Pittsburgh Orvis Store

troutbert wrote:
Do you think the other store will continue, or close? This surely will impact their business.
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I hope they will not close.
The other store (International Angler) has been around for a long time, and not too long ago consolidated two retail locations into one. They provide great service, as I'm sure Orvis will try to do. The Angler sells many high end as well as low end manufactured goods, plus the Orvis brand.
They are not too far apart as the crow flies, but very different locations.
Any pure fly shop doesn't have to compete with the business across town. They must compete with the Internet.
Too many of us think that buying a few flies or a leader and some tying materials will help keep the place afloat.
Not true.
The high ticket items (rods, reels, lines, waders and boots) are what allow them to stay in business, and provide us that service.
I hope they both stay in business, but with the constant close out sales on high ticket items from various web sites hurts them.
And in the end, hurts us, too.
 
I bought my first fly rod from international angler 30 years ago - back when they were just a little hole in the wall located in Aspinwall.

But yeah - I'm really wondering if they will survive now. Besides this new Orvis store - they're also facing more competition from the field and stream store that opened in cranberry over the summer, and the LLBean store that opened several years ago in ross park mall
 
I hope I. Angler doesn't take a hit. It's a good store and they've always treated me well in there.

 
I stopped in yesterday and used my coupon. Picked up Dynamic Nymphing book and some fly tying materials, so was very easy to use the $25 off of $50, coupon.

I don't think Angler will take that much of a hit from the Orvis store. The Field & Stream store has about 10X as much equipment as the Orvis store, so if anything, that might make more of an impact.

I think the Orvis store might need some more sales coaching though. Since I immediately went to the fly tying section, they must have assumed I already knew what I was doing, so the couple of sales people that walked by me didn't engage me at all. I would think up-sell is a big part of what they should do. Also, I was right next to the fly rods when a couple of teenagers walked in and started looking at them. The salesperson immediately started showing them the Helios2 without asking them any background on if they fished or had any experience yet. Not sure a $1,000 fly rod is where people should start. Maybe they were experienced anglers, but I wouldn't have guessed. Could be wrong...

But I can say there was a lot of foot traffic in the clothing/apparel section, and the register was ringing the entire time I was there, so looks like they are off to a good start.
 
Ok, it's an easy store to spend money in... I was having difficulty finding something I _needed_ to spend money on. I had a few ideas. I would have loved to pick up something I considered over-priced (Marc Petijean's Magic Tool, or RIO shooting line) at a bit of a discount. A Sling Pack would have been a good purchase too, but I already bought one a few months back. They carry mostly the basics and I have the basics covered.
 
Was actually dissapointed. Way too 'new money' feel for me. I like the small-town, general store feel of the Ligonier Orvis store much better. Cashed in my $25.00 coupon on a small trout net though - as if I need another net.
 
Like I said in my previous post, most of us have all the gear we need already. Its the new angler or the person getting back into the sport that make the majority of the big purchases. I was away from fly fishing for 13 years ( Went and wrenched on sprint cars in W.Pa. from 1990 to 2003 ). When I did get back to fishing I bought all new gear, a Sage DS 2, Orvis Clearwater reel, Simms Lightweight Waders and boots all from International Angler(nice place & good people). Also bought most of my gear from Rich Zoog & Don Boyan who owned Orchard View Angling when they were in business. They were great guys and I hope they are doing well in what ever venture they may be in today.
 
I too went to the new Orvis store recently, and also wondering why they would put it in such a bad location. Like mentioned, it's in Bethel Park Mall, which is a "upper end" mall, according to the fellow whom I asked being that it was my first time there. Never been to IAngler but the Orvis store was nice. An associate told me that they haven't even sold an Helios 2 yet. Was standing in line and happend to look at the cash register read 5000.00$ and it happend to be a Orvis Jacket that this lady purchased. Hmmm.. Never would I spend that on a jacket.. Maybe a fly rod though ;).
 
I think it's probably as good a location as they could find, since we don't really have any destination trout streams in the Pittsburgh area. The only higher end malls are the Galleria, which this store is in, or Ross Park Mall (which already has LL Bean, which I heard no longer carries flyfishing, but would still compete with the non-fishing merch....)


Another nitpick thing, they didn't' have any of the Pennsylvania specific fly fishing books. The Field & Stream Store has 7 or 8 different books, including the hatch guides for PA and also New York, so I'm sure Orvis could find a distributor that has them. I thought that was a pretty big miss on them trying to get "local"...


