VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

Hey all,

As we at OR are seemingly the closest thing to a local kite shop, we are working on how to better serve the local kiting community. As you most likely know, we now have a mini store front at our offices which we are stocking up. We will of course be carrying Ocean Rodeo kites, boards, bars, accessories, etc. but there is room for us to carry some additional items that are kiting related.

I'm interested to hear from everyone what they would be interested in having readily available in town in terms of stock, whether it be spare valves, repair materials, pulleys, bladder patches, etc. Although we won't be carrying other kite brands - we would still love to hear your thoughts on this and see if we can help out!

If there are other services you would be interested in or think may be worthwhile, feel free to throw those in the mix too (gear rentals? kiting DVD rentals?)!!

Can't promise anything concrete but we are certainly open to ideas!

Post here, or if you prefer you can reach me directly at OR:


1.888.544.4969 ext 280

Thanks!

Not an inventory request, but is there any local kiter discount at the OR shop for the Van Isle crew that's been supporting OR?

How about consignment sales for locals' used equipment where you can take a %?

I believe Windance does consignment equipment sales... with the many locals riding OR gear you'd have a decent stock. Which might cost you to store but I know newbies would be keen...

I believe trade -in/upgrade option for older gear to get the new models would be a good idea.

Not sure why a kite shop would want to sell other peoples used gear??

I say put in a striper pole and a beer on tap!

how about a 'design your own kite graphics' kiosk?? (minimum order 1000)

Yeah Ned, not too sure about the used stuff but how about all the replacement parts needed for OR gear. Peel and stick valves, bladders, trim lines, line sets, pig tails, one pump hoses, fins. In general all the stuff that gets lost or wears out/fails. It has more than once bothered me that I need to order that stuff from someone in the states when the manufacturer is right here. It would be great to see product support.

In the last two years here is my count of parts needed for me and my brother:

Peel and stick valves -3
Bridle pig tails - 3
Rear bridle extension -1
Main bladder - 1
strut bladder - 1
Bladder tape -2
one pump hose - 2
Kite extension line -2
Dacron tape - many
rip stop tape - many


Reuben

Thanks for the feedback to all!

Reuben, appreciate the 'shopping list' there, those are good details.

Keep it coming!

Hook knives (2 bladed) & kite tape!
DVD rentals of some sort would be pretty wicked too

Hey Ned,

I'd say selling used gear on consignment would be nothing but headaches for you.

+1 for "design your own kite graphics kiosk" - nice one Pasta!

I think small stuff that we can all use would be appreciated, hook knives (2 blade), peel and stick valves, one pump hoses, new lines, sail tape, etc... I bought a new pump there last year, there's nothing quite like a new pump

Other things that come to mind...
-DVD rentals
-golf bags (golf bag rentals??)
-Magazines (SBC, The Kiteboarder, Kiteworld)
-Kitefix kit
-Aqua Seal

Be the first publicly traded kiteboarding company.

Identify uses for the IPO cash. Maybe adopt a sitka model of a hangout (boardroom) / clothing wear line.

Franchise then

Take over world.

Gear rentals would be nice but perhaps a inventory of rent to own kites... 10 to 20 mixed popular sizes a season... rent more then ten times get a consignment kite! $80 to $100 bucks a day you might do well...

all about setting that hook into new riders... then they come to buy a new package deal the following season..

OtLunch wrote: -golf bags (golf bag rentals??)

This!!!! Excellent idea Todd. I know a couple people who've had to buy them for a one off trip to Cuba or Mexico (I'll rent one for two weeks over Christmas)

The full on equipment rentals I would see as being a headache and opening the door for too much liability (and getting Cook St shut down), best to leave the noobs with schools as their only option, where they can be supervised. Used gear again would be a headache for dealing with customers, and wouldn't make sense for a manufacturer.

The little stuff is definitely key, those are the things that most kill a session and then you need to wait 2 weeks for shipping, and spend more than the value of the product in freight to get your hands on it.

Hey folks,

Thanks again for everyone contributing here. Definitely some good ideas. I think for now what we will focus on here is getting together stuff like spare parts and have that more readily available when needed.

We will start working on getting that set up, but I think you can expect to see things like spare pulleys, flying lines (possibly even just singles if you break just one), bridle line and pieces, patch and repair material, board accessories, and all that type of smaller stuff available here soon.

We've recently put out a 'grab box' of random gloves, boots, neoprene shorts, hoods, and some other accessories and we'll try to do something similar with other spare parts too.

Cheers
Ned