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JS warehouse Oceanside retaliation
- Thread starter casa_mugrienta
- Start date
Didn't mean to come across as trolling - I'm not.
Just from what I'm seeing, as someone who surfs a lot, and travels up and down the coast regularly for waves - the Firewire stuff is at four-alarm level.
It seems they have gained significantly more market share than just a few years ago.
Yes I do understand why local shapers are pissed.
But I'm also looking at the big picture.
I saw a mom bringing two groms to the beach with firewires yesterday. Do we need to educate people in the water? Friends don't let friends....
They also need to answer questions and put more info on their websites. Part of the reason he likes firewire is their customer service. You can't blame him for that.
I agree.
At the same time a lot of people don't have the capital to invest in that sort of marketing - and I'm told that it actually only appeals to certain smaller segment of consumers, so some shapers are hesitant in regards to how far they will go down the marketing road.
With surfboards undoubtedly good marketing works but you need the marketing that appeals to consumers.
So in some regards it's David vs Goliath and it's back to square one.
FW has been able to corner both marketing and production costs so they're the winners.
Album is a good example of great marketing too and has gotten many shaper's attention. But he has the resources.
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Most local shapers can make a board under 550 and most seem to have more work than they want. The unsung hero who never gets any love is the glasser. They're swamped right now. I do see more yellow boards than anything in the waters. I miss the Clark foam days as 300 was the going rate. I rarely see js boards or dhd.
If you can't get the shaper or assistant on the phone or email, you can't talk dimensions to order a custom, so to an extent they can't afford not to answer the phone/email. Firewire does have people to answer emails, but this eats into their margins. I suppose they make this up on volume, but it's not clear that the only firewire can do more marketing.
Most shapers have a volume calculator. They can write something on how to pick a length and thicken up to match the desired volume. They can write pros/cons of various glass jobs. These are largely up-front costs if done right.
It's been said here that JS selling direct to consumer out of the warehouse but looking at their website the majority of boards show no US stock (as usual).
That's a big warehouse BTW.
What are they storing in it?
That's a big warehouse BTW.
What are they storing in it?
I know shapers that have done this, only to find that info, word for word, on another shaper's website.
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That happens in every industry. You guys all talk about a relationship with the shaper. That's really what gets/keeps customers: the relationship, not the marketing content. The content just pulls them in. People want to buy from people they know and like.