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First words from the Ed
As adventure and endurance events become ever more popular, we take a closer look this month at how becoming involved in these activities can help increase the profile of your store resulting in improved profit margins.
Whether it is by entering a team and publicising the fact locally (and in-store) or supporting an event, gaining consumer recognition is an essential ingredient in remaining profitable. Many suppliers can help out here too, simply asking for support and merchandising can often be all that is needed to gain the important marketing material to help.
After all, the healthier your business is, the healthier and profitable is that of your supplier. At the same time, recognising that so many outdoor activists achieve such amazing feats and show of both strength and determination, that of succeeding within our industry can surely be a far easier task. However, as with any business, consolidation, competition and of course the internet can seem a daunting peak to climb. Yet even though cries of the poor British weather last year, it didn’t seem to dampen the spirits (nor for that matter the business) with our hotspot this month, Fort William. Our new contributor, Sally Baker, interviewed a number of retailers within this popular location to identify that overall, 2005 was a good year albeit difficult at times, but finding a way to ensure the discerning consumer walks through your door and returns to make further purchases is perhaps a challenge we can try and help with.
It is with this very thought in mind that our new in-depth features have been written. Gaining a greater insight into sales tips and techniques, merchandising and of course, gear test results. To this end, we kick off this month with backpacks (see pages 20-24). The SGB Outdoor team has also been busy over the last few weeks attending
exhibitions, to provide you with an insight into the coming collections from the majority of brands across both the snowsport and outdoor industries. All that said, getting out into our wonderful countryside and enjoying the many and varied pursuits on offer is a great privilege - we should, after all, take a closer look at what we have and be very thankful for such a superb life...
Dawn Davison
Editor
