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Another tackle shop going

Damian Kimmins said:
Angling Direct hanging in there? Really? Just like the powerful supermarkets Angling Direct is choosing to undercut everyone else - commonly known as the race to the bottom!
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Do AD undercut other tackle shops? I'm not sure they do. They are always seem a little more expensive to me?

They do seem to keep very good levels of stock in my local shop. As much as I don't like the way they are monopolising the tackle shop as in the long-term this cannot be good for the angler, I do have to concede that my local AD store is very well run.

AD must have tremendous buying power from their suppliers and must be able to source tackle cheaper than their rivals. I suspect this is why they are so successful.
 
Damian Kimmins said:
Angling Direct hanging in there? Really? Just like the powerful supermarkets Angling Direct is choosing to undercut everyone else - commonly known as the race to the bottom!
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That's not the definition of a race to the bottom. A race to the bottom is defined by businesses cutting corners to provide as minimal a service or product quality as they can get away with, for competitive advantage.

So unless brands like Daiwa, Shimano, etc start lowering product quality to compete with AD own brand products it's not a race to the bottom.

The supermarkets and AD are simply using buying power to be competitive, but I buy more from TFT than I do from Angling Direct, and more from W & X supermarkets, than from Y & Z, so as long as there is choice, none of these businesses are even a monopoly (which would be illegal anyway).
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I would imagine Angling Direct make a loss from their shops. From what I gather half their sales are from the sheds and theyre barely profitable as a company. Their return on capital employed is very low as well - nobody’s getting rich.

I like my local AD, it’s a bit of a journey but everywhere is when you live in north London, parking is easy and free, they have everything in stock at a good price and the staff are friendly and a mix of older guys and younger guys and women.

I know ultimately a company funded by private equity gradually taking more abd more of the market isn’t what’s best for the sport or society come to that. But what can you do?
 
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Angling Direct doubled their profit last year. However 1.5m on 100m turnover isn't great.

The company would hope that the 100m however, taken from small retailer businesses would help them reap the rewards in the future when the opposition fails.
 
Graham Elliott said:
Angling Direct doubled their profit last year. However 1.5m on 100m turnover isn't great.

The company would hope that the 100m however, taken from small retailer businesses would help them reap the rewards in the future when the opposition fails.
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When you factor in that they acquired 6 new stores last year, that's pretty impressive.
 
Re Angling Direct, even if sale prices are comparable with other tackle outlets, you’d expect their sales margins to be much better, based on simple economies of scale. If as an example they put an order into Shimano or Daiwa for a 1000 reels, compared to my local tackle shop, who may only buy 10 of the same reels, who gets the better price from Shimano or Daiwa?

There was a time when Drennan wouldn’t supply to online only retailers and that included the BFW shop I seem to recall. Drennan also used to set and enforce the RPM (resale price maintenance) and if a tackle dealer undercut this, Drennan would stop supplying them. On two occasions and with two different tackle dealers, I bought pairs of Drennan rods. When I asked for a discount on buying a pair, it was a big fat NO, due to the above reason. I’ve no idea if this still happens, but when did you see Acolytes going cheap?
 
I was going to ask this, I mean, with smaller independent shops going one after the other, who's to blame? Are the brands giving places like AD the better prices which the smaller shops cannot compete with? We've all seen the low prices that some korum stuff gets sold for at AD for example and I know my local small shop cannot compete with those prices despite being a korum dealer too. So are the brands as much to blame for killing off the little guys too?

I'm just thinking out loud with no experience of retail.
 
Mark Evans 2 said:
I was going to ask this, I mean, with smaller independent shops going one after the other, who's to blame?
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We are all to blame, because we're buying more of our stuff online.

But the 'industry' is also to blame. It seems that the distributors and the bigger brands especially, don't care about the little guys any more. Insisting that they place minimum orders and pay upfront. (I've had this conversation a few times with one.)

On that basis, the little guy often has to take more stock than he can shift in a reasonable time - exposing him to the possibility that the likes of AD will discount the product to less than the price (at trade) that the little guy had to pay.

So, in answer to Neil, the likes of AD are definitely getting better trade prices than the smaller independents - and because they have as much, if not more, power than the brands, I doubt they have to pay upfront. Which effectively means they enjoy interest-free credit, higher margins, but also (as above) the ability, if needs be, to shift gear at no loss, at a price that still undercuts the smaller guys.

Unless anyone who represents the big brands can correct me, it seems that they have forgotten about the people that made them successful in the first place.
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That’s a good point, I support procure to pay business process/IT systems for a living and you can bet the likes of AT will have far better payment terms than a small independent retailer i.e. payment due 60 days from invoice date.

The Drennan example I referred to, was originally to support small independent retailers, but that was also back in the day when Peter Drennan personally inspected every rod!
 
Following on with this topic, I was previously in the market for a Diawa TDR reel. At the time, my incredible fishery based dealer would price match to ensure a sale. He was amazed when I showed him the best online price that I had found and said that it would cost him more than that to put it on the shelf. I stood by while he phoned his supplier and complained bitterly that he was going to lose a sale because because the big boys(yes, you know the one) were getting such big discounts. Begrudgingly he was given that price but told that it was a “one off”. He no longer price matches and ended his points based loyalty scheme. Sad, not a lot different to all the pubs closing, largely due to being held to ransom by the huge multi national brewing corporations.
 
