Would a gear store in Southern Ontario fly?

[packerboy 3]

I personally don't like that we have to travel far or order gear across the border, pay in American dollars, and wait.

I want to know if there are enough people out there in Southern Ontario and Quebec who would travel 2-3 hrs to a central location in order to buy:

An altimeter or helmet???

A used complete system???

Rigging supplies???

New gear at the same cost without the hassle of currency exchange???

Demo a canopy???

RW Suit or Freefly Suit???

Sell their used gear???

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In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

[CloudOnMyTongue 0]

I would support a canadian gear store as long as the prices are competitive.

[towerrat 0]

Would a gear store in Southern Ontario fly?


no, it would probably just sit there........

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes!

[chuteless 1]

I doubt it, because many jumpers visit the USA and bring things back with little or no customs fees.

Thats the way it's been done for years...and it wont change bcause someone opens a store in Ontario.

GST alone would kill the store. No such animal in the USA.

Bill Cole D-41

[d604 0]

It might work. I would keep it small, and have it be more mail order. I don’t think there would be enough skydivers in that region to support a walk in gear store, but if you had a small walk in / online store it would have a better chance.

BTW. GST is a non-issue unless you are smuggling your gear in, the customs people collect GST at the boarder.

BTW2. I didn’t vote since I’m in BC, aint no well in hell I would drive to Ontario for just about any reason.
Sean

CSPA ratings C1, C2, IA, IB, QE, RA, and EJR

[slug 1]

Might work if you have a gimmick I mean give extra service.

Have you considered some eye candy for the guy's and gals visiting the shop. Beware of blind jumpers who want to use braile.

Is cannabis legal yet in your part of canada?

R.I.P.

[riggerrob 558]

There is definitely a market for selling small items on the DZ: goggles, altimeters, helmets, etc.

Forget about competing on price - Canada Customs has outlawed that practice - but there are a couple of ways you can compete on QUALITY.

There is also a demand for a clearing house for used gear/consignment sales. There is plenty of decent used gear out there and plenty of junk. Junior jumpers need a middle man they can trust.
To gain a good reputation in consignment sales, you need a partner who is a Master Rigger/Rigger B who can inspect and do most of the repairs (i.e. harness resize) on used gear.
Your rigger also has to be hard-nosed enough to stick to his standards, i.e. no round reserves from the acid mesh era.

There is also a need for a dealer who knows how to measure people for harnesses and jumpsuits, and GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME!
This is an awkward dealership to launch, as every amateur THINKS they know how to measure for jumpsuits, but few are good at it.
Maybe if you gain a reputation as the guy who is good at measuring people for new wing suits????

Retail sales of new harnesses and canopies is a tough market to crack, when you have to compete with all the on-line dealers.
The only new gear niche I can think of is main canopy sales. It will be a challenge, but if you are located on a major Southern Ontario DZ and can convince a couple of major canopy manufacturers to loan/consign the most popular models of canopy, then you could try to tie that into a rental/demo/sales contract like Square One does. You don't have to stock every reserve,CReW, pond-swooping model made by P.D. just the popular sizes of Spectre, Sabre 2 and Katana that weekend jumpers want. Not much point in stocking Stilettos - as used Stilettos are a dime a dozen. On the other hand, few Canadian jumpers have been able to try Katanas. Hmmmm?
The challenge is capitalising the venture/holding the stock until you make some sales.

In other words, avoid competing directly with existing gear salesmen in your neighborhood. Find a new niche - on the Ontario market - and make it your own.
For example, forget about jumpsuits for competitive belly-fliers. Instead, sell your expertese at measuring people for this years latest fashion in jump suits i.e. wing suits.

[riggerrob 558]

There is also a demand for a clearing house for used gear/consignment sales. There is plenty of decent used gear out there and plenty of junk. Junior jumpers need a middle man they can trust.
To gain a good reputation in consignment sales, you need a partner who is a Master Rigger/Rigger B who can inspect and do most of the repairs (i.e. harness resize) on used gear.
Your rigger also has to be hard-nosed enough to stick to his standards, i.e. no round reserves from the acid mesh era.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Speaking of acid mesh .... this afternoon a local jumper brought in a Pioneer K 22 round reserve.
He only planned to wear it for water jumps.
The pilot chute passed a test with bromcreasal green, but when we dropped it on the drive vents, it quickly turned YELLOW!
That is only the third time in my rigging career that I have found an acidic reserve!
We concluded by discussing methods for washing the reserve canopy ...

[packerboy 3]

Mainly I was thinking of a place to get stuff like helmets, altimeters, ditters, rigging supplies, DVD's and maybe just maybe.. convince a canopy manufacturer or 2 to do some Canadian demos.

Oh yeah... and used gear... definately inspected by a respectable master rigger. I know a few

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In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

[theskydiveguy 0]

Hey

There already are a few out there ;)

http://www.monkeybrothers.ca

www.dangerdoug.com

And those are just a few... Most of these guys have stock on hand as we speak.

~Jeff

[RMURRAY 1]

I sell gear for friends. I have lots of stuff (2 vectorIII, one vectorII, racer and javelin) and it is affordable. Most rigs can be resized easy to fit you perfect. I think a new rig is a rip off - unless of course a new rig is what it takes to make you happy...for me it would be more jumps, tunnel time and coaching.

rob