 
Ross Park Mall (which already has LL Bean, which I heard no longer carries flyfishing,

Not a full on fly shop but still has waders, boots, rods, reels, lines, leader, tippet, and one of the largest fly selections in the area...
 
turkey wrote:
I hope I. Angler doesn't take a hit. It's a good store and they've always treated me well in there.
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They'll take at least a small hit. They should dump Orvis like Orvis just dumped on them.
The opening of the Orvis Retail Store in Buffalo, NY did financially affect Buffalo Outfitters. He was an Orvis dealer for many years. He lost enough high end sales that it forced him to trim employees and inventory. He had a hard time making ends meet the following two years and eventually closed his doors for good.
It was a nice shop with nice people. I miss going there.
 
One thing I. angler has going for them, is that they sell many other brands of fly fishing gear also.

FWIW - the pittsburgh area apparently supported two orvis stores before. There was another orvis dealer in the south hills area that was open for many years before the owner retired.
 
I was at the Pgh store on Saturday - was initially there to take the kids to see Frozen, but it was sold out. That said, they earned a trip to Orvis - my 3 yr old was more impressed with the floor than anything.

Most of the patrons seemed more conecrened with the high-end clothing, than anything else. The materials section was kind of disapponting. When I go into a store, I typically have a list of materials I need. However, I often find that the store doesn't carry them, so I end up ordering tehm anyway. It'll be tough for any retail store to compete with the the online materials market, which is a shame, because I like to actually look at the materials, hold them, and kind f inspect them before making a selection.

I was also pretty much left alone in the materials section, but I prefer it that way. If I need help, I'll find a salesperson.
 
dryflyguy wrote:
One thing I. angler has going for them, is that they sell many other brands of fly fishing gear also.

FWIW - the pittsburgh area apparently supported two orvis stores before. There was another orvis dealer in the south hills area that was open for many years before the owner retired.
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I had a guy at work give me a box of olllld half eaten flies and he told me he got them at shop in the s hills. That must've been it.

Dano, if I get that far north I usually go see Nick at Oak Orchard. He's got a great little shop and all things two-hander.
 
The old half eaten flies could have come from the Fly Tyers Vice in Scott Township. That was not an Orvis store. When I first started tying, I bought materials there and, often times, the critters had already gotten to them. The owner seemed nice enough, though, and would give me a discount.

There was a Orvis store on West Liberty Ave in Dormont/Mt Lebanon - right down from Cain's Saloon. The name of that one escapes me (it closed several years ago) but it was much nicer than The Fly Tyers Vice.

The Fly Tyers Vice doubled as a TV repair shop, too, I think. And the owner's house was just above the shop, so often times he'd open the shop on off-hours. Once, I called on a Sunday to see whether he was open, and he said that he'd open the shop for me right after the Steeler game.
 
Spats wrote:
There was a Orvis store on West Liberty Ave in Dormont/Mt Lebanon - right down from Cain's Saloon. The name of that one escapes me (it closed several years ago) but it was much nicer than The Fly Tyers Vice.
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South Hills Rod and Reel.
 
Fly Tyers Vice is where I got my first real fly-rod. The owner was nice, and, I believed, organized fly trips to Pa destinations streams. I assume he's long gone by now.....
 
foxfire wrote:
Fly Tyers Vice is where I got my first real fly-rod. The owner was nice, and, I believed, organized fly trips to Pa destinations streams. I assume he's long gone by now.....
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We had a thread about Tony Marasco back in January.

http://tinyurl.com/ms2ofqv

I think he usually exhibits at the TU Cabin Fever show in Pittsburgh in March. If he's exhibiting there again this year, go and talk to him. Buy some of his Honey Bug yarn!
 
Tony is still a member of the USC Fly Fishing Club. I'm a new member this year and he was there the first 2 meetings but missed the November one. Someone said he's recovering from a knee replacement surgery but he seemed like an interesting guy and was helping to arrange some of the guests at the club meetings this year...



 
That's right - Tony Marasco. He always seemed really accomodating and very willing to answer questions. His store was much less intimidating, for me being a newbie, than South Hills Rod and Reel. Plus, the fact that the shop was a stone's throw from where I live made it super convenient. He was an somewhat of an accomplished painter too, wasn't he? I seem to recall some of his work near the register in front of the shop.
 
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