Has anyone received an email from the ABC recommending Bowler's Paradise? Some of the guys in my league last night were discussing it. (I haven't gotten anything from the ABC because my handwriting sucks and they probably have the wrong email adress.) One bowler even said that Bowler's Paradise is sponsoring one of the tour stops. Is this true?
If it is, I think that this is horrible for bowling. I know that this type of topic has been discussed many times before, but I just don't like the idea of the ABC coming under the influence of the big internet distributors. I know 6 different guys that run proshops, and they are getting hit pretty hard by internet sales. I know, it's a free market, people will shop where they get the best price, blah...blah...blah.
How is a shop owner supposed to compete with an online distributor that can order upwards of a million dollars worth of inventory at a time. It's just crazy. It's great that everyone can buy stuff cheap, but who does the ABC think is going to drill all the balls when local shops are forced out of business. It just doesn't make any sense to bow down to the almighty dollar to gain some advertising revenue now, when it will bite you later.
Last night one of the local pro shop owners was saying that in some cases, some of the online stores are selling balls for like $20 to $30 less than the typical proshop owner can get them for at cost. They sell bags and other supplies at cut rate prices too. Once again, this is nuts. The proshop owner was saying that he had a guy come in on Monday to buy a new wrist support. He bought the last one a few years ago and was complaining that the price had gone up $3.00. Come on! How are the ball drillers supposed to make a living.
Are they supposed to eliminate their inventory and just charge $90.00 to drill whatever someone walks in with, or better yet just move their presses to their garages and work under the radar. This isn't that far away from what I've seen some guys resort to.
I know that everyone has been hit hard by the way the economy has dumped. This includes bowling equipment manufacturers. They don't have the revenue coming in that they did when bowling was popular in Asia. Now with countires like Japan lossing interest in the sport, the manufacturers have facilities geared up to produce balls at rates that aren't required anymore. It seems like instead of slowing production, they have instead pandered to the online distributors, giving them huge price breaks because they make huge orders.
Am I completely off base by thinking all this? Is it just a crazy conspiracy theory?
I don't think so. Bowling is in a definite downturn. We need more participation, this is obvious. But we also need the skilled craftsman that allow us to keep bowling. I don't want to resort to having my ball drilled by a guy 500 miles away and hope that it is right when I open up the UPS box. I want to be able to go to a professional and get good service. When will people realize that you can't get everything for free.
I think we will be in serious trouble if we lose pro shops because of the short-sightedness of organizations like the ABC.
Somebody, please tell me that I am wrong, that the ABC isn't in bed with Bowler's Paradise or any other online distributor.
Sorry for the rant, but I think these are serious topics. I really hope that I am wrong,
Mankow
