Powstore From Online Beginnings To Opening Their Flagship Store

German retailer Powstore started life as an online business but now has a bricks and mortar location to connect with the local scene. We speak with Lars Wieters (Managing Director) and Peter Tadych (Founder and Owner) to talk business.

Can you give us a brief history of Powstore. Where and how did it all begin?
(PT) Powstore was founded from an idea in 2010. In the circle of friends who were snowboarders, the topic was how I can make snowboarding easier for beginners and how can I achieve learning progress for others.

The idea was simple: How can I find the board that best suits each snowboarder without spending days testing a board on the mountain. For most people, extensive testing before purchasing a snowboard is impossible. That’s why I started to make a list that included almost all brands and snowboards. A short time later, I transferred this to snowboard bindings. This is the core, a database that is constantly being expanded with experience, specifications and extensive testing.

Having been a successful online shop you guys have bucked the recent trend of closing stores and opened a new flagship bricks and mortar shop in Allgäu, what was behind this decision and are there plans to open further stores?
(PT) Every snowboarder should have the opportunity to use the knowledge and service of Powstore. That is also a big part of our success. Everyone on the Powstore team is an experienced snowboarder and is concerned with materials, technology, sustainability and progress

How do you differentiate your shop from other retail stores?
(LW) The concept is clear: From Snowboarders for snowboarders! We are a shop with a clear focus on snowboarding. Whether it is purchase advice regarding your new snowboard setup, with us going through the depths of our huge snowboard portfolio, a relaxed talk about the scene with a beer or a coffee or adjusting your gear to the best of your expectations we try to make you feel at home. Our concept is more the one of a showroom, where you will spend time and get new knowledge about your beloved hobby and breath in the feeling of snowboarding. Like a clubhouse where you meet your friends to argue about whose got the nicest design or best new technology. We are going to establish this place as a fixed point in the local snowboard scene.

We want everyone to come in without the necessity of purchasing something and later go out with a great experience and a smile in their faces.

What do you think brands could do differently when working with stores like yours?
(PT) Powstore is not just about simply selling products. It’s by snowboarders for snowboarders with everything that goes with it. It is the home of the snowboarder. This statement implies understanding for our business partners.

You have a team of in-house riders that test all the equipment you sell, who are these riders, and do you guys support the local snowboard scene in any way?
(LW) Our team is split up all over the Alps. We have some riders from Munich, all over Germany, Switzerland and the Dolomites in Italy. This huge portfolio also allows our riders to always be there where the snow is. We represent all the different facets of snowboarding like freeride, freestyle, snowboard teachers, girls who really smash the mountain and old lads who are well connected in snowboarding.

As much as we want to bring the scene together in our local shop we want to represent all areas of snowboarding through our team. We have professional park riders who can triple cork, and the most technical freeriders who are well atuned with their splitboards. But we care about everyday riders too, so we have a lot of influencers in our team who ride stylish and with the love for the sport down the mountain and give our customers a good feeling by being represented in our shop. Thanks to the new location we also are in contact with a couple of guys from the local scene around the shop and offer them our space for events, video premieres, lectures about new brands and equipment.