There is a closing down sale however a lot of stuff has already been sold, so get in quick.

sir ROWDY said..

HighzaKite said..


any foils? maybe they missed the foil craze was their undoing

What are you even trying to say? (Sorry if English isn't your native language.)

did not realise we had a forum grammarian, beta to fix me inglish

windreams said...
Guys, sorry if this is a daft statement but I’m going to throw it out there; Is it really the overseas purchases that are putting pressure on local shops or is there simply too many local stores to share the amount of local sales.

Without knowing anything about them, i dare say online sales didn't hurt them. Most likely your right and they just didn't have enough kiters buying stuff to pay the bills. Once the lease is up, you GTFO and cut your losses.

Staff wages and rent are the biggest costs so you'd need to sell a significant amount of gear just to cover those costs alone. Staff wages for a small store would roughly be 7-12k a fortnight so straight away you need to make that in profit. Add in rent, business loans, costs of running the shop etc. Fun times for a kiteshop owner and now you have another few blokes out of work.

There is only one proven way to make money in "retail"

you can't make a business out of something which requires the right weather - ie wind... and there has been barely any...

i lived in se queensland during the last year and got to kite about once a month.. get too bored for the 11 gusting 13.8 knot days.

kiting is dying here as a result, thank god for waves.

This is very fascinating, love this thread.

I do understand in the bicycle retail market that the little guy is being pushed out by the BIG BRANDS. The difference is service... They might be cheaper but change the way you think.

There are small bike stores in Melbourne that have gone more towards having a cafe connected to the store and solely focussing on bicycle service. The risk is then being too bespoke (fads like foils in kiting). I know retailers dont want to be a cafe operator but you have to get the punters in so provide something they want.

Same as Kiting Retail... It might be better to have a Roadside Van/Truck with a small retail inside. Get council permission to be at the beach. Have a small coffee machine and beanbags outside. Your overheads are less and you are on the beach. To a point when a person emails you or calls you can bring the product to their door. I know this sounds crazy but in some respect thats what might have to happen.

Overseas retailers are not the only ones that are pushing their way into the Australian market. Rip Curl, Quiksilver have retail stores that are dictating products into overseas markets. They also have exclusive product lines for those stores. The differnce is they keep the retail model and prices the same for the independent surf stores. The difference is Ripcurl have moved out the middle man... In most cases the Middle man is making these stores happen to have a DEMO store for retailers to visit.

In this respect I would be more than happy to go to a specific BRAND store to demo the gear if everything was available. The problem with our market is that we are just to small.

HappyG said..


The problem with our market is that we are just to small.

I think this sums it all up! at my local there is only about 10 guys max that kite in a population of 20,000. I try to get more people into it but hey just don't want to take the plunge.

kemp90 said..

HappyG said..


The problem with our market is that we are just to small.

I think this sums it all up! at my local there is only about 10 guys max that kite in a population of 20,000. I try to get more people into it but hey just don't want to take the plunge.

were not small, Per Capita we are huge, we might not be as big as USA,EU, but kite companies listen to us . We are a country of waterman, if people dont want to take the plunge were just not STOKED enough, so lets get STOKED so we can spread it!

HappyG said..
This is very fascinating, love this thread.

Glad I did something right for once!

iandvnt said..
you can't make a business out of something which requires the right weather - ie wind... and there has been barely any...

i lived in se queensland during the last year and got to kite about once a month.. get too bored for the 11 gusting 13.8 knot days.

kiting is dying here as a result, thank god for waves.

At least you have waves mate! Spare a thought for us in the tropics. No waves, unless a cyclone comes!

iandvnt said..
you can't make a business out of something which requires the right weather - ie wind... and there has been barely any...

i lived in se queensland during the last year and got to kite about once a month.. get too bored for the 11 gusting 13.8 knot days.

kiting is dying here as a result, thank god for waves.

Yep. The guys that survive in nz are kite/sup/something else, shops.
Have a wind and a no wind option in your shop then you have both eventualities covered.

kookaburrahz said..
but yeah i noticed while i was in nz plummet its all 1/3 kite 1/3 sup 1/3 coffee shop or clothing etc even a few surfing/cafes are around makes sense i guess due to beach front locations etc

My "local" shop has 60% space taken by SUPs and sailboards, 20% clothes surfboards other crap, and about 20% kite gear.

Or put another way 20-30 SUPs, 20+ sailboards, 20+ surfboards and boogie boards.

Last time I looked only about 6 kites.

Shops know kiters are a bunch of tightwads like surfers, and the local pole-dancers, suppers and walk-ins are the cashed up ones but also seasonal.

Did Rip Curl and Quicksilver make the big bucks from selling wetties and surfboards? No. They sold the "lifestyle" by selling cheaply made Chinese t-shirts flogged for $60 (20 years ago even) but even this business model is lost in the land of DFO & cheap and cheerful copies. Billabong anyone?

HighzaKite said..

Shops know kiters are a bunch of tightwads like surfers, and the local pole-dancers, suppers and walk-ins are the cashed up ones but also seasonal.

Perhaps I am just smart enough to know that a year old kite will do me fine thanks. I dont need new **** to feel important.

kookaburrahz said..
i havent spoken to 1 kite shop owner distro or producer in last few years for longer then an hour who hasnt mentioned that the gigs drying up and if i talk to them for several hours with a few beers thrown in they tend to try sell you there shop and business to boot hahahaha this goes double for paragliding schools lately :P

but yeah i noticed while i was in nz plummet its all 1/3 kite 1/3 sup 1/3 coffee shop or clothing etc even a few surfing/cafes are around makes sense i guess due to beach front locations etc

so my biggest fear is... are we all turning into poledancers ? is it over? were allready makeing baggage and clothing from kites are the only kiteboards well see in 5 years time faded chairs and resort counters from when it use to be a kite resort.

why are the dive resorts still staying strong after so many years? is it due to the plethora of courses where you can allways upgrade your certifications keeping that customer and course base continueing ? maybe if unhooking was a course the shops and schools would have more students and maybe more $$$$ for everyone except the bucket hat manufacturers

Pole dancers??? If you can't afford kite gear you defiantly can't afford sailboard gear.

a mate of mine used to own a dive shop,his running joke was "the quickest way to make 1 million dollars out of a dive shop was to start off with 2 million and buy / set up a dive shop".

So kite shops are struggling? I just spend the last 3 days trying to buy a new light wind kite from my local. I am unfortunately not in town for a visit to the store, so 7 phone calls, 3 phone messages, an email and a txt message has not been answered... Website's online ordering does not work. Cant be that bad if they dont want my hard earned money!

Hey Leigh, thanks for that. Drury from KitePower sorted me with the kite I wanted. Great service!