CCM Stick Model Turnover Rate

[jonesy9020 77]

It seems awfully fast. At least compared to Bauer, that is. Within the past year, or maybe just outside of it, the RBZ line has had 3 different lines (Stage 2/100/80 etc, Speedblade/150/130 etc, and now Speedburner/whatever else they have. It just seems like overkill and I imagine it makes their profit lines lower when they have to close out all the old stock each time. They're also replacing Tacks already with Ultra Tacks, which came out just under a year ago.

Bauer by contrast seems to release sticks in line with their skates, and leave them unchanged for about 2 years, giving them a much longer time to sell at full retail or close to retail price. Maybe part of it is just demand? People willing to pay more for Bauer but not for CCM unless it's a brand new model? Just seems like overkill, not to mention the costs for developing marketing plans and designing each new stick.

Warrior and Easton seem to more or less split the difference between the two of them. Anyone have a good economic/business reason for the high turnover rate at CCM?

[AIREAYE 248]

I agree with your thoughts here. New Ribcor coming this fall as well!

I don't know exactly why they're turning them over so quickly, but I suspect that it might have to do with trying to claw back some market share. I also suspect that when this whole Reebok to CCM brand alignment "settles", they'll adopt a more consistent pattern.

[sss1987 55]

Agreed with airaye. I consider this to be year zero for CCM after reebok has allowed ccm to continue with 3 ranges all under the CCM lineage.

[boo10 323]

I'm actually not surprised at the turnover rate for CCM sticks. One just has to look at the product cycle for Taylormade golf clubs to see similar practices. I know that in the golf club business, inventories and manufacturing output are kept much tighter, so there is less product to clear out. Perhaps CCM (Adidas) is using a similar philosophy with their sticks?

[chippa13 1844]

My guess is they're trying to do smaller runs so they can have a shorter span between R&D and production. Plus, we all know the whores love getting the latest and greatest so why not capitalize on that.

[Buzz_LightBeer 973]

Sucks as a retailer if the old model doesn't hold its value.

[chippa13 1844]

No doubt but the market attention span these days pretty much demands the quick cycles.

[hawkeyfan 36]

It's crazy IMHO and retailers have to hate it.

BUT it keeps CCMs name in the news and can effect sales from competition that does not release on such an aggressive schedule.

I myself look at the fast cycles as something must be wrong with the product.

[jonesy9020 77]

Eh I don't think there's anything wrong with them but I do think there's something to keeping there name in the news and on the front pages of retail sites. And to be honest, there wasn't all that much change between the last two generations of RBZs aside from changing the blade of the top stick. Otherwise the rest of the line is just repaints of the 100, 80, etc, so they could probably keep rolling with their old stock and just put on new design decals.

[rawkstar 45]

The quick phasing out of rbz and the drastic name changes definitely read as they thought there was something wrong with the product so they went in a totally different direction. Even if in reality very little has changed. As a consumer this is the reaction I'm having to these developments and in a way that actually makes me more skeptical of the product. Fast turnaround also can resonate with lack of quality control.

Personally all their new product line names all sound super dumb Jetfast, Superspeed, Lazerblazerburner. Its like they asked a focus group of 10 year olds to come up with really exciting names and this is what they got. Maybe thats their target audience...

[AIREAYE 248]

The quick phasing out of rbz and the drastic name changes definitely read as they thought there was something wrong with the product so they went in a totally different direction. Even if in reality very little has changed. As a consumer this is the reaction I'm having to these developments and in a way that actually makes me more skeptical of the product. Fast turnaround also can resonate with lack of quality control.

Personally all their new product line names all sound super dumb Jetfast, Superspeed, Lazerblazerburner. Its like they asked a focus group of 10 year olds to come up with really exciting names and this is what they got. Maybe thats their target audience...

No, the names are from their Taylormade golf brand, whose target audience, I'm pretty sure, are not 10 year olds...

[Neo5370 132]

Mid-life crisis golfers who think like 10 y olds. Close enough.

[IPv6Freely 2096]

Give it a year, I bet it will settle down once the RBK lines are fully integrated and they can really figure out what lines to keep and which to dump.

[jimmy 194]

Give it a year, I bet it will settle down once the RBK lines are fully integrated and they can really figure out what lines to keep and which to dump.

Exactly, RBK line is phased out, everything remamed CCM, so it seems like a lot of new sticks but not really.

[jonesy9020 77]

Yeah I was kind of making allowances for the Ribcor being rebranded in the middle of the year, but even considering that, the RBZ and Tacks have always been CCM-only brands. We'll see where it goes though. Just though it was an interesting difference and was wondering if anyone had noticed or had any theories as to why?

[yipperzz 28]

Same complaints from the golf side of TaylorMade. Go to a golf forum and you'll hear constant complaints about new lines and wacky names. I don't use CCM sticks but I also don't care what you call the product. You could call it "The Piece of Turd Stick" and if it works, I'll buy it. Not sure why they would do the same on the hockey side, but I guess it's not surprising.

There are plenty of good sticks out there if it bothers you as a consumer. In my opinion, I wouldn't stop buying them if I liked their products. If they keep releasing new lines multiple times a year, the "older" models are going to eventually go on sale so that stores can clear their inventory. Sucks for the stores, but it could mean cheaper sticks for consumers that don't need the latest and greatest. I'd rather buy last year's top of the line on sale than the current year's middle to lower end model.

[ClinkLight 1]

I've used quite a bit of CCM/Reeboks stuff and honestly I don't mind it. I thought the shot power/pop I got from the RBZ line (I had the original and the stage 2) was great. It was the blade dying and the pingy-ness that turned me off. I recently shot some pucks with a Speedburner and really liked it. The Ribcor line to me was HUGE innovation wise and I didn't buy into it until I actually used it but great stick. I think the 40K was a step back, the Tacks stick shot nicely but I didn't like the construction site graphics and the whole different length for different flex thing confused the hell out of me.

[jonesy9020 77]

Yeah, I personally haven't had the opportunity to use any of Reebok or CCM's most recent sticks (I tend to scrounge around for good deals on ebay and forums), BUT this post was not intended to be in any way an indictment of their products. I was mostly just curious as to why they were turning over so quickly. From what I've heard actually CCM has improved drastically in sticks over the past 2 years or so.

[DarkStar50 679]

As the equipment/stick buyer for our Pro Shop, I'm comfortable with the current CCM stick launches. Keeping fresh product in front of the younger players(majority of your sales, not the 20+ year old beer leaguers) is an important strategy. I find the bigger problem with a company killing your product inventory value in the OPS category is what Bauer does by constantly releasing limited edition paint jobs of current models in the pipeline. The Vapor stick gets released and then 6 months later into your shop come the limited edition of the same exact stick. Wait, the kids want the new look, not the old look! There goes your current inventory sell through. I have refused to buy any of these limited editions in the last number of deadline dates. I love when the Bauer rep tries to lean on me to take some, no matter what. Sorry, not doing that. Take those OPS limited editions and stock your Bauer store, thank you very much.