We've had an up-and-down experience with placing 4GF Surf mats in shops over the years.
Mostly down.
We can't afford to wholesale them at anywhere near the price-point outlets need to make a profit retailing them at our on-line price. (Which is another way of saying: Our online price is pretty much wholesale.) The other problem, especially in the past, is that the beach-going public isn't up to speed on how to use and take care of high end mats. So there was a high return rate on top of the lousy money situation.
We've sold mats to about a dozen shops over the years, at a wholesale price that didn't make either of us happy. We made very little per mat, and the shop didn't make much either. Only a few shops have reordered. We get wholesale inquiries every month or so. I give them the breakdown, and they usually decide it isn't a good transaction...for either of us.
Mitch's Surf Shop is kind of a special place, given it's long history as a hard core surf outlet in a hard core surf town...San Diego . Starting out as a blank and glass shop in 1967, over the decades, it has grown along with the local surf culture. It's gotten to the point where, in 2014, they won a "Best Of" award from San Diego City Beat. Which, if you ever wandered into Mitch's prior to 1980, is actually mind boggling. True, Mitch's was "the best" back then, if you were shaping and glassing your own boards!
When 4GF started in 1984, Mitch's was the only shop we sold mats to, and it was a zero mark-up kind of deal. Mitch just wanted to do it because he liked our mats. With mat surfing starting to become a bigger sub-sub-sub-culture these days, Micah up in the Solana Beach shop thought it was time to give it another try. We worked out a wholesale price, and just shipped a batch to them on Monday.
So, starting today, if you're in San Diego area and want to buy a 4GF surf mat, or just check one out, head over to one of Mitch's two convenient locations.
Mitch’s La Jolla
631 Pearl Street
La Jolla CA USA 92037
(858) 459-5933
Monday – Saturday 10:00am to 7:00pm
Sunday 10:00am to 5:00pm
Mitch’s Solana Beach
363 North Highway 101
Solana Beach CA USA 92075
(858) 481-1354
Monday – Saturday 10:15am to 6:00pm
Sunday Closed
4 comments:
Very cool! If I worked there, their poor customers would be bombarded with hyperbole. Good luck with the venture, Paul!
Bitchen.
Awesome! Best of luck!
Shared on Facebook! Nice line-up.
Post a Comment