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UK Market Insight: It’s Weird Out There

WEIRD: of strange or extraordinary character.

Happy! Happy! Not to say a little surprising. For the second year in a row the winter season ended  positively . The Trade Show season is well behind us, the on-snow tests have  been completed, retailer shelves are looking sparse, discounting has been rare, pre-orders are in and positive and there’s was even a good showing of later winter snow encouraging consumers to take later on-snow breaks.
By Gordon Way

Weird? That’s certainly not a common intro to this column but it is very, very welcome. I feel like I should stop writing now so we can all go away happy.

But this article demands more words and with those words comes the risk of alternative news. For now, let’s stop and dwell on the positive. And breathe…

But there’s more – more positive. Weird!

The UK Economic indicators have improved, and our GDP is forecast to be about +1%. That’s not great but it is an about-turn from the short dip into recession at the end of 2023. Inflation remains on a downward trend and should fall below the 2% target which leaves room for interest rate cuts and this, in turn, should boost consumer confidence. Of course, we are also into an election year so the politicians (of whatever colour) will be running around like headless chickens offering promises of riches galore on the horizon. I’m not quite sure if that makes anyone feel better because nobody believes them!

All in all, not a bad ‘flying start’ for the first Q of 2024. But is there a dose of reality coming down the line. What’s happening on the shop floor right now? I’m almost frightened to ask.

“It’s promising. I’ve not really got anything solid to pin that hope on, but I have a good feeling”, commented Ian Gregorelli from Boardwise. “Winter has ended well enough and we’re happy. Now getting in full gear for watersports. Winging has added a new dimension that some other watersports retailers have really focussed on. They’ve perhaps neglected their traditional windsurfing business and that’s been to our benefit. Don’t get me wrong we’re also focussed on Winging but we’re not ignoring our traditional base and that’s paying off”, he continued.

As an interesting aside here Gregorelli commented on a small Brexit bonus – “Prior to Brexit the windsurfing market was plagued with individual/personal imports, and this appears to have all but disappeared. A Brexit bonus – now there’s a rarity!”

And what about SUP? “Interesting – the Covid boom compressed 3 years of sales into 12 months – I think we’re just entering the end of that excessive sales impact. There’s also some indication that people who have stuck with SUP and taken it up as a real sport are now looking for Performance, Race and Wave hard SUP’s – so we’re hopeful that this will follow through in solid sales numbers come the better weather”.

And wetsuits? “Same thing really – one of the nice things about modern wetsuits (from a sales perspective) is that they simply don’t last as long. They’re comfy and soft and supple but the longevity is not there – the covid wetsuit boomers now have stuff that is coming up to 3 and 4 years old – it’s time for replacements”.

Gregorelli pointed out that currently, he has no solid evidence of this growth in sales – the weather has not broken yet and looking out the window summer seems like a long way off “But it’s coming – for sure – I have not felt this positive about watersports for a good while now”.

Let’s hope he is right.

One of the best Surf Shops in the UK is Secret Spot in Scarborough. Now in its’ 35th year, I got hold of ‘Icky’ who has been there “off and on” for 20 years.

“Weird” there’s that word “it’s kinda OK in terms of sales volumes but margin is massively down. I suppose we could be called busy fools but we’re managing to clear the old stock which then gives us space to bring in the new ‘24 kit. Got to be done. Really cannot complain because kit is still selling. We’re even doing the odd lesson although I think overall lesson and hire will be down this year”.

Secret Spot are the real deal when it comes to surf stores – open all year round serving both the local (Northern to you Southerners and South-ish to your Northerners) community but also with a healthy mail-order business “Of course the shop’s quieter during the winter months and we look forward to the summer season but there’s always hardcore enthusiasts who keep us sane”. I asked Icky about wetsuits. “We’ve bought nothing in for the summer. No pre-orders. Just top up stuff. It was just getting silly, and we had to clear the decks. The wetsuit market has been ruined by Tom, Dick & Harry jumping on the Covid bandwagon and, as a result there’s a mass of average quality, under-priced neoprene. No idea how long it’s going to take for the UK to clear the glut but no time soon. Greed got the better of everyone – us included”.

And to skate. “Weird”. Seriously? This was the first word that Paul from Black Sheep said when I caught him mid-renovation of a Flat. “Yeah – it’s a weird one for sure”. What was so weird? “Well, when will it be over for a start? Will it ever be over?” Paul is (like all of us) referring to the post-Covid era that we all find ourselves in. Skate is still suffering with oversupply. “You do have to ask yourselves ‘why?’ but it seems that no matter how often you ask there is simply no answer. I’m not complaining. We’re still selling boards and it is just the new norm. Nobody out there is evil and trying to do us or the sport any harm, but it does seem that some have done themselves a lot of harm in the process”.

I think we get the drift here. But what about Black Sheep? “As I say we’re selling boards, clothing is not so bad and so I cannot complain” (Paul never complains) “I’d like it to be better of course, I’d like the market to be a bit cleaner but can I predict when that will happen? No – no idea and to be honest I don’t care. I care about our customers, about skating and about our business – as for the rest of it we’ll just get on and make the best of it. We’ve got customers who will buy new decks for £120 come what may and for everyone else we’ve got some great offers from suppliers who appear to be on permanent sale. And if I don’t take the deals this week there will be the same deals, maybe better, next week. It’s weird”

So, there you have it.

Weird, eh?

Recap our last UK Market Insight.