Pittsburgh Orvis Store

[DanVerona]

Looks like the grand opening is scheduled for November 9th, if anyone is interested.

http://www.orvis.com/pittsburgh

Not sure I can afford the prices, but I have to credit them for getting me into fly fishing. I went on a business trip in February of this year to Atlanta, and there was an Orvis shop right next to my hotel. Went in and looked around and got me interested in this over bait/lure fishing, and haven't looked back since....

 

[bikerfish]

I've had an orvis store minutes from home for years, right in the big city of Volant!
I bet the one in Pittsburgh will have more dog beds than fishing stuff.
if your in the Pittsburgh area, check out international angler.

 

[streamerguy]

If it's anything like the one near Cleveland, it'll definitely have more dog beds and such than fishing stuff. Still an ok number of fishing stuff, but not what you'd expect/hope for.

But like Pittsburgh(assuming International Angler is a good shop, never been there), the Cleveland Orvis store has a great fly shop very close by.

 

[DanVerona]

If anything might catch some younger people onto flyfishing that just happen to be dragged along to that mall.

I'm a fan of the smaller fly shops I've been too, including the one in Volant that biker mentioned, and I don't really see putting the store in Pittsburgh making much sense. Could easily see it close within a year or two since everyone already knows/goes to International Angler...

 

[bikerfish]

I think one towards the laurel highlands would make more sense, closer to the fishes! maybe one is already there? I don't know.

 

[streamerguy]

There's one at Seven Springs Resort, but from what I remember it's really small.

 

[David]

For Orvis' business plan, it's all about population density and foot traffic. And when you get higher foot traffic, you want drawing cards like the clothes / dog beds for the interest factor (not to mention higher margins.)

Neither is right or wrong (although I could easily argue that from a business standpoint that putting a shop where more people will pass is definitely the right choice.)...

 

[albatross]

There is an Orvis shop just off the diamond in Ligonier too.

 

[Isonychia724]

Woodlands World is an authorized Orvis Dealer, very close to the Laurel Highlands (and fishes). But if you have never been in a Orvis Company store, you don't know what your missing. They are awesome all the way around!!! And the rumor on the street is this is going to be a little more fly fishing 2.0 then any other Orvis Company store. I am sure it will be well worth a visit...

 

[BrentL]

Hey everyone, the Orvis Store opened last Saturday. I stopped by and as expected they are heavy on the "lifestyle" clothing stuff, though they do have actual fishing gear too. I'm not sure if they actually had any dog beds. This is a corporate owned store located in a mall and is nothing like your typical fly shop. Pretty pricey but there is an online coupon valid through this Sunday Nov. 24 that is good for half off of a $50 purchase: http://www.orvis.com/intro.aspx?subject=13095&newwindow=1

 

[DanVerona]

At their formal grand opening event on Dec 7th, Penn's Woods West TU will be having some type of representation there to get the word out about TU. Was announced at the last meeting, not sure the full details...

Still haven't made it in, but just bought a house about 5 minutes from there so I'll check it out eventually...

 

[Tiogadog]

Dog beds and $200 khakis... that said, I love the Battenkill line of reels

 

[RLeeP]

More than their on-the-shelf product mix, the thing that will make or break an Orvis Company Store in Pittsburgh is the general level of disposable income in the area. If you don't have pretty strong numbers of family folks making 150K plus or singles or couples without kids making 100K or better, its tough to sustain a company store with the inventory mix they seem to carry. I've seen a couple come and go out here in the Midwest. One because the higher end outdoor clothing/frou-frou market in the area was already saturated with REI, Bean, North Face, etc. stores and the other because of poor store placement (not enough disposable income around).

They're an interesting company. They seem to value their roots and their identification with their core businesses. I don't think fishing equipment/accessories on their own keeps the doors open on any of their company stores, even the one in Manchester. Yet, I've never been in a Orvis Company Store that didn't have a pretty robust fishing department staffed by people who at least know something about the sport.

I tend to credit the Perkins brothers for keeping Orvis this way. I see them as pretty level guys, loyal to their long time customer base.

 

[hendeylathe]

I stopped at the Orvis store last Sunday (11/17). I think they'll do O.K. Good selection of gear from the Clearwater line of products all the way to the Helios line. What will probably be the thing that helps the most for their is gift cards. Lets face it, most of us already have all the gear we need and you don't buy a new high end rod or new pair of waders everyday but when you get a few gift cards during the holidays, it will let you splurge a bit.

 

[geebee]

In my experience Orvis carry a lot more fishing gear than the Bean outlets and it's normally tucked away at the back or upstairs but the normally have a couple of pros in store.

Oddly enough I always notice preppy people toting their luggage at the airports. Which is good cos the huge mark up on their $200 small bags must subsidise their fly reels IMHO.

 

[wsender]

FWIW, as of last week there is a now an Orvis store in Rochester, NY for people that come up here for winter steel.

 

[denovich]

I was there today... Had a difficult time finding a use for that $25 off coupon. It's a clothing store with a fly fishing display. The fly tying materials were priced reasonably enough that $25 of $50 of materials was a good deal.

 

[afishinado]

denovich wrote:
I was there today... Had a difficult time finding a use for that $25 off coupon. It's a clothing store with a fly fishing display. The fly tying materials were priced reasonably enough that $25 of $50 of materials was a good deal.

What did they not have that you were looking for?

I checked out the store set-up. The store carries > 100 fly rods from trout weights to salt water weights from tip flex to mid flex to full flex and in price ranges from low to high, the entire Orvis brand reel line is displayed, a wall of fly line to match the all the rods, waders and boots in all sizes, packs and vests and nets and FFing gizmos and tools and leaders and tippet along with a selection of flies, FFing books and DVDs, fly tying materials, tools and vises.

Plus they added a learning center where you can sit down and plug into the Orvis "Learning Center" on the store laptop or search other FFing sites or videos to get info on anything FFing.

In addition, they along with other Orvis stores will be offering free fly tying classes this winter and free fly-fishing classes this spring in the store and the water. All this to promote the sport of fly-fishing and to get new folks involved.

Fly-fishing is a small niche of the market. In other words, there aren't enough FFers to support a store of that size, and in that location. (See RLeeP's post above). In addition, FFing is very seasonal while clothing is not, for the most part. Clothing always has been a big part of the Orvis product mix and always will be.

Check out any Cabela's store and note the space in the store dedicated to FFing stuff vs all the hunting clothing and merchandise as well as spin fishing and other outdoor sports. Maybe1% of the store is FFing? That's why it is so tough for a 100% dedicated "Fly Shop" to survive in this day and age, and why many are not around anymore.

 

[gutcutter]

RLeeP wrote:
... the thing that will make or break an Orvis Company Store in Pittsburgh is the general level of disposable income in the area. If you don't have pretty strong numbers of family folks making 150K plus or singles or couples without kids making 100K or better, its tough to sustain a company store with the inventory mix they seem to carry...

They are located in a very high end shopping mall, in the center of the most affluent area south of the Monongahela River.
There is plenty of disposable income at that location.
It has to compete only with one full service fly shop (ironically, also an Orvis dealer) for their customers who are actually fly fishermen.
The spouse of a fly fisherman who is in the Galleria will stop in. Hopefully, they will buy something.
Many other fishing tackle companies have come and gone since 1856. I'd like to think that they know what they're doing.

 

[troutbert]

gutcutter wrote:

It has to compete only with one full service fly shop (ironically, also an Orvis dealer) for their customers who are actually fly fishermen.

Do you think the other store will continue, or close? This surely will impact their business.