Whats the deal??

fatsbucknut · 01-30-2008, 06:49 PM

A good buddy of mine, who happens to be amish, has an outdoor shop down the valley from where i grew up. He had Mathews, Darton and Diamond as his main bow lines. I know for a fact that he sold upwards of of 30 Mathews last year. That might not be alot for some big shops but i think thats pretty good considering his location. I just found out that Mathews swept in and took all of the left over bows andrevoked his dealership. Why would they do this? He is by far the kindest and most hard working shop owner i've ever been around. I heard that another local archery shop complained because he was amish and didnt have proper lighting, etc... Anyone know what their reasoning might be?

Zach

Rob/PA Bowyer · 01-30-2008, 06:57 PM

Zach,

Please keep us updated on what the reason they gave him. This might be interesting. Did he do something that like under cut prices and break their contract or, is there a bigger and better shop coming in where they think they will profit more from seeing they are protected by distances? That would be sad. Please keep us updated.

Schultzy · 01-30-2008, 07:06 PM

Somethings up!!

Armybowhunter28 · 01-30-2008, 07:12 PM

Sounds fishy to me

Splitear_Leland · 01-30-2008, 07:12 PM

I bet he was selling them at under the required cost. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was told that retailers have a price that they cannot go under on new bows. If this was the case, I'd say it would cause a red flag. That may have been why he moved so many bows.

fatsbucknut · 01-30-2008, 07:30 PM

I'll give him a call and see what he says. haha yeah i know what you're thinking but his neighbor has an answering service set up for him, then he returns the calls from their phone. I highly doubt he would do anything that would break their contract, i've actually talked to him about the minimum price he has to sell at. i know he'll match any price out there but undercutting i'm not sure. But you never know. I'll keep you guys posted. Thanks.

Zach

Rick James · 01-30-2008, 08:50 PM

Zach:

I can say as someone that works for a Mathews dealership, that if he is only moving 30 bows a year........that's really not a lot. If a different shop has the ability to move more bows in a given territory........well it's strictly business and they did what they had to for the better interest of Mathews. That's just how it goes unfortunately. To give you an idea, we are in an area with 8 different archery shops within 30 miles of us, and we still moved upwards of 150 Mathews last year with all that competition. It's not just Mathews, most manufacturers will do this. Heck, Bowtech just a little over a year ago stacked a second dealer on top of another with less than 10 miles between the two not far from us. It's nearly put the first shop out of business because they really focused only on Bowtech. It was in the manufacturers best interest though........so that's the way it goes. I wish your friend best of luck, but I can guarantee you that if his dealership was pulled it wasn't because he was Amish. It was because there was someone else in the area that was capable of moving more bows, or because he broke a contract rule that all dealers must adhere to.

bigbulls · 01-30-2008, 09:00 PM

Mathews is one of the few premier bow companies that does not set a minimum price. I have talked to people there about this becasue it can become a problem with dealers completely undercutting prices just so another dealer won't get business but they have no intention of setting up a minimum rice that dealers must adhere to. I could sell a brand new DXT for a hundred bucks and no one would do anything about it.

I imagine it has a lot to do with what Rick James said. Thirty bows a year is a very small number for a Mathews retailer. I still think they should at least give the man some notice and an explanation if they didn't.