Let's crack this wide open!
- "Their change to margin motives has devalued the brand" - All three brands you chose to show a parallel were created and run on a retail/wholesale business model. Saga was not. Shifting from that model to direct to consumer (which Saga has and will be) allows you to have a lot more control and flexibility with margins and quantities. Aka there is no one influencing our product design but the four employees, our team riders and brand friends.
- "Driving the company into the ground", "recycling the same garbage" and "camo for the 4th year in a row" - At no point did anyone involved with Saga make a conscious effort to devalue the future of the company. If there are specific actions you can point to that show this please share. The primary causes for the troubles over the last year were out of our control.
- The only colors we reuse from one season to the next are blacks and khakis. Every other color is going to be new or a derivation of a previous color. We have not reuse camo patterns in consecutive seasons. If a particular color, pattern or camo is popular one season we look to tweak it either by style or color.
- In reference to the start of women's gear "producing some hackneyed crap" - If we're not using metrics and facts to help our decision making process what would you suggest we do? Analyzing the purchase habits down to the pattern and color style have helped us create new combinations that have been some of our most popular. If there is a better way to get a read on what the community is looking for we'd love to hear it.
- "the new parent company has a more fervent sales objective" - The line currently up for sale was developed over a year ago, well before this move was even a thought. Winter 20/21, which we're currently working on, was started before the move and has yet to have any parent company influence.
- "steaming pile of men's jackets" - We never made a Park City anorak. We make a Park City parka which along with its female companion, the Empire parka, were two completely new additions that were very well received. Unfortunately due to difficulties with the business the following season we weren't able to develop new styles.
- "noticeable absence from Level 1 this year" - Both Wiley Miller and Ben Smith had phenomenal shots this year with Level 1. If you look closely you will notice several other people in the video that wear Saga pants and sometimes jackets. These people aren't part of our team but as a member of the ski/snowboard world we will always help out our friends and people in need of gear. We have been and are still working with Level 1. We have been helping them produce collabs for the last several years and plan to develop some new projects with them for the coming year(s). We haven't had a real team page in a decade. Ask Tim, Wiley, Tim, Steve, McRae, Mitchell, Nicky, etc. Having a team page just to have a team page is a waste of time in our eyes.
- "sounds like a corporate robot" - The person writing the IG copy is the same person that has been doing it for the last eight years. It is the same person that responds and interacts on this site. I can assure you, I don't know the first thing about being a corporate robot.
I hope this helps give some more depth and insight to our company. Yes we have had and will continue to have problems. But we will keep coming back because we love this ski shit just as much, if not more, than each and everyone one of you on this site. If we didn't we would have just shut down the business last summer when no one was getting paychecks and it looked like it was the end of an era.
msander9Assumptions that my points were clear made an ass out of me. I did not suggest affiliation, I was drawing a parallel...
Dakine was purchased by a capital investment firm (like Supreme!) Altamont capital out of SF for a nice chunk, but lost autonomy. Their change to margin motives has devalued to brand to core audience and can be found in Ross Discount stores nationwide.
Nixon has a similar buyout story. Their parent company has all but given up on design and product innovation and focused solely on getting product into mass market retailers.
Stance is the sole anomaly in my example because their founder started the company with the expressed intent on positioning the company for a buyout. But, my point with this example was that a once popular brand took a buyout and the parent company drove a brand with good products into the fucking ground. In no way was I proclaiming that you were associated with those brands.
By "worth it" I meant just that, I hope it was worth driving the company into the fucking ground. At the end of the day youre still in the ski industry, nobody is living the high life. Just because your metrics read good doesnt mean you should recycle the same garbage. There is a difference between "growing brand" and "people love this shitty floral pattern". Who were the ad wizards who recycled camo for the 4th year in a row?? But im sure the metrics told you that "camo sells well". no fucking shit. Purple for boys! KYS. Look at all the bold color-blocking!! Looks like a 3rd year FIDM design student is running the art department. You got some operating capital? Youre stable? Congratulations. Maybe you should have taken a hardler look at taking a gap year from production... or taken a page from the apple playbook and truncated your SKU count.
Its not just a weak, recycled, and uninspired collection... ever since you introduced women's gear the company has been producing some hackneyed crap. Which i believe I had clarified a few years ago when you told me that new designers had joined the company. It's my fear that the parent company has a more fervent sales objective for the (more lucrative) womens marketplace. My perspective comes from the presence of a far more developed and polished womenswear line for 2 years in a row now, compared to the steaming pile of mens jackets. Park City anorak? barf-o-rama.
you had a noticeable absence from the level 1 premiere this year. a suspicious absence of a team page after the update. and whomever is writing copy for your IG sounds like a corporate robot.