Signal Omni Wavelength: $399 & Signal Park Jake Color-way: $349
Twitter: www.twitter.com/signalsnowboard
888-601-3777; management@signalsnowboards.com
Mike Akins. Sales:
What are the biggest trends shaping the hardgoods market for next year?
Technology and where your boards are built. Last I had heard alternative camber boards were something like 70% of new board sales this season. Riders are looking for something new and interesting to ride.
How have you responded to the industry-wide oversupply of last season?
We never even worried about it. Last season’s oversupply of boards seem to be mostly from the larger brands, and honestly they just ended up competing with themselves. We’ve kept our heads down, built new technologies, we build everything ourselves and we have a completely different message as a brand. We’re moving forward.
How are you working with retailers to help ensure strong margins?
We’re doing our best to have much more of a partnership with our retailers. It’s important for us to understand our dealers, know their customer and offer a program that allows the both of us to have a solid season with good sell-through and low risk.
How do you see the hardgoods marketplace evolving next year?
There’s an obvious push and love for the smaller brand right now. We’re seeing it, and we’ve heard from other smaller brands that they are seeing it. What this means to me is that riders are looking for a real connection to snowboarding again. Get back to what made them fall in love with it in the first place. We see it more as a devolving situation. Bring it back a bit to when it was more pure and raw. Stop getting caught up in the next big thing and just enjoy snowboarding for what it is.
What are the biggest changes you’ve made to your hardgoods business model in the last year?
We’ve started to focus on the branding of our board lines a little more. Show how these boards fit into your riding style. Every rider is different and they are looking for a board that fits them. We’re working to make sure riders know exactly where our board lines fit in to their snowboarding needs.
What opportunities do you see for hardgoods sales?
The opportunities are endless and the market is always changing, so for us it’s about how do we want to represent ourselves as a core snowboard brand. Right now we are working on deeper partnerships with our core retailers while at the same time harnessing the power and ease of the Internet to connect with more like-minded riders to get them on Signal.
What are price points doing?
What ever your needs are you’ll find it. It all comes down to what you’re looking for.
Must have, new technologies have been about the only things selling at full ticket. What are you introducing that shop staff can demonstrate to customers and convince them that they have to have?
Our biggest push this season has been Signal’s Omni Wavelength. It’s the most simplified version of the camber rocker combos out there and it rides amazing! It’s camber in the middle of the board like any one of your favorite camber boards, then we put a slight 5 degree 3- stage rocker past the bindings on the tip and tail. It’s a great gateway board into new technology. It’s well priced not overdone and it’s great for all mountain riding.
What are the biggest forces shaping the changes and developments you’ve made to your boards?
We’ve been slowly working to evolve with our customer. We have a solid following and with that we receive great feedback. We are always listening and making sure our boards can handle what our rider’s and customers need.
What’s your philosophy on camber these days?
It still works and works well. That’s why we created the Omni. There are plenty of new tech boards out now that are fun and amazing, but we still hear from riders who go huge and ride fast that they need that traditional camber board in their bag.
Any new materials or construction technologies?
We’re always trying out new materials. Check out our website www.signalsnowboards.com and you’ll see some of them. Construction technologies – yes. We definitely have some new board designs on the horizon.
What market segment are you focusing on? How and why?
We’re focused on snowboarding plain and simple. We build our boards ourselves in our own factory and we strive everyday to be better. Most retailers get it, we’re very much like them; we’re in this business because we love it.
