Black ovis/camofire going out of business?

[chanson_roland]

I think this sheds a new light as to why companies like Kuiu or First Lite refuse to do business with third party retailers. It wouldn't shock me if Sitka follows suit.

One wrong move from a retailer and you're staring at a $500,000 loss. Sheesh

This is such a great point. DTC business models don't just enable you to reduce cost, it takes a lot of this distribution channel/inventory risk with third parties off the table.

I think you're right. Anyone in this space is going to study the BK filings and change their model accordingly.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Are you talking about the severance payouts?

Yeah. Did they get a final paycheck or a parachute while these other places got the shaft?

 

[wind gypsy]

I think this sheds a new light as to why companies like Kuiu or First Lite refuse to do business with third party retailers. It wouldn't shock me if Sitka follows suit.

One wrong move from a retailer and you're staring at a $500,000 loss. Sheesh!

FL certainly sells via certain retailers but they must be cautious about which. Scheels is one example.

 

[SuperDUECE22]

I think this sheds a new light as to why companies like Kuiu or First Lite refuse to do business with third party retailers. It wouldn't shock me if Sitka follows suit.

One wrong move from a retailer and you're staring at a $500,000 loss. Sheesh!

FL is not DTC to consumer, nor have they been for quite a while. Scheels, MidwayUSA & Rogers Sporting Goods

 

[wind gypsy]

No one should be surprised that Black Ovis went bankrupt… it’s obvious they didn’t make good business decisions when not only did they not sever ties with a convicted poacher, but they instead order $144K worth of his shit.

I have as much faith the $144k owed to muley freak is for something like digital marketing or a fraudulent claim in bankrupcy as i do actually moving that much gear.

 

[SMOKYMTN]

FL certainly sells via certain retailers but they must be cautious about which. Scheels is one example.

That's good to know. Last time I ordered from FL it was strictly DTC and we don't have Scheels where I am from.

 

[roadrunner]

I think this sheds a new light as to why companies like Kuiu or First Lite refuse to do business with third party retailers. It wouldn't shock me if Sitka follows suit.

One wrong move from a retailer and you're staring at a $500,000 loss. Sheesh!

Tell me about it. I had a retailer flake out on me last week for next year's product (revenue) after expensing the packaging specific for them...

 

[Sccritterkiller]

Buy wool from the sheep that are the primary downfall of bighorn sheep in a chunk of SW MT? I’d rather pay made in USA prices for Chinese wool.

No need for China...New Zealand...pretty sure thats where FL merino cows from.
I don't buy any garments with USA grown wool. Socks were the hardest thing to replace went with alpaca wool.

 

[SMOKYMTN]

FL is not DTC to consumer, nor have they been for quite a while. Scheels, MidwayUSA & Rogers Sporting Goods

Yea, that is all new to me, I haven't bought FL product in a long time.

 

[swavescatter]

FL certainly sells via certain retailers but they must be cautious about which. Scheels is one example.

I've heard similar about Cabela's/Ass Pro. When the new Swaro NLs came out last year they were nowhere to be seen at BP but other retailers had them. My buddy went to Scheels to pick up the 14's and remarked about Cabela's not having them... Scheels guy mage a joke about some retailers not paying their suppliers and Swaro making a point about it with new releases...

 

[Poser]

B2B is a dying model. As a company, we decided to pull out of Midway, Black Ovis, etc. a long while ago. We still supply some small archery shops, but we invest heavily in social media / Google marketing for B2C. When you do the math, your margins after advertising expenses are better than when having to give larger retailers 40% gross margins.

The headache of sending payment reminder emails constantly goes away. I wouldn't be surprised to see more and more companies prioritize B2C through increased social advertising in the future.

It's a risk spending 40-60K a month on advertising, but if you have a good product you can expect a 3X - 4X return if done right.

Can confirm. I've overseen quite a few Google campaigns on the agency side for various DTC outdoor brands: snowboard industry and a some hunting industry as well. Spend 15k, sell 60k worth of gear directly off the ad spend. Its not rocket science. The longer you run them, the more optimized the campaigns become. You don't have to micro manage the pricing and/or have retailers undercut you or devalue the product with unapproved sales. In the winter sports industry, brands are working their people overtime over thanksgiving manually shutting down unauthorized Black Friday sales and the retailers will go to great lengths to find any backdoor sale price loophole they can get away with.

 

[TandKHunting]

Can confirm. I've overseen quite a few Google campaigns on the agency side for various DTC outdoor brands: snowboard industry and a some hunting industry as well. Spend 15k, sell 60k worth of gear directly off the ad spend. Its not rocket science. The longer you run them, the more optimized the campaigns become. You don't have to micro manage the pricing and/or have retailers undercut you or devalue the product with unapproved sales. In the winter sports industry, brands are working their people overtime over thanksgiving manually shutting down unauthorized Black Friday sales and the retailers will go to great lengths to find any backdoor sale price loophole they can get away with.

100%

I tell new business owners all the time. Don't mess with retail unless you absolutely need to. Your brand will get 10X the exposure through your own social media and Google ads than sitting on a shelf in an outdoor store. In the case of online retailers, it's not worth the margin sacrifice and headache in my opinion. Plus, as you said, you have better control over MAP and discounts, which is important for brand longevity and perception.

You will get a small percentage of people that may want to get hands on with your product before purchasing, but a wide majority of consumers are already accustomed to buying products online. If you can implement an easy and stress free return policy that doesn't cost a consumer an arm and a leg, they will take the risk of possibly having to send it back if they know they won't get hit with ridiculous shipping, handling, and restocking fees.

 

[bozeman]

So Sears Roebuck had it right after all?? LOL.

 

[MuleDeerMike]

Wouldn’t it be surprised to see it end up at Sierra trading Post

Out of curiosity, how is Sierra affiliated and what leads you to think it would end up there? I'm not in the loop on this but I'm very interested in where all this inventory ends up, especially if it's around the holiday season.

 

[Billy Goat]

It’s wild that any adult man fan boys out over another adult short of being in awe of a Medal of Honor winner or true hero. I really don’t get it?

I hafta think somewhere there's s dude with a MF tattoo

 

[bergie]

I hafta think somewhere there's s dude with a MF tattoo

I'll bet he has red hair, a flat brim hat, disregards any ethical (or legal) boundary in the name of killing critters on camera for profit and has wildlife convictions in multiple states...but that a generalization. Could be anybody.

 

[fngTony]

Out of curiosity, how is Sierra affiliated and what leads you to think it would end up there? I'm not in the loop on this but I'm very interested in where all this inventory ends up, especially if it's around the holiday season.

Not that they are affiliated at all. Sierra is in the business of moving hard to sell items mainly clothing for the non-hunting outdoor people. Black Ovis being in Salt Lake City and Sierra being based out of Cheyenne Wyoming They’re not that far off if they did load up a couple trucks and move the stuff.
I don’t think we would see high-end optics and stuff like that but clothing trekking poles maybe some packs some footwear things like that. Sierra does carry a small amount of hunting stuff so I don’t think it’s against their business motto.

 

[Hnthrdr]

I hafta think somewhere there's s dude with a MF tattoo

By the laws of utardia and bro culture you know there is

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Sierra does carry a small amount of hunting stuff so I don’t think it’s against their business motto.

Yeah they've carried knives and stuff from vortex, sitka, firstlite, mystery ranch, lowa, etc. at various times. I am sure there are more I am not thinking of.