Skate Hardgoods 2016 Trend Report

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Jart



When it comes to the overall health of the skateboard industry, the hardgoods segment has always been the canary in the coalmine. Healthy hardgoods mean healthy participation and healthy brands, distributors, and retailers. In our 2016 Trend Report, we put our finger on the pulse of the hardgoods segment and highlight latest trends in retail. By SOURCE Skateboard Editor Dirk Vogel.


Let’s start this trend report by talking about active participation in skateboarding, meaning core skaters who bust tricks and break boards – not cruisers, posers, and mall-grabbers. Luca Basilico at BLAST! Distribution in Italy is optimistic: “The numbers of skaters are growing, more good parks are under construction, skateboard schools are booming, and for the first time we also see good participation among young girls.” And while law enforcement is cracking down hard on street skating everywhere in the world, Europe keeps the culture alive: “Here in Europe there is more street skating than anywhere else in the world, and it’s a different kind of street skateboarding – the street lifestyle and the way to live in the plazas and streets, means more of a ‘flow’ type style than hammers,” said Pablo Ribera at Jart Skateboards in Spain.

In the long run, sustainable growth will come from quality skate parks and plazas. “Since the number of parks is growing, I assume the number of participants in park riding will grow, while street is also on the rise,” said Jörg Ludewig, Co-Owner at Urban Supplies. This trend has already boosted bottom lines, confirmed Steve Douglas, Vice President at Dwindle Distribution (Almost, enjoi, Blind, Tensor, etc.): “Right now Europe’s hardware sales are way up  – 27% up from July to September. But we see in our forward numbers these numbers are slowing up which is only natural. Overall Europe, outside of Scandinavia, is very healthy and long may that continue.”

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Dwindle

 

Uwe Ballon at Motion Sports in Austria sees a generational trend revolving around parks: “A lot of kids are skating all kind of parks – and so are their dads! So we see a good portion of our skate sales from kids completes.” Then again, hardcore participation is always a double-edged sword. “Kids who skate a lot want good cheap boards – meaning discounted boards – or boards for free!” said FJ Hoeller at Fresco Distribution. This will always be the same, while many trends come and go – just look at what happened to crazy shaped decks. “One year ago, unconventional shapes became hugely popular with brands like Welcome entering the market, but this trend is definitively slowing down,” said Chris Allen, director at Shiner Distribution in the UK.

With that said, here are the six trends retailers need to watch out for in skateboard hardgoods in 2016:

1. Decks: Slooow evolution.
For a fast-moving sport like skateboarding, technical evolution sure moves slow. Dimensions have finally found their equilibrium: “Deck sizes are 8 – 8.25 inches. We still sell decks below 8 as well as decks above 8.25,” said Jörg Ludewig at Urban Supplies. As the wider deck trend continues, Enuff skateboards in the UK report: “We’ve completely stopped sales in 7.5 inch decks.” While unorthodox shapes are trending out, Luca at Blast! expects: “Blunt and bold noses of shorter decks are coming next!” Meanwhile, brands such as Dwindle – with Uber and Impact constructions – are pushing deck technologies, but it’s up to the retailers to tell the story and educate customers about their value. “Many new variations to all-maple decks have been developed in the last five years but still have not caught on greatly,” said Chris at Shiner.

2. Decks: Price points still under pressure.
Despite positive participation numbers, the deck segment is feeling the squeeze. “Due to shop decks and local decks and the easy way to get decks done in small quantities at low price, branded decks have a fierce competition. Kids do not honour the effort that is behind a brand and look primarily at the price. Some dealers do that too. The dollar went so strong versus the euro, so the situation is even tougher,” said Jörg Ludewig at Urban Supplies. Nevertheless, Chris at Shiner sees price points dropping: “A few years ago, most decks were £55/ €70 but this has been driven down and the highest-selling volume is now at the £45/ €60 price. There are also still big volumes of shop boards sold and this still represents over 30% of total volume.” Ultimately, nobody is to blame for this trend but the shops, as Enuff Skateboards pointed out: “Retailers need to fight the temptation to import cheap off-the-shelf China products and deal with established brands to ensure quality!”

