Do Statistics Tell the Story?
Not snowfall but a falling stock market, S&L fallout, a fall in consumer confidence and rising gasoline and energy costs have ski executives forgetting about problems of last winter. People I talk to seem more worried than at any time I can recall since the industry’s economic depression a decade ago. And this summer, for example, consumers showed their concern with saving money by opting to travel less and take shorter vacations. How much of the trend will carry into ski vacationing?
In retrospect, last winter’s decline in the ski business now appears to have been driven more by an already collapsing economy than by unfavorable weather. Dr. Marvin Kottke’s report to USIA estimating 1989-90 volume for 591 areas (vs. 611 the previous season) shows skier days down 6.2% while the average number of operating days fell 3.6%. USIA notes correctly that skier days fell far less than in the bad winters of 1981 and 1982. In fact, Colorado had its second-best winter.
USIA’s report of relatively flat retail sales of equipment and apparel last season is contested by the nation’s two biggest suppliers, Rossignol and Salomon. Referring to NPD/Smart figures, Rossignol USA CEO Jacques Rodet told me, “I’m extremely surprised by the numbers given out by the industry.” NPD reported dollar sales of skis up by 3%, whereas shipments of skis to retailers for the 1989-90 season fell by more than 10%, retailer indebtedness rose (an indication of higher shop inventories at the end of the season), and retailer ordering for next season was off another 10%. “The figures clearly show how much the market was down,” said Rodet. “Accordingly, it is very difficult to accept the report by NPD/Smart to USIA.”
Salomon spokesman Stuart Rempel said the big boot and binding company was equally skeptical of the NPD numbers publicized by USIA. Raichle Molitor marketing head Bob Rief, however, supported them. I called the three big suppliers because they have been clients themselves of NPD, and an NPD official, Brian Reilly, insisted the research firm has heard no criticism from clients. Maybe he should call them. NPD gets its retail sales figures from a sample of 148 ski specialty stores and 600 full-time cvchain stores.
Japan Bid for Park City, Alpine
The offer of $10.29 a share, all cash, came over the Alpine Meadows of Tahoe, Inc. fax machine, Board Chairman Nick Badami tells me, so on June 20 he disclosed publicly the offer for the company’s Park City and Alpine Meadows areas. Subsequently Badami reported the bid as coming from a Japanese group and that he had heard expressions of interest from others. He won’t say who, but the Japanese offer, through Shearson, is rumored to have come from Victoria (owner of Breckenridge and Stratton),. The other bidder may be Vail owner, Gillett Holdings. Badami’s Galena project is not in the deal.
Alpine Meadows shareholders, and executives Werner Schuster and Phil Jones, may not be too excited by the offer. It adds up to only $48.4 million for two ski resorts, far below what Victoria paid singly for its Colorado and Vermont acquisitions, or what Steamboat sold for last year.
Who Distributes What
In the 1950s the Austrian-made Kästle wood ski was the best, so it’s nice to see the brand thriving here under former Beconta executive Kip Pitou (brother of 1960 double silver medalist Penny Pitou). Kästle today is owned by Fischer Skis parent, which also makes Dynafit Boots. In a shift of distribution, Pitou’s Kästle USA in Salt Lake will now handle sales of Dynafit boots, leaving Fischer of America, in Woburn, Mass., as a distributor of alpine and cross-country skis only, plus tennis racquets.
Now that you’ve warmed up on that change, see if you can follow this. Austria-based Head Tyrolia Mares (HTM), which makes Head skis and Tyrolia bindings, has acquired a majority ownership of the ski boot maker Brixia in Montebelluna, Italy. Brixia makes San Marco and Munari boots. Now that it controls Brixia, HTM says it plans to introduce a Tyrolia Boot in 1991. The distributor for Tyrolia bindings and Tyrolia skis in the U.S. is Raichle Molitor USA, which distributes Swiss Raichle boots.
Meanwhile, in what sounds like a scaling down of Deduct-A-Ski, USIA in McLean, Va. has said it will “bring in-house” the program that enables ski shops to channel donations of used and unsold ski gear to the needy and disabled. Subaru Deduct-A-Ski has been handled for the past seven years by Jeanne Mattie in Massachusetts. USIA says national coordination of the program is no longer necessary “because it is a locally based promotion.”
What beneficiaries of Deduct-A-Ski want more of is cross-country equipment, and not enough has been offered by the shops. Good clothing is also a help. Nevica USA of Boulder recently donated $109,000 worth of ski clothing and accessories to Ski for Light, which helps the visually and ambulatorily disabled.
Canada Targets Older Skier
National Skier Development Program, Canada’s equivalent of USIA’s national marketing program, has concluded that “the greatest opportunity for growth in skier participation is from 30-45-year-old infrequent and lapsed skiers and their families.” A combination of a national image awareness campaign and regional call-to-action programs, says the Canadian Ski Council, “will be used to stimulate this market to ski more often.”
K Mart to Have Ski Shops
Do you fight ’em or join ’em? Specialty ski retailers face a difficult choice as giant K Mart, guided by ski retailing consultant Ned Hamilton, invites specialty stores to open franchises within the chain’s newly acquired Sports Authority discount stores. Local ski specialists, like Pennsylvania’s Langhorn (first to do it), face tough choice: refuse the offer and lose market share, or join Sports Authority and promote low-margin retailing. “It’s like water running downhill,” Dick Bohr, president of the National Ski Retailers Association, told me. “There’s nothing much we can do about it. We can only hope the shops that go along will successfully differentiate between their roles as ski specialist and store department.”
Another discounter, California-based Thrifty with 1,070 stores, which gobbled up such ski vendors as Big 5, Gart’s, Casey’s, Hagen, MC Sports, Brown’s Sporting Goods and Morry Mages, recently contributed $100 million of a $229 million quarterly loss experienced by parent Pacific Enterprises. Thrifty’s President resigned.
Direct Flights Take Off
This winter skiers will have the choice of no less than 117 flights weekly direct into Rocky Mountain ski resorts from Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago and other cities, bypassing Denver’s Stapleton airport. There appears to be a huge potential for more flights. A recent study identified 90,000 winter visitors to Steamboat who presently drive there from Denver, because direct and commuter flights are too expensive or inconveniently timed.
Short Turns
Next chairman of USIA, succeeding Jerry Groswold next spring, will likely be 1st V-P John Stahler of Tecnica ski boots. Steve Crisafulli of Slalom Skiwear, who was slated to succeed Groswold, has withdrawn, citing business pressures and the death of his partner, Fred Langendorf. … The Canadian system of allowing instructors and area employees on a pre-approved list to get coupons they can exchange through shops for pro-discounted equipment will likely be implemented by the beginning of the 1991-92 season … Winter Park’s Jerry Groswold and Aspen’s Bob Maynard, who has promoted recycling and use of recycled materials, will be honored by the pro-environment Thorne Institute at a dinner for the Colorado ski industry in Denver, October 24 … National Ski Patrol System will get Jack Daniels’ Distillery money and an accord to promote safe skiing … Two U.S. Ski Team veterans, Tiger Shaw and jumper Jeff Hastings, apparently were struck by the same brainstorm: each will start a snow condition reporting service. Shaw’s Subaru SkiFax is partly sponsored by the automaker. (Call 603-643-3937 for information.) Hastings’ Teleski serves the northeast. Both are based in Hanover, N.H.
