Good morning bloggers, today I would like to share a letter I read from the abcboards.com site. *A little background info for you younger kids, Jim Gray was pro in the 80's and later started brands such as Acme, A-1 Meats, and Scarecrow. He is well respected in the Orange County circles I used to run in, and here he is explaining what I've been trying to tell you kids this whole time.My final thoughts I'd like to share with you are derived from a letter I sent the the editors of Transworld Skateboarding Business Magazine last month, but they refused to publish it. You can consider that when wondering if you are being given all the information available about things going on in skateboarding.
American Skateboard Manufacturers and dealers are facing a heavy threat. A few people have decided that their control of skateboarding, and desire for money, are far more important than 30+ years of history and hard work that has made skateboarding what it is. It's too late to stop entirely, but whether manufacturing of Chinese boards (or Bangladesh or whatever will come next) for the high end market will take over, has yet to be proven. There are many factors, much passion, and far too much history to place your bets outright. It's about greed, not need, and I hope skaters and skateboard dealers will take that into account before inadvertently helping destroy our industry here in the states. I offer the following thoughts:
Skateboarding was Born, Raised, and Built in America. Many skateboarders care about this, and will not be sold out easily, especially when they know all their options, and they are starting to be educated, and it will continue.
Does skateboarding, skateboard dealers, or skateboarders benefit from putting several hundred US workers out of work? Who benefits--A communist country, overseas toy companies, and skate brands without factories!!
Price decreases on these imported decks are likely to be short term. It has been proven in other industries that once the US manufacturing base is killed, the wholesale prices will rise right back to where they have been. Can it be proved that this is not the case? The US furniture manufacturing business is almost dead, and now the Chinese made furniture is now selling for about the same price as what the American Made furniture used to sell for, even though it being manufactured for a fraction of the cost. Who won that battle?
It's also only fair to mention that there are already many US manufactured skateboard products that compete with the pricing offered for these China made decks, so why divert the money away to non skaters?
Will these companies going to China open up the door for more sales of major brand names to large chains? I think the passion of skaters who've fought being sold out for generations, and the passion of dealers who've fought off major chain stores for generations as well may be severely underestimated.
Boards that have been coming in for the last 12 to 18 months or more from China into the high end market have not had a "Made in China" label on them. I don't think it's because China boards are so good, and they were proud to sell them. There are some companies still not marking them with their country of origin, and are trying to sell them for the same price. These guys are lying, deceptive cowards who can't sell on an even playing field. Do skaters and dealers appreciate being lied to, or trust those who have been lying to them?
Do you really think we'll get better quality products out of China just because some big name pro told you so? He doesn't buy his boards, and he probably hasn't ridden a "production deck" in years.
How can credibility be given to those who've imported Chinese made products for quite a while and failed to label them "Made in China", as per the Customs Laws and Federal Trade Commission regulations? These same cheaper produced decks have been sold for the same wholesale as the American Made decks for quite some time, until recently, when these guys got caught. Does this add to the trustworthiness of companies who would do this? Beware of the intentions of those willing to use you as pawns in their little game, and lie to you while they are doing it!
Should you take their paid skaters word that the boards are good? I can give you a list of skaters who will tell you all the China boards suck!
Who will win when there is nobody left to do the R&D in America? I can walk 100 feet from here and grab a deck right off the production line, and go skate on it right away. Do you think we lose anything when we have to rely on emails for communication with a country thousands of miles away? "Why does my board weigh more than last time?" I can just hear. "It's the same" might be the reply. "But my team guys say it feels different!" again "It's the same", and since no-one will really ever be able to control what happens over there from here, you will never have a real answer no matter who tries to tell you they will have complete control over their factories.
People that built their factory's capacity up to 40-50,000 decks a month are not just going to walk away from their investments in America? Can you say bloody price war? A factory here in America could sell you a deck for less than a major brand can sell you a supposedly comparable deck from China, so don't you think they'll do that before they just close their doors? Is anyone naive enough to think that won't happen. There are about 5-6 major US Marketing labels who don't have woodshops who are trying to make this happen. The former leader of one of them, now retired, rich, and back in Europe, actually lobbied several other companies to try and get them to go over and do this with him so they didn't look so bad. Do these people deserve any Credibility????
Do you realize that between those 15 or so woodshops in the US, there are at least a couple hundred small brands produced that are not going to take so well to being stepped on an manipulated by a few greedy marketers. Can 5 Goliaths survive 250 little guys nipping at their ankles? I hope the dealers will put Goliath back in his place.
How could it be that 30+ years of US skateboard manufacturing could be outdone in China just like that, or at least according to the paid proponents of this product? Isn't that a little suspect to you?
Bottom line, this is a power play, and a control game. Dealers and skaters do not win. Please put the big boys in their place, and support those who've committed to making their boards in the US. Dealers don't want Walmart, Toy R Us, Sportmart, Sports Authority, Big 5 etc... to take their business from them, skaters don't want to give up their skateparks to inliners and bmx riders, and we don't want China to take our business from us. Lets stick together and kick the sellouts to the curb. It's about time we all did that anyway.
When times get tough, will the Chinese factories support skateboarding to help get it back on its feet. I think not!!
Long live Pure Skateboarding, Run by Skateboarders!!
Jim Gray
Life Long Skateboarder
and Proud Owner of Abc Board Supply
