I read in the news today about a local fly shop that is closing its doors after nearly a quarter century of doing business in my area. Admittedly, I did not frequent the place, but the fact remains that yet another small business owner is losing their piece of the pie. A piece of the pie that hits close to home because it catered to the fly-fishing crowd, of which I am a proud member.
The economics of fly-fishing is steak one week bologna the next. You might have a few customers who have a cash cow grazing out back, but for the most part, you are not going to have droves of people standing in line to buy $900.00 rods and $400.00 reels. Most of us are still trying to justify a purchase from four years ago that cost half that. Fly-fishing, if you become a gearaholic can be a very expensive venture and not one that most can maintain.
So what does it actually take to keep a business open and moderately successful? The obvious thought is to diversify, but a fly shop, just like a mechanic, or a bakery, has one thing they do. Diversification is proprietary to box retail, and box retail doesn’t really care in a personal and hands on way if they have the right sized Parachute Adams for Spring Fishing in the Smokies.
One local Fly Shop has found a niche on the World Wide Web. By shipping various products world wide, and offering a plethora of pertinent local angling information with one mouse click, they have effectively risen above any potential funeral pyre and though I am sure that they are not rolling in the dough, at the very least they are maintaining a very respectable business.
The business that is closing had, from a river perspective, a very poor location, and you would find no cheap stuff their either. However, place a good selection of equipment in a location that is either on the way to or on the way from the river, and you just might be able to squeeze through.
We have monster Box Retail of the fishing variety here as well. Though I often feel like a hypocrite for doing it, I work there a couple of days per month. Here is what I have noticed about this place…
They call it a “Fly Shop”, but it is really just a small fly fishing department much as a selection of pots and pans is house wares at Wal-Mart. Most of the clientele are not die-hard fly anglers. They are mostly spin fishermen who want to give it a try or someone on vacation who saw a real fly angler in the Smokies and decided to blow some of their expendable vacation income on a rod and reel so they could feel as though they have been in “the movie”.
I build my own rods, and now have started building them for others. Quality, hand made, bamboo fly rods. Good stuff. But, if I think for one minute that I can quit my day job and start building an empire on an esoteric portion of a very segregated sport, I may as well get in line with the shop that is closing and start looking for the unemployment office.
The economics of fly-fishing is steak one week bologna the next. You might have a few customers who have a cash cow grazing out back, but for the most part, you are not going to have droves of people standing in line to buy $900.00 rods and $400.00 reels. Most of us are still trying to justify a purchase from four years ago that cost half that. Fly-fishing, if you become a gearaholic can be a very expensive venture and not one that most can maintain.
So what does it actually take to keep a business open and moderately successful? The obvious thought is to diversify, but a fly shop, just like a mechanic, or a bakery, has one thing they do. Diversification is proprietary to box retail, and box retail doesn’t really care in a personal and hands on way if they have the right sized Parachute Adams for Spring Fishing in the Smokies.
One local Fly Shop has found a niche on the World Wide Web. By shipping various products world wide, and offering a plethora of pertinent local angling information with one mouse click, they have effectively risen above any potential funeral pyre and though I am sure that they are not rolling in the dough, at the very least they are maintaining a very respectable business.
The business that is closing had, from a river perspective, a very poor location, and you would find no cheap stuff their either. However, place a good selection of equipment in a location that is either on the way to or on the way from the river, and you just might be able to squeeze through.
We have monster Box Retail of the fishing variety here as well. Though I often feel like a hypocrite for doing it, I work there a couple of days per month. Here is what I have noticed about this place…
They call it a “Fly Shop”, but it is really just a small fly fishing department much as a selection of pots and pans is house wares at Wal-Mart. Most of the clientele are not die-hard fly anglers. They are mostly spin fishermen who want to give it a try or someone on vacation who saw a real fly angler in the Smokies and decided to blow some of their expendable vacation income on a rod and reel so they could feel as though they have been in “the movie”.
I build my own rods, and now have started building them for others. Quality, hand made, bamboo fly rods. Good stuff. But, if I think for one minute that I can quit my day job and start building an empire on an esoteric portion of a very segregated sport, I may as well get in line with the shop that is closing and start looking for the unemployment office.
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