Weston Snowboards 2024/25 Preview

Retail Buyers Guide: Snowboards FW24/25 Retail Buyer’s Guide
Brand: Weston
Interviewee: Sean Eno, Director of Marketing

How would you describe the current state of the snowboard market? What big developments, changes, challenges, and/or opportunities are you seeing and how is your brand navigating them?

Overall the snowboard market feels as though there is a bit of a slow-down, the demand for gear seems to have receded with the injection of interest from COVID now having past. We’re also seeing a bit of a global economic slowdown as well as a market that is oversaturated/overproduced from previous seasons. We’re taking a step back to really focus on some new and appealing graphics and doubling down on our direct channels while continuing to work to support the retailers who understand what it means to offer the customer a compelling experience.

Following overall price increase, any positive developments with regards to manufacturing, sourcing, or logistics and the changes you’ve made? Are there any examples you can share of how your business pivoted effectively? What developments are you seeing with regards to product pricing?

In some positive developments, the supply chain and logistic hurdles have abated significantly. Sea shipments are back on track and major corporations aren’t buying up huge inventory of the supplies that we need to make boards. We don’t see any changes to pricing coming, but are hopeful that the surplus in supply that’s hitting the market will abate by next season to reduce the amount of discounts and sales that we’re seeing in the market.

Is e-commerce sales still strong since most brands have been put a lot of effort in physical retail?

We’re still seeing growth year over year in our e-commerce channels but we recognize that the strong retailers need to be supported. Those retail shops are key for creating community and snowboard culture.

After last winter and the lack of snow in Europe, what’s your overall sales and production/inventory strategy for 24/25?

With a few seasons seeing carry over graphics as we aimed to survive COVID and the aftermath, we’re ready to have a fresh start. 24/25 will see a completely refreshed line and we’re hoping that a low tide winter is followed by a few better than average snowfall seasons. We’re also reconsolidating away from traditional distributor relationships in Europe and working directly with agents and select retailers to fulfil supply next season which should also allow us to more flexibly market the Weston brand in Europe directly.

SNOWBOARD SPECIFIC

What trends or developments are you seeing with regards to board construction, shapes, and general innovation? How is this shaping your 24/25 range?

In the 24/25 line we’re seeing a redesign of the Range and Rise – our men’s and women’s all-mountain category splitboards and solid board counterparts. We’re adding a blunted nose/tail profile for better buttering/pressing, a more float focused redesign of the carbon layup utilising s-weave for increased snap, and tip-tail v’s in the solids for power transmission to the contact points. We’re also improving the multi-radial sidecut profile for stability at speed while maintaining nimbleness in tight turns. The Rise specifically will also have a reduced waist width to increase responsiveness from edge to edge, and better accommodate smaller boot sizes. Overall, we’re not changing the game in 24/25 in terms of anything drastically new in shaping, but we are putting more emphasis in our powder and freeride categories.

Anything new concerning sustainability and related product or construction you would like to highlight?

This one is a big one for us. Weston is now one of less than 5 snowboard manufacturers that is B Corp Certified. On initial digging, the only other companies are Burton and WNDR. Environmental messaging is at the forefront of what we do and sustainability is one of our key value pillars.

Are you using any new materials in your hardware for 24/25? If so, what and why? We’re interested in anything new in inserts / edges / cores / sidewalls / glue / resin/ wood types / base material / top sheet / etc. here.

No major updates in the line for 24/25 from 23/24.

Any new design or pattern approaches in your 24/25 gear? Any collabs on the line?

On the Quiver Series which is our main line, we are trying to keep our minimal but consistent graphic theme. However, this season will see wood grain dominant graphics with some color contrast. Inspired by viking shields and halls as well as original Weston graphics from 5+ years ago.

We also have our Mission Series which is artist and cause driven, and for 24/25 we are focusing those graphics into our solid board lineup exclusively. We’ll also be focusing on playing up the limited edition perspective of these models and retailers who don’t book early will not have the ability to add on later. We have a few major collabs:

Brian Stenerson Pro Model Ridgeline – Brian Stenerson is one of our long time athletes and is new to the stage of the Freeride World Tour this winter 23/24 season. Featuring imagery from his latest film release SPLIT, and a murdered out color palette, the board is definitely built to slay with an overall stiffened flex pattern and additional carbon fibre stringers for increased pop.

Turbo Bambi x Rise + Range – Bambi is an artist out of Revelstoke in Canada and die-hard snowboarder. Turbo Bambi, an art-doorsy snowboarder from Revelstoke and proud Weston ambassador, crafted a custom topsheet capturing the high spirits of the sport. Inspired by her backcountry adventures, Bambi’s design pays homage to the breathtaking landscapes she has conquered. With her signature creatures weaved into the mountainscape, her artwork beautifully captures the playful spirit of snowboarding and the sense of community within Weston Backcountry’s team.

Rise Bambi

Revel by Showerman x Gatto – Professional Mountain Bikers Alex Showerman and Micayla Gatto’s friendship began in the desert of Virgin, Utah at the marquis women’s freeride event, Red Bull Formation. But they quickly bonded over their shared love of snowboarding, big mountain lines (on bikes and boards), and art. After coming out, Alex struggled to find community and belonging in snowboarding, and dreamed up the idea of designing a snowboard to reconnect with the sport. Inspired by Micayla’s riding and art over the years, She was the obvious choice to bring the vision to life!

Hatchet x John Fellows – Fellows is a veteran artist of Weston’s line, pumping out many desired boards over the years. This year’s board graphic was a continuation of the “Viking” theme of the last Hatchet design but inspired by the viking warrior himself. This Warrior of Winter stands guard high in the snowy mountains protecting those who venture into them and those below. The viking is being called upon to fight the gigantic wolf Fenrir from Norse folklore before he can wreak havoc and send monstrous avalanches down the mountain sides. Just like todays avalanche forecasters have to sometimes combat mother nature by keeping watch over our mountain playground.

Hatchet Fellows

Are you planning to focus on a special product range or type of customers? What’s your newest range?

As mentioned above, our marketing focus will largely be on the individual boards of the Mission Series next year, and then a combined effort on the entire Quiver Series line.

What is your top product marketing story for next season?

Our re-designed Rise/Range and the art collaboration with Turbo Bambi for their topsheets.

Japow