I want to support my local tackle shop but...

[Guest Bill Eborn]

Is anybody out there having the same trouble getting hold of tackle through local dealers? I know that some of the big manufacturers ask for large minimum orders that are beyond the scope of a lot of local shops. Also my local dealer has been trying to get hold of a particular reel from a company that officially doesn't require a minimum order, for a couple of weeks now, and despite talking to people as high up as the MD still doesn't seem to be getting any joy.

 

A lot has been written in the angling press lately about the troubles of the tackle trade, particularly in the wake of the floods of last winter and shutdown due to foot and mouth. Local dealers are the most vulnerable and if any of them are going under at the moment the current difficulties probably has a lot to do with it.

 

But what if the problems are a bit more structural than that, what if flooding and foot and mouth are simply the proverbial straw breaking the camel's back?

 

There's a rod I'm interesting in: RRP about £75, cost price to my local shop about £52, but available by mail order for £55. Presumably the mail order companies are able to get big discounts by buying in bulk and by having a large turnover, manage to cut down their unit cost.

 

Obviously it is going to be hard for a small retailer to compete against large firms with cost advantages like these, but if local shops are having difficulty getting supplied in the first place, they don't stand any chance at all.

 

It's not unusual to hear people talking about how the supermarkets have devastated the high street: if we're not careful the tackle trade could go the same way: dominated by a small number of large companies with a large number of areas without a local retail presence at all.

 

If this comes about as a result of lots of individual customers freely choosing to buy by mail order because it is cheaper, or more convenient, then as anglers we will get the tackle trade we deserve. If on the other hand there is -as my conspiracy theorists mind wonders there might be- a bit of backstage dealing and stitching up going on, we are moving into different territory. I don't know a lot about the law, but the words "restrictive practices" seem to come to mind at this point.

 

I'd be interested to know if anybody else has had any problems similar to mine and if any tackle dealers read this, it would be interesting to know what they think as well.

[Guest Alan Roe]

Sad to say Bill that your issues with the tackle trade are not new. The trade is in a mess for all the reasons you have mentioned and a few more besides.

The base problem is that there is too much tackle chasing too few anglers and the responses to this issue by the big wholsalers have caused further dammage to the trade as a whole.

Differential discounting is one of the areas in which the trade has shot itself in the foot. However the major players are not being too greatly hurt by its actions as yet the victims are the small local dealers and the paying public.

[Guest Peter Waller]

The difficulties don't just end there. Have you looked at the new catalogues yet. Anything new in them? It appears that the wholesalers are being very wary, staying with provern lines. Either that or genuinly there have been no improvements that allow for new lines. I look at American catalogues, BassPro & Cabellas & my mouth drools, but UK catalogues its yawn yawn.