BEHIND THE LINES: Rome SDS
mike lewis
- June 03 2009
- 1,161 views
- 13 comments
Since joining the Rome syndicate in 2001 as director of sales, Dan Sullivan has helped the company navigate industry sales inroads and become one of the top players internationally. We recently caught up with Sully to get his forecast for Rome and the industry for the ‘09/10 season and to see what’s shaping their upcoming binding line.
What are your predictions for the coming season after wrapping up ‘08/09?
The overall market has reacted to the slumping economy and elevated year-end inventory levels by ordering fewer upfront products. I think this will improve margins at retail and create a heightened demand for key products during the upcoming season. The smart retailers were those that didn’t arbitrarily reduce orders by brand, category, and model; they strategically narrowed their buy and put more dollars into key, sure-bet products. The retailers that have these high demand products in stock during the busiest selling periods next fall and winter are going to be the winners. Those that don’t run the risk of losing sales in this modern ‘immediate gratification’ age of consumerism where if a consumer doesn’t see it in their local store, they will find it elsewhere. I am confident that retailers who are making the effort to create and retain new snow customers will have solid seasons next year. There will clearly be some consolidation both on the supplier and retail level. This will create more opportunity for those stores and brands poised to ride out this sluggish economic time.
How are pre-books and orders looking for next season?
We saw strong orders from many of our retailers and conservative orders from others. Region, and whether a shop was city based or area based, definitely played a role in this mix. Though the recession is impacting all retailers nationwide, the Western retailers seem to be being hit the hardest.
Many retailers were more focused in their pre-book buy—ordering fewer of the bookend sizes and putting those units into the meat sizes.
We experienced significant growth in the second year of our outerwear category. We also experienced growth in our binding category—models like the 390 had very solid retail sell-through last season and this translated into strong preseason bookings for them. And retailers were definitely excited about some of our new reverse camber boards like the Postermania and the Pusher.
Have you made any changes in product, strategy, etc. since SIA due to the economy/marketplace?
In terms of product changes, the products we offered at SIA largely remain the same as those now in production.
Internally, orders to our suppliers were based on what we pre-booked and not beyond. We acted with caution regarding ordering surplus product for re-order business—even though we know many stores will be looking for products in the fall. We want to keep demand high so retailers can command maximum margin for our products and ensure maximum sell-through.
You mentioned that your bindings are taking off, tell me a little bit more about next year’s line.
We pushed the envelope with graphic applications, including our 1/1 program (One of One) which applies unique graphics to each model so that no two on the hill are alike. Our 390 bindings feature three-color hand painted fade effect, fully covered decal graphics, super high gloss finish and custom hand painted 1/1 splatter graphic.
What are the top three developments and trends shaping your binders?
We’ve created a new PF Adjust ankle straps that allows for flex adjustment like the former Targa strap, but constructs it in a more anatomical, form-fitting way that nests into the ankle. We’ve also added the women’s Shift to our Unibody collection. Thirdly, we’ve improved the functionality of our AutoStrap system of getting in and out of your bindings super fast.
What else is going on on the shelf appeal front?
The days of just dropping a shiny metal badge on a high back and calling it a day is something we don’t think works for binding art. We took inspiration from a wide range of areas for this line, from sci-fi movies (Road Warrior inspired Targa), classic horror flicks (390 Slasher) to the turn of the century Russian Faberge Eggs (Madison).
390 Black/ White Men’s - MSRP $210.00
The staple of the Rome Binding line merges progressive styling and the technical features of the Underwrap heelhoop, ConFormist toe strap and the gel-cushioned PF ankle strap.
What are price points for your line looking like?
We are trending with the current market prices and offer a wide range of pricepoints, all with strong tech features to guarantee the most for your money.
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June 3rd, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Brands like Ride, K2, Solomon, Rossi, Nitro, Flow, and all the other second tier companies should be combatting Rome rather that worrying about Burton all the time. Rome is taking their market share and they are doing nothing about it.
Rome just repackages old ideas from snowboardings past and presents them like they are new concpets and ideas. Not knocking it, actually brilliant as they understand that the attention span of the average consumer is about 10 minutes. Kids are too clue-less to pick up on it and it appears to be working. Another stencil graphic with some skulls and day-glo artwork, you would think is a tired concept, but it works. They even ripped off the Cloudveil crashpad contest but think it's an original idea. Again, I'm not knocking what appears to be working.
These other brands better get their shit together or they will continue to lose market share.
June 5th, 2009 at 2:38 am
Not from what I've seen in the Rockies/SW………Rome was taking market share pretty agressively, but now it's going sideways. From talking to a bunch of retailers the market share/consumer popularity went down here and several shops cut them way back or out.
If kids on shred are paying attention (yeah right), they can see what you pointed out. They have follwed Volcoms image almost lockstep. Punk wheatpaste posters, Tie dye imaging, wearing uniforms at tradeshows like Mervin, Volcom, etc…. what's next…..of course Volcom will take their marketshare along with several others with hardgoods in another year or so.
