whats not.
You further belittle your article when the only defense you proffer against people who take umbridge with your work, is that they must work for the company you are slagging off, without seeming to understand that people are taking issue with you talking a load of bollocks, that has a ripple effect for people who actually work in the industry, rather than those who prefer to write about it.
Lets say shop X has a big stock of DC product, but now all the kids coming in wont go near it because they have heard on the grapevine that DC is going under – shop is fucked for stock, turnovers down, staff get layed off.
The irony is you probably wrote this article knowing that it would attract a lot of traffic to your site, and the more uproar it causes, the better is is for your business, even if its at the expense of someone elses – if DC Snow goes under it wont be the big bad corporates who get their wallets burnt, it will be all the smaller retailers who get fucked as a result.
Oh my god you’re still going on about this? Can you not comprehend the term “my speculations”. Yes this site is my opinion and fine you don’t respect it others do. If I wanted to make everyone happy all the time I would go status quo and the site would be lame as fuck as so many others.
Do you know how many people work in this industry that love to anonymously talk about it and talk down to everyone? Fuck them you want to do that say who you are and what you do adds credibility to your argument. I don’t hide and definitely stand behind what I do or say. Not a hard concept and it lets you see things at face value vs being a keyboard hero like yourself and Steve if that’s his real name. Yeah I call out people that appear to work for brands that go off on tangents, I’m not the only site that does this. Brings more transparency to the discussion if everyones cards are on the table. But I forgot most people in this industry give up having a spine or beliefs so they can be part of the status quo and remain complacent.
No shit if a company disappears it does it effect the whole industry. I hate seeing big or small companies go, but that wasn’t the point of this.
Also news flash kids while the largest marketed demographic aren’t the ones spending the most. Industry needs to consider the next 2 age graphics above this.
I do love the pot shot that I don’t work in this industry. I’ve heard this one so many times I just laugh if I’m not in this industry what am I?
As far as shops how come the vast majority that read this and commented on it or sent me a message about it are shop employees/owners and expressed jubilation about this. Any good shop will know how to move merchandise regardless. Look at the economy shops are still pushing products.
I’ll say this again to you. If you don’t like what I write don’t read it, hard concept right? I’ve noticed you only comment when it doesn’t agree with what you believe. That’s fine if that’s your thing, me personally I’m the opposite.
Heres one thing DC will have a booth at SIA this year, so at least we can assume that they’ll have new products on show for 2013….
Finally figured out how to sneak on this site at work. Thank you for the article and the subsequently entertaining comments.
haven’t chuckled like this in a long time.
to be honest, when the mtn lab went tits up, as well as the requirement for DC to change up it’s look … can’t recall why they had to suddenly change everything to “DCSHOESCOMPANY” but whatever.
the article was an interesting thought to a possible situation. thanks man.
oh, with regards to the comment about going tits up and the design/name change. i figured something was going on with DC period.
Damn, so much shit talking about this subject.. give the damn angry snowboarder a break..
In my opinion whether they continue to manufacture boards or not, the 11/12 line stands further from the traditional DC image than anything else they’ve done. If you guys notice, none of the decks have ‘DC SHOE COUSA’ on the base or anywhere else for that matter. None of the traditional branding is found anywhere on these boards. I think the graphics are pretty damn sick and standout actually. If their sales do decline, then fuck it. Take the Volcom approach, kill the pro models and just manufacture the boards for your riders. I’m no ‘industry insider pro’ but I will say this: There is a damn good reason why Volcom is not manufacturing and selling boards in mass. In this conversation I’ve noticed no one has mentioned DC boots, which has always been their strongest and most relevant contribution the snow market. Whether the boards stay or go, the boots ain’t going anywhere.
^ Its a shoe company, I would expect that they make quality boots. Just like Nike and Vans, I would hope, that as a shoe company, any kind of footwear they produce would be “top of the line”. I’m excited to see adidas and what they are trying to offer up at SIA this year…
hey just a little info on DC, first, they had to make everything say DCSHOESCOMPANY because of a lawsuit with Dolce and Gabbani. Also, Ive been riding DC board for a while now and the Tone and PBJ are fucking sick jibsticks, and the MLF is one of the best slopestyle boards on the market. The way they do their bases, they just go, speed is great and super stable. They have some of the super-pros on their team. Dont worry about DC.
Dont think they are hurting to bad, just in case you weren’t aware of what they just opened.
http://www.dcshoes.com/uk/en/snow/videos/dc-area-43-beginning-of-january
i dont like RUMOURS…http://whitelines.mpora.com/product/snowboard-gear-2012-2013-ispo-tradeshow-preview-burton-forum-k2-ride-lib-tech-gnu-rome-dc-volcom-vans-oakley-union.html/attachment/dc-mlf-iikka-backstrom-snowboard-review-2012-2013
http://www.pleasuremag.com/news/2458/ispo-product-preview-2012-dc
That’s nice you want a cookie?
i like a cookie, can i put up old links as well
No you’re going on a diet.