Closeouts, discontinued, year end....

[TeamBlue96 3]

With the ever changing landscape that is known as hockey gear -- what happens to all the overstock from previous years? I rarely see it marked down enough from retailiers before it's either all gone or not allowed to be sold anymore.

I know it all doesn't just disppear into thin air. I hate how companies have to put out something new every few months just to keep up. One product can be a hit, but it doesn't matter, it's all about profit.

Being a bargain hunter, i like to buy older models because it's usually cheaper and very comparable to current stuff, IMO. Examples of hard to finds for me at the moment:

Bauer Total One sticks or Skates (pre NXG or even One95)

[DEATHTRON 19]

I think with skates, they generally aren't left with much old stock by the time a new model is ready to launch.

Sticks, I imagine those are gone pretty quickly. I see the emails from the etailers often selling the current model sticks at a discount right before the newest sticks come out.

Now, there are more qualified people here to answer these questions, but, I think for some of the larger brands, they aren't left with thousands of product by the time they are rolling out a new model year.

Zach

[raganblink 82]

I think for some of the larger brands, they aren't left with thousands of product by the time they are rolling out a new model year.

Ha!

The closeout lists are unreal, its shocking that whoever is in charge of manufacturing product is still with a job at some of these companies.

[Chadd 916]

When I was in retail, I wanted closeouts gone before the prices dropped online. The only stuff I picked up off of the closeout list was stuff that I was getting a great deal on or stuff that was essentially sold before it even showed up. Having too many closeouts on the floor kill your margins as a retailer, unless you're getting a huge discount on them.

Ha!

The closeout lists are unreal, its shocking that whoever is in charge of manufacturing product is still with a job at some of these companies.

I remember seeing a few that made my jaw drop when I saw the quantities available.

[DarkStar50 680]

This is why as much as everyone love brand x's new OPS, brand y's new skate, and brand z's new protective line, behind the curtain the industry is still a mess. All those big box/online etailers have fed into the frenzy that the vendors got sucked into over producing product. They are not as eager to buy those closeout lists as they were before as they have to watch their own cash flow vs fixed expense costs as they fight among themselves at their levels to sell to the same number of players across the North America. The number of players has flat lined but the vendors produced product as if the sport was growing. It's not and you would have thought the vendors would have known this first. They didn't and now their pipeline is choking on over produced old product. Don't expect some trickle down deals for players to get such great deals from the big boys when the big boys have their own problems cleaning out their retail inventory at the margins they need to make on the current product they bought. The big boys are just fighting amongst themselves for the same players over and over. How many shoulder pads or shin pads or pants do you really need as a player? Just one set. And it will last a long time now. The shakeout will be vicious and fun to watch at the same time.

[jimmy 194]

In the old days with longer cycles between equipment, we could order a bunch and have time to sell it. Now, we order a small sampling as anything left over when new models come out is generally sold at a loss. Can't stay in business long doing that. I know the sales reps take dealer issues to their management, but it falls on deaf ears. Oh well, instead of them getting a $100k booking, it's now $25K. What pisses me off is most of the new models are not any different, just different colors and minor cosmetic differences. This is not a good reason to change a model.

[Chadd 916]

What pisses me off is most of the new models are not any different, just different colors and minor cosmetic differences. This is not a good reason to change a model.

Unfortunately, way too many people can't wait to buy the next generation of product, even if it is only a different color. The norm now is to not buy the same model of anything twice and it's killing the industry.

[TeamBlue96 3]

Over the years, i've become die hard Bauer guy -- i went to one of the the 'Bauer Days' event to try the new APX2 on a shooting mat and i couldn't really notice any real difference between that and my APX. I'm a little surprised to find myself saying it was disappoinitng. One thing i was excited for was now that the 95 flex would be more available in retail ; no more having to decide on 87 or 102!

I agree with Jimmy, though. It seems like it's all cosmetic these days.

[raganblink 82]

What pisses me off is most of the new models are not any different, just different colors and minor cosmetic differences. This is not a good reason to change a model.

And we're being charged 5 to 20% more and we have to pass that on to the consumer.

