Mondays with Hawgdaddy: Local Fly Shops
One hears a lot of talk about the local fly or bait and tackle shop versus the big megastores like Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s. I generally try to support the local shops whenever I can, but I don’t avoid the big stores altogether. When we were in Destin, FL recently, I experienced something that speaks to the situation.
We had planned to do a little fishing, but I only decided at the last minute to buy a fly rod (I had debated on the drive and finally rationalized the purchase by telling myself I could use the rod on next year’s planned trip to the Keys). I hoped to buy the rod in a local shop, but I wasn’t aware of what was available in Destin, and I didn’t have my own vehicle. Still, we found a local tackle shop near our condo unit. Unfortunately it turned out to be rather short on fly gear, but they had a large selection of conventional tackle. I decided to support them anyway by purchasing a Tilley Hat and a pair of wading shorts. The other guys might have purchased a good bit of tackle (they were all using conventional gear) if not for one thing: the shop owner was blatantly rude to my brother when he asked for some advice on a good spot or two for fishing from shore. He didn’t make a nuisance of himself, just asked for a simple suggestion and what we could possibly expect to catch. I had already bought my stuff or I might have put it back. It was uncalled-for and really pretty puzzling. I don’t understand the concept of insulting your customers. I could have perhaps understood if we were asking a lot of questions and not buying anything.
Our next stop was Destin’s Bass Pro Shops megastore. This would probably be my last chance to buy a rod for this trip. While I was looking through the fly gear, a kindly gentleman came over. He talked freely to me about the fishing in the area, the rods I was looking at, saltwater lines and the leaders commonly used for sea trout and redfish. I ended up buying a rod, reel, line, leaders and a small selection of flies. I did feel a bit of remorse at not spending the money in a local shop, but I hadn’t had much opportunity. Plus there was something else. Suppose that local shop we visited had had fly gear. Would I rather have spent my money there? No, I don’t think so. I would have been glad to buy from the megastore because of the treatment I received there. At the very least maybe my money will help keep that kind gentleman employed.
Now, I understand that my experience in this case was unusual. My experiences in the megastores have typically not been stellar. There are several small fly shops that I love. There’s Little River Outfitters in Townsend, TN and Riverside Fly Shop on the Sipsey near Jasper, AL. I would have bought from one of them if I could. But, the truth is, I have experienced my fair share of snooty and downright rude treatment from small shops as well. I remember in particular one near Yellowstone in 2006. The two guys running the store made no effort to make us welcome or help us out. They made it clear they didn’t want to answer our questions or give suggestions, and the thing is, we weren’t asking that much. Stuff like, “We’re planning to fish Slough Creek, any flies you might recommend?” We actually wanted to buy some flies from them! I believe they treated us this way because we didn’t look like serious fly fishers. I have experienced this type of thing in local fishing shops running from high-end fly shops down to the regular old bait and tackle shops. It isn’t the norm, but it happens enough to cause me concern.
I suppose what I’m getting at here is that I love the local fly shop, both the idealized image I carry around in my mind and some actual brick and mortar stores (Little River and Riverside). If, however, the local shops want to survive, they need to do better in lots of cases. Heck, the one thing that’s supposed to put them ahead of the megastores is the quality of service. If they don’t even offer that, I don’t see how they’ll survive. They surely won’t be able to compete with the big stores on price or selection. They need to go out of their way in creating a sense of “community” through the web (very important today!), offering free or inexpensive classes/lessons, hosting daytrips and cookouts, etc. Both Little River and Riverside do this to some degree. And here’s another bit of advice to the local shops: if someone asks for help, even if they’re not buying much or anything at all, even if they don’t look like much of a fisherman, consider being generous. You don’t have to give away secrets here, just be willing to talk a bit in a friendly manner. I’ve had people in local shops treat me less than kindly if I wasn’t buying much, even when I’ve bought a good bit in the past, perhaps from a different employee.
Any advice for local shops?
Take care,
Nathan
Tags: bait and tackle, fly fishing gear, local fly shops, megastores, Mondays with Hawgdaddy
June 29th, 2009 at 7:20 am
Lets see, I have not been a tremendous amount of fly shops. I will say that the worst has been the shop at the Tellico. Its not real bad I know, but the owner can be short and not very helpful. “corn”
The most helpful shop I have been in is Riverside. Brandon is very helpful, even over the phone. I will always go here first.
