New Board Manufacturer in SA

Marthinus
February 2007
Guys now is your chance,

If you could choose any board brand come to our shores what would it be?

This is no joke, Someone I know is really keen on bringing a new brand into the country, if there is enough interest it WILL get imported, so lets hear them!!

I was thinking maybe NMD as there is a such a big variety of boards in their range and they offer almost all there models in Polypro core as well as Dow (Polyethylene) that is the prefered core in Australia at the moment but is extremely hard to find here in South Africa. Whats really nice about the Dow core is that it doesn't reverse-rocker like most polypro cores, due to its excellent memory properties.

Bodyboarding Industry 2,437 views

11 Replies

tjokka
February 2007
Bring back toobs! They have some of the best boards you can find!
byron777
February 2007
Toobs boards are the best boards ever made in my opinion.bring them back and bluntcuts aswell.
tjokka
February 2007
Yeah, Im still using my old bluntcuts! They are the best fins ever!
February 2007
yup toobs was sick and guess what... it still is!!! Still making some crazy boards...why did they ever stop distrobuting to the rest of the world?!!
SmT
February 2007
Toobs definitely have some sick boards, one problem though, i'm sure somebody down in CT tried to bring them into S.A a short while ago and they ended up being RIDICULOUSLY expensive so the whole idea was laughed off? If anybody remembers drop a comment!
The Bluntcuts side of things, I e-mailed them a while back (TOOBS) and they didn't have problems shipping here to Sunny S.A as long as you paid up front!
Elementree
February 2007
I went to a shop in town yesterday and they had the phattest range of boards...saw some Cartels and Unit X's each for between R2200 and R2400...i couldn't believe it.

They are nice boards, but i sure as hell don't have R2400 to spend on a board-not when i can pick up a local board for less than half the price!
Chilternburt
February 2007
yea plus the more we support our local guys the bigger and better there products become...
byron777
February 2007
yep,my next board is going to be an ATD.hearing loads of good things about them,plus its way cheaper than all the imported boards.
Got a new Science board recently,such a sweet board aswell.
Sidebar
February 2007
That would be me, the chop that tried to ring in Toobs. Patrick from Toobs was really great to work with and open to business, but unless you have got some tom to place large orders, you will not be able to get it off the ground.

Below is my response and review of the whole saga:

Hello people

Heres an update regarding the supply of Toobs products in SA. Basically I have had to indefinately postpone the supply. There are a few reasons which I will share with you>

1) Rand - dollar exchange + fluctuating oil price. Risk risk risk and very expensive
2) High cost price of products. Patrick from Toobs gave me really good rates considering the retail price of the boards in the states. The basic cost though was still high with transportation almost equalling the cost price.
3) Disribution. Because of the high cost price and transport costs the boards would have to retail for the equivalent of the top of the other established ranges (from R2,600 to R4,000). For me to supply the boards to retailers at a reasonable margin for myself considering the 70 to 80% mark ups of most retailers was almost impossible. I then tried to open my own shop in Big Bay so I would be able to supply directly to you the people and via Internet / mail order. Both Bbong and Qsilver refused to supply me until I had an established store. The property managers at the centre in Big Bay would not allow me to sign a lease agreement unless I had suppliers such as Bbong and Qsilver signed as they wanted to ensure a certain "standard".
Bbong and Qsilver both then contacted me to say that they wouldnt supply me because they didnt want to upset the local established shops???
4) Chinese manufacture and supply. You just cant compete if youre planning to supply from anywhere other than the far east.

Luckilly I had not liquidated my assets to raise the funds needed for the stock + shopfitting + deposits + rentals + salaries + advertising + marketing etc.

Im sharing this with you guys so if any of you out there have similar ideas maybe you can learn from my mistakes and experience. It could have been done if I had more money to risk and a few decent suppliers. I tried to support local SA bodyboarding but failed.

I want to apologise to anyone out there who I have directly or indirectly dissapointed with my failure.

I have all the contact details of everyone I dealt with in the Industry, I will gladly passed them on.

Cheers
Elementree
February 2007
Effing Politics...

Thanks for the info...
papa-d
March 2007
If you're in any industry, competition is good. That is exactly what the SA Market needs in the Bodyboarding industry, for brands to start pushing ahead of the pack...

It's the competting of individuals that sometimes brings out the worst in people, but it's in the market place where it brings out new exciting and outrageous ideas that give you the stoke of looking to get new stuff.

You don't always walk into a store or go online with the mindset that you're getting that and that's it. You have a look around to see what catches your eye and sometimes walk out with something completely other than what you first wanted. It's always the stand out that makes a difference, but you will always remember the good old tried and tested brand names.

Yes, supporting the local brands is good, but that's where I say this helps, if the local brands are good enough, then you shouldn't need to be told to support them and remember the choice is of the individual to buy what he/she wants. And in this, our local brands will become better in the knowledge that their products are outselling the other brands because they are that good. They will then strive to continue this standard and better themselves to stay at the top of the market.

This is why I say another brand in the country can only do us good, more selection and bigger push on the local market, bring on Toobs or NMD. I personally agree with the choice of NMD though.

Good luck with your venture, I hope it is a succesful one.

Derek

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