Neil Blood said:
Re Angling Direct, even if sale prices are comparable with other tackle outlets, you’d expect their sales margins to be much better, based on simple economies of scale. If as an example they put an order into Shimano or Daiwa for a 1000 reels, compared to my local tackle shop, who may only buy 10 of the same reels, who gets the better price from Shimano or Daiwa?

There was a time when Drennan wouldn’t supply to online only retailers and that included the BFW shop I seem to recall. Drennan also used to set and enforce the RPM (resale price maintenance) and if a tackle dealer undercut this, Drennan would stop supplying them. On two occasions and with two different tackle dealers, I bought pairs of Drennan rods. When I asked for a discount on buying a pair, it was a big fat NO, due to the above reason. I’ve no idea if this still happens, but when did you see Acolytes going cheap?
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I bought an acolyte plus on a discount from Fishing Republic. I think there was a bit of a fuss about them doing it after. And it was the old company before they went into administration and were bought by Go Outdoors which also might say something
 
Neil Blood said:
Re Angling Direct, even if sale prices are comparable with other tackle outlets, you’d expect their sales margins to be much better, based on simple economies of scale. If as an example they put an order into Shimano or Daiwa for a 1000 reels, compared to my local tackle shop, who may only buy 10 of the same reels, who gets the better price from Shimano or Daiwa?

There was a time when Drennan wouldn’t supply to online only retailers and that included the BFW shop I seem to recall. Drennan also used to set and enforce the RPM (resale price maintenance) and if a tackle dealer undercut this, Drennan would stop supplying them. On two occasions and with two different tackle dealers, I bought pairs of Drennan rods. When I asked for a discount on buying a pair, it was a big fat NO, due to the above reason. I’ve no idea if this still happens, but when did you see Acolytes going cheap?
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Not sure if Drennan still do the same Neil but I believe Nigel mentions in the video how grateful he was to the support from Drennan.
 
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I was pointed to the existence of this thread by Phil Nixon who suggested I should have a read of it.

If I’m honest I pretty much stopped participating in this forum after being wrongly accused of lying about the weight of a salmon being discussed on this forum - life’s too short for that sort of negativity - so I completely missed this thread.

Firstly that you all for your kind words, I’m genuinely gobsmacked at the positive response we’ve received following our announcement that we’re finally retiring. To read that we have given so many people happy memories of our interactions is genuinely humbling.

To try and succinctly answer most questions asked, the only reason the shop is closing is we are retireing.

Not the numbers of people fishing the Royalty, not Angling Direct and it’s impact on the industry, or any other external reasons.

We’re just a bit tired.

Thank you for recognising that Davis Tackle has played a small part in barbel fishing history.
 
Well Nigel I would like to be one of those to thank you both for all you put into the shop over the years ( I'm sure that being a tackle shop owner can be a thankless task at times ) and hope that both Helen and yourself enjoy a relaxing, well deserved retirement. Hopefully we may meet on the banks of the Lower Itchen one day ( sadly without Stackey ) and I can once again marvel at you nicking out a 12lb plus Barbel on the float at last knockings with your stepped up 2.6lb hooklinks :D
 
Enjoy your retirement Nigel, sadly, we've never crossed paths, but you sound like a proper old school, tackle shop proprietor. I still have 2 within a few miles from me. Again, the 2 owners are getting on in years. Not sure how much longer they can/will carry on. Bob's Angling on Smithdown Road. And Rays Tackle in Huyton. Both in Liverpool. Both chaps well into their 70's, maybe more 🤷‍♂️. But always been so friendly and welcoming, with a fresh coffee, tea, or just a chat. God Bless you all. 🙏
 
Best of luck in your retirement Nigel :)
 
Went in once, many years ago when we look our grandchildren to an adjacent caravan park. Good shop, well stocked, good days. One vital need for retirees. It's imperative to have a reason to get up. Beyond that , make up your own rules and minds and enjoy!
 
Nigel Gray said:
I was pointed to the existence of this thread by Phil Nixon who suggested I should have a read of it.

If I’m honest I pretty much stopped participating in this forum after being wrongly accused of lying about the weight of a salmon being discussed on this forum - life’s too short for that sort of negativity - so I completely missed this thread.

Firstly that you all for your kind words, I’m genuinely gobsmacked at the positive response we’ve received following our announcement that we’re finally retiring. To read that we have given so many people happy memories of our interactions is genuinely humbling.

To try and succinctly answer most questions asked, the only reason the shop is closing is we are retireing.

Not the numbers of people fishing the Royalty, not Angling Direct and it’s impact on the industry, or any other external reasons.

We’re just a bit tired.

Thank you for recognising that Davis Tackle has played a small part in barbel fishing history.
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It will be a sad day when you finally close that door Nigel! many happy memories! hopefully I will get down on the last week and see you.
 
Nigel Gray said:
To try and succinctly answer most questions asked, the only reason the shop is closing is we are retireing.
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Amid all the doom and gloom and false speculation in this thread, it surely concludes on a happy note that you're retiring on your own terms.

We've never met and I've never visited the shop, but here's wishing you a happy retirement... I highly recommend it. 😉
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