June 29th, 2009 at 9:10 am
I had a pretty good experience at the fly shop in Gatlinburg a few years ago. I think I’ve only been in there twice. I don’t remember it’s name, but it was on the upper floor of the mall down near the Hard Rock Cafe. The owner was friendly and helpful, and he didn’t seem to care if we bought anything or not. At the time, my brother and I were dirt poor college students. We ended up buying a couple of ultra cheap fly reels, which the guy had recommended for guys on our budget. We still use one of those reels on occasion.
The best advice I can give to small shops is to go out of your way to be friendly to those of all economic classes and skill levels, and try very hard to develop a lively web presence. One good way to get started is simply to post comments on the popular web forums out there. I would highly recommend developing and maintaining a web store where people can shop your inventory online. Most fly shops are a pretty long drive for me, and I usually end up ordering most of my stuff. You don’t have to include photos (although that’d be nice). Just have a good list of items I can order from you online. It’s not that difficult to set up an online store these days. Heck, just offer items for sale in an ebay store if nothing else. You can link to your ebay store from your shop’s static website.
Nathan
June 30th, 2009 at 9:07 am
I used to love going into RiverWoods in Homewood. They did a great job of making any one feel welcome whether you were there just picking up a few flies or buying a Orvis rod you got treated the same way. It was one of those places that you were always welcome to come in have a cup of cofee and swap lies about your latest fishing adventures.
The few times that I have been into Riverside at the Sipsey, they have always been more than helpful. They answered questions about the dam schedule as well as making suggestions to make for a successfull trip.
I hate going into stores where dealers treat you different. I remember going into a local gun store when I first graduated highschool. At the time I was shooting skeet and clays a few times a week. I was really wanting to buy an over an under shotgun. When I asked to see the Ruger Red Label over and under that they had hanging on the wall; their response was………”We only show that to people that are really interested in buying one.” Well needless to say that I walked out of the store and never returned. Not only did they lose nearly a thousand dollar sale that day but they also lost a customer that has since spent more money than I care to think about on various guns, shells, and other outdoor related products.
I would love to have that “go-to” shop where I spend my money on fishing and hunting supplies. So until I find one I want to support I am always going to find who has what I need at the cheapest price.
June 30th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Great topic! I’ve been in both great shops (such as LRO) and not so great shops. In fact, my buddy and I have the shops in Colorado pretty much figured out. When we do trips out there we purposely avoid going into some shops and will go out of our way to get to others. It all comes down to the quality of service. Last summer we had a guy in one shop basically blow us off when we were asking if they carried a certain product. He said something like, “It will be over there if we have it.” Now if he had been with another customer I would have understood, but he was just hanging out behind the counter and we were the only people in the shop. When I go into a fly shop where they will help you find an item and give friendly advice, they have a customer for life. I’m not a big fan of the big box stores but some of them have actually been quite helpful to me over the years. If I have the choice I’ll support a small shop as long as they are nice though…
July 1st, 2009 at 7:33 am
David,
That’s sort of how those guys near Yellowstone did us. When we asked about flies for Slough Creek, they said, “Why don’t you try something red,” and then snickered to each other like something was pretty funny that only they were privy to. Insane and my brother looked at their entire fly selection and didn’t see the first red fly as I recall.
I guess I’m like you with the big stores. In a perfect world, we would have plenty of quaint little fly shops, full of nostalgia and smelling faintly of pipe smoke with a jovial and helpful staff. As it is, I’ve found the big stores to be pretty helpful sometimes, and I don’t recall ever feeling insulted at one. I just can’t work up the indignation that others feel towards them. On the other hand, I will support a good local shop over the big stores any time I can.
Nathan
July 3rd, 2009 at 12:35 pm
Nathan – great post. It is all about service – which imho is all about attitude. Jake and I strolled into three local shops this week here in Bozeman ready to buy a couple of three weights. One shop staff never greeted us despite us handling rods for 10 minutes; one tried to sell us astoundingly overpriced Orvis gear (their only stock); one treated us like customers.
I don’t mind shopping some of the big stores now and then despite my sworn allegiance to helping the smaller independents – in this day and age when we’re all holding on to our hard earned dollars a little more carefully, I’ll spend my buck at a place where they don’t laugh at you (the red flies), look you in the eye, and give you the time of day.
A smile and an honest answer goes a long way.