How come no Babolat?

[bfactor61]

Why is it that if you walk into a local sporting goods store such as sports authority or ***** sporting goods, there are no babolat racquets? Babolat is one of the top 4 racquet companies along with Head, Wilson, and Prince. You always see the others in the store, but no babolat. Why is this? With rafa being the face of their company, you would think that babolat would be bigger in the stores instead of just online and in tennis shops

 

[wilfreb]

cuz dunlop is takin the place from babolat....

 

[TheOneHander]

^^^ This is like a self-evident truth, only it's not true. *long, dramatic sigh*

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Because they keep the exclusivity of their brand by not selling to every store. By making their products harder to buy, they create more demand for their product and make people go to stores where even more of their product line is showcased.

Another point to mention is that Babolat keeps a very tight ship on the prices of their goods. The old Aero Storms are selling for $119 on the TW page even though they've been discontinued for nearly a year and a half.

 

[coachrick]

Marketing and channels of distribution. Back in the old days, NIKE wouldn't go near Sports Town/Sports Authority. Neither would PING and quite a few other high-end golf lines.(Didn't keep 'us' from bootlegging quite a few sets of clubs from 'somewhere'. )

It could be about brand image and service at the point of sale. For example, many Sports Authority locations don't have in-house stringing or dedicated department staff. Virtually all of their rackets are sold strung. Not Babolat's game plan at this time.

The day could come that you would see Babolat appear in the 'big boxes'; just depends on the company philosophy toward the 'big score' vs specialty shops and pro shops. Also might depend on 'discovering' a surplus of thousands of rackets that aren't moving through current channels. Then Bab might find itself in 'panic' mode and need to unload a really large quantity of merchandise through one vendor.

Frankly, if Bab doesn't 'need' to go to the 'big boxes', why should they? TW has certainly made it easy for consumers to find the Babolat line...I'm not sure Sports Authority could offer a big boost in sales.(BTW, knowing what I know, I would sell through Dick's before Sports Authority; but I wouldn't expect a change any time soon)

 

[Bud]

They carry all kinds of Babolat frames at Sports Chalet... Pure drives, APD's, Pure Storms, E-Sense, etc.

 

[mrtrinh]

^^^ This is like a self-evident truth, only it's not true. *long, dramatic sigh*

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Because they keep the exclusivity of their brand by not selling to every store. By making their products harder to buy, they create more demand for their product and make people go to stores where even more of their product line is showcased.

Another point to mention is that Babolat keeps a very tight ship on the prices of their goods. The old Aero Storms are selling for $119 on the TW page even though they've been discontinued for nearly a year and a half.

very well put

 

[klu375]

They have low-end Babolats in Sports Authority in the NE and online:
http://www.sportsauthority.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=4017349&cp=714770&lmdn=Brand&f=Brand%2F1023156%2F&fbc=1&fbn=Brand%7CBABOLAT+VS+NORTH+AMERICA

 

[Jonny S&V]

If their 'top of the line' models are pretty notorious for being stiff-enough that they can create physical problems for their users, imagine if they used cheaper materials and sold them in big-box stores?

This is a semi-joke...