Graf Fitting Session in Chicago and St. Louis

[fifthlinegoon 0]

http://www.totalhockey.net/ads.asp?ad=276

[oldtrainerguy28 478]

http://www.totalhockey.net/ads.asp?ad=276

So what does that say to you about the stores in the area???? They cant fit on there own??? They werent trained well enough when they went to the factory.....

If I was that store I would be pissed......

[kovyperron5727 0]

Beat me to it!

I got this email earlier. Anyone planning on going? I will if I'm in STL next week

[IniNew 53]

No need to quote the first post to say something about it.

[kovyperron5727 0]

No need to quote the first post to say something about it.

Yeah I realized that. No need to quote telling me that.

[BGM 0]

http://www.totalhockey.net/ads.asp?ad=276

So what does that say to you about the stores in the area???? They cant fit on there own??? They werent trained well enough when they went to the factory.....

If I was that store I would be pissed......

Why would you be pissed if you were a store ? It's more business. Graf is trying to build more brand awareness. Bauer and other companies could do it as well. The manufacturer is the end-all be-all experts on their product.

[fifthlinegoon 0]

I bought my Grafs na a LHS and was fitted by the so called Graf Expert. He still had me try on 3 different models in regular and wide widths and basically just asked me "how do those feel"? I would figure that a true expert could tell which model you would need just by looking at your foot or by measuring and narrow it down by 2 models at most.

[kovyperron5727 0]

I bought my Grafs na a LHS and was fitted by the so called Graf Expert. He still had me try on 3 different models in regular and wide widths and basically just asked me "how do those feel"? I would figure that a true expert could tell which model you would need just by looking at your foot or by measuring and narrow it down by 2 models at most.

I agree with this post. Secondly would this Graf rep possibly fit for a European model? I want to get the Supra 704 White Lightnings, a Finnish skate.

[chicago_hockey 0]

I bought my Grafs na a LHS and was fitted by the so called Graf Expert. He still had me try on 3 different models in regular and wide widths and basically just asked me "how do those feel"? I would figure that a true expert could tell which model you would need just by looking at your foot or by measuring and narrow it down by 2 models at most.

I agree with this post. Secondly would this Graf rep possibly fit for a European model? I want to get the Supra 704 White Lightnings, a Finnish skate.

i thought the european models weren't available in the U.S., and you could possibly have customs made to resemble the 704 white lightnings.

[kovyperron5727 0]

I bought my Grafs na a LHS and was fitted by the so called Graf Expert. He still had me try on 3 different models in regular and wide widths and basically just asked me "how do those feel"? I would figure that a true expert could tell which model you would need just by looking at your foot or by measuring and narrow it down by 2 models at most.

I agree with this post. Secondly would this Graf rep possibly fit for a European model? I want to get the Supra 704 White Lightnings, a Finnish skate.

i thought the european models weren't available in the U.S., and you could possibly have customs made to resemble the 704 white lightnings.

Cool that's what I was also thinking. I emailed a Graf rep and he said I can get custom white lightnings. I was just thinking that it may be cheaper to get them from Europe than do a custom order

[oldtrainerguy28 478]

"Why would you be pissed if you were a store ? It's more business. Graf is trying to build more brand awareness. Bauer and other companies could do it as well. The manufacturer is the end-all be-all experts on their product."

Because Graf always has prided themselves on teaching there stores at the factory.

Now if I was a guy at the store working and I was a good salesperson and I had been to the seminar at Graf and these guys came in and my customer asked to be fitted and they went a completely different direction on fit I would be pissed.

Even more so if I was off that day.

Its the advertising and the wording I guess if it said something like such and such store is bringing in the head fitters to work with you and our staff to get you the best fit.... even that says to me our store staff isnt as good as these guys and we need help. The staff at this store maybe very good??

As for Bauer and or CCM they haven't in the past been as much about fit as Graf is mind you till this year and now both are getting much more into explaining what needs to be done to fit there skates!

As for the manufacturer being the end all be all...sometimes the info gets lost in translation from the guys making the skate and the design to the engineers to the guys actually wearing the skate you need a full rounded picture. I think Bauer and CCM this year have done a great job at this and maybe this is Graf's way of trying to play catch up....

[BGM 0]

"Why would you be pissed if you were a store ? It's more business. Graf is trying to build more brand awareness. Bauer and other companies could do it as well. The manufacturer is the end-all be-all experts on their product."

Because Graf always has prided themselves on teaching there stores at the factory.

Now if I was a guy at the store working and I was a good salesperson and I had been to the seminar at Graf and these guys came in and my customer asked to be fitted and they went a completely different direction on fit I would be pissed.

Even more so if I was off that day.

Its the advertising and the wording I guess if it said something like such and such store is bringing in the head fitters to work with you and our staff to get you the best fit.... even that says to me our store staff isnt as good as these guys and we need help. The staff at this store maybe very good??

As for Bauer and or CCM they haven't in the past been as much about fit as Graf is mind you till this year and now both are getting much more into explaining what needs to be done to fit there skates!

As for the manufacturer being the end all be all...sometimes the info gets lost in translation from the guys making the skate and the design to the engineers to the guys actually wearing the skate you need a full rounded picture. I think Bauer and CCM this year have done a great job at this and maybe this is Graf's way of trying to play catch up....

Almost every LHS I've been to here in Dallas has mostly high school kids working. "The Graf 703--that fits like a Vapor. And the 705 it's a Bauer Supreme". That's the product detail they know. I grew up in Chicago and there are some stores that have a person qualified but for the most part they aren't much help. I think part of the problem is kid's parents will pay top dollar for skates for their kids because someone else on the team is wearing them or the pros wear them so they need to get them. So, most workers don't have to work for the sale.

[Ahriman 1]

Most high schoolers really wouldn't care if they sold you something or not regardless of what you were looking for.