Lane#1 does not use the wide selection of distributors to outlet their balls. With most distributors having road salesman stopping by Pro Shop's in their designated area they have better chances to widen their sales. I would say that 80% of all shops use (1) distributor for the majority of their inventory unless their favorite distributor does not carry a specific company. There are over 2000 Pro Shops in the USA that do not currently "STOCK" Lane#1's product.
Lane#1 is going to try to help that.
That is the reason there are so many successful online sellers of Lane#1 products.. People want them but have no avenue to buy them at the local shops..
Most of these 2000 shops are still under the impression that Lane#1's product prices are higher than other manufacturers.. We will see a nice spike in sales when these shops are educated on our new pricing structures...
Our top of the line products are at the same or cheaper than other companies products at the present time and it has been like that for almost 2 years..
The Virtuals and Hot Sauces I just got in actually cost me more than the new Dynamo. By $6 per ball. Not $.50
So yes popularity does have a lot to due with sales and word of mouth and hopefully soon enough Lane#1 will have a bigger piece of display space in the local shops.
Since January 1st I have sold 39 Agent Oranges and 18 Dynamo's.
I've sold 4 Virtual Gravity's and 4 HyRoads..
I've sold 3 The Sauce
I've sold 0 Ebonite or Track Balls.
I've sold several Brunswick balls but most all were blems. Even the first quality balls were blems but of course I am just bashing the company.
Lane#1 was never my highest volume company even being a PBA pro staff member since 2001 but as of 2006 to the present it has easily become my highest volume company sold. I have seen a large spike in sales after coming back from running the booth in Albuquerque. Maybe it was because people thought it was my specialty now or that I was driving around in the Lane#1 Hummer for 10 months but Lane#1 dominates my shop.
I am sure Lane#1 is not looking to dominate every shop although it would be nice. Lane#1 is just hoping to get their products seen in the local pro shops that are not aware of our new company structure.
Hopefully that can change...
18 years in business and we're still here. That says alot. Look at all the other upstart companies that have come and gone..
I guess I was rambling here a little but I just felt like typing my thoughts...
Beans
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www.beansproshop.com--------------------
Thomas "Beans" Biniek Jr.
PBA Member and Lane#1 National Sales Manager and Lane#1 Ball Drilling Expert
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