For instance, the 18K skate .... Reebok can't tell me it is worth as much as the 11K skate was, the 11K was definitely better and hand-made in Canada while the 18K is inferior and produced over seas in a sweat shop. Both MAP'd at $600. Furthermore, the differences between that and the 10K are marginal at best, definitely not worth the $200 increase. Reebok isn't the only one doing it either, Bauer's skates have been pretty much unchanged for 4-5 years yet the price has increased on nearly all models.

If the companies went back to the two year product cycle (Bauer is the only ones to do this still on everything, look who is number 1 in hockey!) than it would help themselves out and help the retailers out. But its all about "new and improved" product and they have to come out with something new every year. Which since they're going to do that, we are going to order less. Can't get stuck with a bunch of sticks that are being sold at cost and below cost online that you have to match or come close to get it out the door once its old.

If there are still the big 5 names in hockey in 4-5 years I'll be shocked. I wouldn't be surprised if it was down to 3. A couple companies come to mind that have OLD stock from 5-6 years ago still because of overproduction, which just can't happen. The oldest thing we have in our store is from 2009 & that is a huge pair of inline skates we special ordered for someone and he never came to pick them up. Everything else is within 2 years with most of it brand new stuff. Clearance stuff is awful to have unless you bought it from closeout from the companies because you'll still make your margins on it.

[jimmy 194]

It's vicious. If company A sells their top end skate at $800, company B has to jack up their price on theirs, otherwise theirs will be seen as inferior because it costs less.

[Souldriver 64]

I can see all this. Very easily. Hockey monkey still has a huge amount of widows of every type as well as some other sticks from that year. I'm still seeing a bunch of old ccm and Reebok stock as well.

This may be unrelated but I see manufactures cutting down on curve choices and skus, which this may be a response to over production.

[jsykes 35]

With several stick lines that have already released this late summer early fall season, I get questions from the reps about how the launch went. All I can tell them is we sold one or two, however, their previous year models that just got replaced are flying off the shelf at 25-50% discount.

Consumers are now trained to know that sticks are releasing way too fast and they dont need to buy the latest one, they just let them sit on the shelf till the next line releases and then they get the discounted versions.

[Harv 86]

Throw it in the warehouse baler and mark it off on the books.

[DarkStar50 680]

I was looking at an X60 elbow pad I had in the shop marked down to peanuts. Then I picked up an Apx elbow pad to check out. The only difference was the interior padding in the new model was segmented, otherwise they were basically the exact same pad. Yes, same pad, just re-skinned. It happens over and over and over.

[shotty 7]

Ha!

The closeout lists are unreal, its shocking that whoever is in charge of manufacturing product is still with a job at some of these companies.

if a company owns their factory, they need to keep the machines running in order to be profitable. and if they dont own the factory, they need to hit minimums for production in order to get certain prices.

right now the trend in production is to produce as little as possible, but often, over stock is part of the game.

With several stick lines that have already released this late summer early fall season, I get questions from the reps about how the launch went. All I can tell them is we sold one or two, however, their previous year models that just got replaced are flying off the shelf at 25-50% discount.

Consumers are now trained to know that sticks are releasing way too fast and they dont need to buy the latest one, they just let them sit on the shelf till the next line releases and then they get the discounted versions.

thats a retail trend in general. there's only one way to combat it: monthly releases.

[jsykes 35]

thats a retail trend in general. there's only one way to combat it: monthly releases.

Or fewer releases. When a stick came out every two years, there wasnt as much of a trend with our customers to always be waiting, but with things coming faster, its like we always have something on closeout, so they just wait for it.

[TeamBlue96 3]

Could be another thread in itself but, I wonder what the best piece of gear was (and it's tenure) before it was ultimately replaced. Aside from woodies (like the Sherwood 5030 which is still made), maybe the Easton Ultra Lite (gold)....funny Easton brough that back in green a few years later.

[Chadd 916]

If the companies went back to the two year product cycle (Bauer is the only ones to do this still on everything, look who is number 1 in hockey!) than it would help themselves out and help the retailers out. But its all about "new and improved" product and they have to come out with something new every year. Which since they're going to do that, we are going to order less. Can't get stuck with a bunch of sticks that are being sold at cost and below cost online that you have to match or come close to get it out the door once its old.