3. Wheels: Soft ride, proven quality.
Nothing has changed in terms of preferred wheel sizes: “It’s forever been 52 mm and probably won’t ever change,” said Uwe at Motion Sports. But while technology is still a tough sell in decks, the “trend towards quality reached the wheel market. This was a lot tougher ten years ago,” said Jörg Ludewig at Urban Supplies. Of course, everyone has their favourite, including FJ Hoeller at Fresco: “Bones are the best wheels, and skaters know that, at least the ones that skateboard every damn day.” Pointing out the hottest trend in the wheels segment, Chris at Shiner said: “Soft regular shape skate wheels are hot – longboard softness in a traditional skate wheel shape. Bones, Ricta, and Spitfire seem to own this market.”

4. Accessories: Something extra?
Every well-stocked shop knows that the right accessories at the right time will bring in extra euros at really decent margins. Asked about hot trends in the accessories segment, FJ at Fresco said: “Branded griptape is huge! Grizzly is doing a great job there. Even transparent is in demand for the younger audience, as many boards have top and bottom graphics. Other than hardware, skate kids buy a lot of beanies, caps and socks.” Chris at Shiner also has his finger on a universal trend: “Rails have now become the biggest-selling accessory in the last year and will certainly grow again for 2016.” Meanwhile, quality skate tools are in high demand, and Luca at Blast! Suggests: “That FKD ratchet tool is a must-have!”  

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Independent


5. Trucks: Lighten up.
The truck segment still belongs to the Holy Trinity of companies – Indy, Venture, and Thunder – hawking up to 80% of sales in some regions. But Chris at Shiner noted: “While conventional trucks are still the bulk of the business, sales of hollow light and titanium trucks have doubled in the last year.” Eric Sentianin, R&D Hardgood Developer at Dwindle Distribution explains: “The Tensor Mag Light truck is 29% lighter then the industry standard truck, it features a hollow shell and kingpin and is made from super light and strong magnesium which is also amazing for grinding, our riders love them.” Distributors like Luca at Blast! help spread the gospel: “We carry some of the lightest trucks on the market with Tensor Mag Light and Theeve Thiax.  At first, we had to push promo and test products to shops. But once skaters try the difference, if they are into having a lighter board, they will stick to them. The difference is real!”

6. Marketing gets technical.
Technology not only factors into board constructions, but also the back-end process of ordering and marketing skate hardgoods. Pablo at Jart emphasizes that retailers need “access to all the products in the catalogue of the brands and more importantly, the company or brand or distributor need to have the best service and communication.” Most brands provide web marketing collateral, while Dwindle has been seeing great success with its online pre-book program – also exclusive product that’s pre-book only – which is supplemented by Goto online meetings with participating shops. “We have a lot of fun talking about new product and going over the marketing of the key products,” said Steve Douglas, encouraging shops to get log-ins from their distributor or contact EMEA sales manager Leigh.Nardelli@dwindle.com directly.

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Jart

Closing this report, let’s address a rumour circulating on the message boards; namely that certain sports equipment manufacturers will perfect non-wood, performance skateboard decks in the run-up to the 2020 Olympic Games. The end of Canadian maple? Not so fast, said Chris at Shiner: “Canadian maple decks have and always will be the most popular option as there is no substitute to this that has the same stiffness and pop. Something new is unlikely to prove a great success.” Jörg Ludewig at Urban Supplies is also sceptical: “Skateboarders are conservative as hell and very price-conscious on top. Standard 7-ply seems to stay forever.” Looking ahead, Steve Douglas at Dwindle offered: “We feel that our DSM wood shop currently makes the best boards in the industry by far and we are committed to that. The future will we see boards with no wood? Of course. But when is another story…”

 

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