They present a mixed message by being "way core" but going into big boxes like Sports Chalet/Co Ski and Golf, etc….the local kids do pick up on that……the better, big stand alone shops and mountain shops that might support the outerwear are over that kind of program. I can't see that the outerwear did anything…definitley did not see it on the hill here. The bindings are dope, but I've ridden several board models and have yet to be impressed.
What's the next flavor of the decade?
July 18th, 2009 at 12:31 am
ski owned companies czan be better idiot.. they have money for R and D and years of expeience. i had a rome last year and it rode great.. i didnt buy it simply because they dont make skis and i would gladly hope on a k2 again. dont hate a company because they make skis. just dont buy them and keep your mouth shut. or quit snowboarding and play chess.
July 20th, 2009 at 4:16 am
Or ski and be a fruit?
July 20th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
I think you should probably get your mind in the game. Poorly made products can only last on hype for so long. Look at Grenade. If Rome doesn't start making quality products and working well with others…they'e fading quick.
July 20th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
You do know that Burton owns ROME right ?
July 20th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
"Cmon man, if you're getting 30 to 60 day terms, your shop should be able to swing that no problem if you are doing your job."
"Or ski and be a fruit?"
get off the glue.
hope it snows on your planet this year.
July 22nd, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Agree with me on this, many shops these days are too lazy, they sit back and want the product to sell itself. All this bitching and moaning about shit not selling is not often the companies fault, but the result of uncaring shop employees. I want to see shops getting behind shit, getting behind products and legitimately caring about getting riders into quality products. It honestly drives me off my f*cking rocker when you walk into a shop and you get that "everything is cool!" vibe. I'm just over it man. Glue? No. Do I want to see this industry burn down and start from the ground up? Yes.
July 22nd, 2009 at 3:49 pm
No WAY could you ever compare Grenade to Rome. Grenade and Nomis? Better fit. Reason Grenade was popular: Danny Kass. Reason Nomis is popular: Simon Chamberlain. For the first 3-4 years, Rome had no big named riders on their team whatsoever. The boards became popular because of the quality, not because of the hype.
July 22nd, 2009 at 9:50 pm
sure. theyve been lazy, greedy, enjoying the gravy train along with everyone else. vendors, customers, real estate agents, car dealers, -everyones had their bubble burst in the last 12 months. and maybe as a result, we - meaning MOST OF THE COUNTRY - will change our ways. save money. consume less, all the stuff we've avoided for 20 years, none of it good for retail of course. but maybe as that happens, retailers and vendors will run smarter ships, too. maybe thats the virtual 'burn down and start from the ground up' you speak of, and that i agree with.
but its just not that simple. the internet, vendors selling direct online, the race to the bottom in pricepoints, the high cost at the other end for good product/lift tickets/gas on a population that is feeling poorer than they did last year, ALL that is more directly affecting sales than slackers behind the counter. you could have 5-stars or slackers - if people arent opening their wallets, it doesnt matter.
July 23rd, 2009 at 12:55 am
Absolutely, and of course, in the lifestyle that is snowboarding, its never free. Like you said, lift tickets, gas, gear, all adds up. The original argument was that Rome sends shops to collections if they don't pay their bills, to which I sided with Rome on. I think through all this internet gargle, dedicated companies like Rome DO understand that this market is shrinking and that shops are going out of business everyday, which is unfortunate, BUT Rome has done great things for us because we have built their brand in our area. If I were running a company, I wouldn't be motivated either to give an extra discount when I know a certain shop carries Rome just because a kid asked for it.
It just bums me out a lot of shops have turned to the we carry everything mentality, when in reality, if you are authentic in what you say and stand by, your customer will recognize that. If you are unfortunate (fortunate if thats how you look at it), to be in an area of "cool guy" snowboarders, where kids come in looking for a specific model and don't care or consider about your opinion as a shop employee, then they probably are considering a purchase online of one of the whoresports.com where brand new product is always 20% off, with free shipping. The internet has hurt specialty retailers in so many ways I can't tell you, as snowboarding has now become a "discount sport". I just feel that shops need to get more wise about buying, and yes, if that does mean cutting a few brands out, then so be it, BUILD brands rather than have a small dabble of multiple companies and make your customer feel the importance of buying a quality product. As I stated above, I do ride Rome boards, and their track record with us has been superb. I'm over the fact that it's "cool" to hate on Rome now, because they are SEEN as one of the big guys, K2, Burton, DC, but a lot of these people turn such a blind eye and support what in my opinion are dumb brands, as in your Nomis, Neff's, Grenade, where companies are focused on making money because they are flavor of the week and just watering down the market. I apologize for the off-topicness, but I love a great discussion as the next guy, and its refreshing to hear that there are still people out there who care enough about the future of snowboarding to have disagreements. Cheers mate.
August 29th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
…no they don't.