Bauer has three full product lines and they have at least one new line released per year, not to mention the special edition products. They are just as much at fault as anyone else in the market for creating the environment.

if a company owns their factory, they need to keep the machines running in order to be profitable. and if they dont own the factory, they need to hit minimums for production in order to get certain prices.

right now the trend in production is to produce as little as possible, but often, over stock is part of the game.

thats a retail trend in general. there's only one way to combat it: monthly releases.

With holiday releases and some items shipping earlier than others they're getting close to quarterly releases.

[jsykes 35]

True, in 2013 you had Easton release some stuff in January, some stuff in March, then the regular release of Bauer stuff in April, we got more Easton and some Warrior in May, CCM held off skates till July along with the new RBZ, then in August you had Easton sticks, September Bauer and Warrior sticks.

This entire year has had new stuff coming and other things going on sale. Just a few years ago, stuff came out in April and we'd have a sale getting rid of nearly 90% of old stock, and then things woudl release in September and we'd have a sale getting rid of 90% of the old stock at that realease. Ahh, the good old days. LOL

[mickz 107]

With several stick lines that have already released this late summer early fall season, I get questions from the reps about how the launch went. All I can tell them is we sold one or two, however, their previous year models that just got replaced are flying off the shelf at 25-50% discount.

Consumers are now trained to know that sticks are releasing way too fast and they dont need to buy the latest one, they just let them sit on the shelf till the next line releases and then they get the discounted versions.

Exactly why my LHS didn't even bring in the V9 sticks. They've still got a ton of Mako II that don't seem to be moving.

[jimmy 194]

Exactly why my LHS didn't even bring in the V9 sticks. They've still got a ton of Mako II that don't seem to be moving.

At least Eston gave us the opportunity to cancel our Mako II booking orders or keep them at reduced pricing. I reduced my Mako order when I made the V9 order, so I didn't get stuck with hardly any.

[leftwinger37 43]

Is it fair to say that the increased availability of pro stock sticks has cut into retail profits as well?

Just as manufacturers keep churning out different models and graphics packages at the retail level, they want the pros repping their brand to at least have the latest graphics. I would assume that this leads to surplus in professional equiptment rooms as well.

Personally, I used to just wait until top-end sticks hit the clearance rack to buy them. But because of my fondness of weird heel curves, I've bought pro sticks pretty much exclusively for at least the past 2-3 years. I'm aware that this is not the norm, but with the cost of top-end models starting around $250 and up, I've been priced out of the market. $100-$150 for a pro stock stick is much more palatable (I never thought I would say that). Sure, I'm aware that "they're made to someone else's specifications" and "you don't really know exactly what you're getting" but all that matters to me is that I'm finding the right pattern, flex, and balance.

Really, the only advantage to buying retail that I see is that you're getting a warranty; but even if you warranty the stick, there's no guarantee what you will end up with. I'll take my chances with the pro stock.

[chippa13 1844]

I don't think pro stocks have had that much of an impact. I think it has more to do with the retail prices. It was a lot easier to justify $150-180 for the latest and greatest stick to come along but as the prices have kept rising, consumers are getting more discriminating about what they are willing to try. Even on this board you are seeing less and less folks willing to lay out $250 every 2-3 months on the newest twig to hit the market. Threads on new sticks used to go on for pages and pages as everyone was trying everything. That no longer seems to be the case.

I have also jumped on the closeout bandwagon. The only 2 sticks that I have purchased this year are a Mako and RSII, both at closeout prices of $150. The last retail price I paid for a stick was a BauerID Total One, and that was because it is the only way for me to get a Bauer in my preferred pattern.

[Neo5370 132]

To OP: Just wait about 10 years and peranis/hockeyworld will magically have a ton new old stock on for sale. I don't who manages their inventory, but they are terrible at it.

EDIT: Unless they're buying old stock from someone else.

[leftwinger37 43]

To OP: Just wait about 10 years and peranis/hockeyworld will magically have a ton new old stock on for sale. I don't who manages their inventory, but they are terrible at it.

EDIT: Unless they're buying old stock from someone else.

If there was something you liked 5 years ago and can't find it anywhere, Perani's probably has it.