K2 buys Volkl, Marker, and Marmot

Check out the following news article:
http://www.firsttracksonline.com/new...483778734.shtm
or
http://tinyurl.com/24xp8

Of course, they "say" they're going to keep the Volkl manufacturing in Germany....

Richard M wrote:

Check out the following news article:
http://www.firsttracksonline.com/new...483778734.shtm
or
http://tinyurl.com/24xp8

Of course, they "say" they're going to keep the Volkl manufacturing in Germany....

Wow. That's pretty shocking. I hope they don't ruin Marmot.

Dave

"Dave Stallard" wrote in message
...
Richard M wrote:

Check out the following news article:

http://www.firsttracksonline.com/new...483778734.shtm
or
http://tinyurl.com/24xp8

Of course, they "say" they're going to keep the Volkl
manufacturing in Germany....

Wow. That's pretty shocking. I hope they don't ruin Marmot.


This is, unfortunately, the core competency of the new K2. They buy
pretty much any domestically produced sporting goods line, move
production to China, and reap the rewards of low cost for as long
as they can before they destroy the reputation of the brand.

Enjoy!

On 6/19/04 2:43 AM, in article ,
"Annoying Former Instructor Guy" wrote:


This is, unfortunately, the core competency of the new K2. They buy
pretty much any domestically produced sporting goods line, move
production to China, and reap the rewards of low cost for as long
as they can before they destroy the reputation of the brand.

Enjoy!



It's hard to believe that they have the management expertise to cover all
those sports. I still have a hard time believing they bought Rawlings.
That company relies heavily upon professional ball players using their
product and it's been around forever. I think their recent product sucks but
the publications give them good reviews - I have to think that there is some
link between receiving advertising revenue and giving favorable impressions
of the product. K2's track record, for instance, with the piezo device was
totally screwed up. They couldn't find a way to properly use the device
saying it was too expensive - Head acquires the rights, redesigns the thing
and brings it to market getting rave reviews at a competitive price. Volkl
will probably wind up like Olin and Pre. It doesn't matter how many brand
names you have, lousy management will always bring everything down.

Richard M wrote:
Check out the following news article:
http://www.firsttracksonline.com/new...483778734.shtm
or
http://tinyurl.com/24xp8

Of course, they "say" they're going to keep the Volkl manufacturing in Germany....

Weird article.

[The partnership with Marker] has enabled Volkl to establish itself
as the leader in the U.S. in ski system sales, growing from an
estimated 3% of the U.S. market in the 2000-2001 season to 43% in
the 2003-2004 season.

They make it sound like Volkl has gone from 3% to 43% of the ski
market in three years. But I think their numbers are based on "ski
systems" - you know, where you have to buy a particular brand of
binding to go with your skis. Volkl wasn't doing it in 2000.

Anyway, it can't be good in the long term. I expect K2 will do for
Volkl what Ford did for Volvo.

--
// Walt
//
// There is no Volkl Conspiracy (anymore)

On Sat, 19 Jun 2004 23:13:20 -0400, Walt
wrote:

Anyway, it can't be good in the long term. I expect K2 will do for
Volkl what Ford did for Volvo.

Too bad it wasn't Rossignol instead of Volkl.

Oh well, Atomic Ski is starting to look better and better.

-Astro

---
AstroPax - Buffalo Wing Recipe:
http://www.xmission.com/~hound/astro/wings/index.htm
---

On Sun, 20 Jun 2004 00:23:46 -0600, AstroPax
wrote this crap:

On Sat, 19 Jun 2004 23:13:20 -0400, Walt
wrote:

Anyway, it can't be good in the long term. I expect K2 will do for
Volkl what Ford did for Volvo.

Too bad it wasn't Rossignol instead of Volkl.

Oh well, Atomic Ski is starting to look better and better.


I'm going back to making my own.





My T-shirt says, "This shirt is the
ultimate power in the universe."

"Annoying Former Instructor Guy" wrote in message
...
Wow. That's pretty shocking. I hope they don't ruin Marmot.

This is, unfortunately, the core competency of the new K2. They buy
pretty much any domestically produced sporting goods line, move
production to China, and reap the rewards of low cost for as long
as they can before they destroy the reputation of the brand.

Although I wouldn't be too worried about the affect of them moving Marmot's
production to Asia, since that's primarily where it is now (Vietnam, I
believe).

On the other hand, of the acquired companies, I suspect Marmot is the one
that's going to see the most changes. I suspect their strategy is to rebrand
most of it as K2, Ride, Morrow, Volkl and Marker as part of a "brand
extension" strategy. That is: they're buying Marmot for the product, not the
brand. They're buying Marker and Volkl for both the product and the brand.

sjjohnston wrote:

Although I wouldn't be too worried about the affect of them moving Marmot's
production to Asia, since that's primarily where it is now (Vietnam, I
believe).

True? Wow.

On the other hand, of the acquired companies, I suspect Marmot is the one
that's going to see the most changes. I suspect their strategy is to rebrand
most of it as K2, Ride, Morrow, Volkl and Marker as part of a "brand
extension" strategy. That is: they're buying Marmot for the product, not the
brand. They're buying Marker and Volkl for both the product and the brand.

But Marmot has a well-established name as a top-of-end-line clothing
maker. Why would that want to chuck that?

Speaking of which, I succeeded in losing two items of Marmot clothing
this season: my Windshirt and (worse) my Marmot gloves. The Windshirt
I wound up mostly using as an extra insulating layer or (in hotter
weather) an insulating layer by itself. I could replace it with
something else more specifically designed to that role. But the gloves
were a bummer. Those were the best ski gloves I ever had.

Dave

On Mon, 21 Jun 2004 08:46:16 -0700, "sjjohnston"
wrote:

Although I wouldn't be too worried about the affect of them moving Marmot's
production to Asia, since that's primarily where it is now (Vietnam, I
believe).

FYI, my Marmot "Ultimate Ski Gloves" are made in China.

I concur with Stallard, best gloves I've ever owned.

This is my second pair. First pair was replaced free, under warranty.

I hope K2 doesn't screw with the excellent Marmot warranty policy, you
know, as a cost-cutting measure.

-Astro

---
AstroPax - Buffalo Wing Recipe:
http://www.xmission.com/~hound/astro/wings/index.htm
---