The Ribbon of Death Breaths Life

A-Basin got the chairs turning on Wednesday. October 10th, was its earliest opening on in its 61 year history. Though only a fraction of the mountain was open, which one of our reps referred to as the "ribbon of death", and the majority of skiers getting in early season turns can only be classified as certified die hard, crazies, it does get the rest of the skiing population thinking about the upcoming season. And this can only help getting people into shop doors to select their gear for this winter. Hopefully on the heals of this early opening there a lot more early snow, because people really start thinking about getting on the hill when the white stuff is in their backyard.

The Invisble Visitor

The web is a fantastic way to tell your story. You can control what you say, how it is presented, and do so dynamically. In a print ad, you can also control the message and how it is presented, however it is difficult to know if your ad was seen by all readers or if it translated in to sales. Not impossible, but difficult to track. With the web, you have much more space to tell your story and easily update and edit your story and image as it develops and changes.

But, do you know who is reading your story, viewing your goods, and how long they are spending at your online store front. If you have an e-commerce component to your site, you probably do, and you at very least know who is buying your product.

There are some very easy and FREE online tools that can help you make those once invisible shoppers visible. With Google's Analytics you can track your site traffic, the location of the viewers, and how long they are spending at your site. Just sign up for a Google account, plug in your web site's URL and copy the code provided into the bottom of the pages of your website- and voilà, what was once invisible is now valuable.

It's kind of like getting the licence plate data from the shopper who pops in your store, but leaves without buying anything. But you also get to know which town in Utah they live in.

Some Ski Press Love for Commwear

In the latest issue of the Ski Press, the men's Commwear Jacket was featured in the Team Style story.

Being Different and Uncompromising

KJUS is uncompromising, which sets us apart from our competitors. What sets you apart from yours. On resent travels in New England I visited a number of our dealers and some of their competitors. One of the major points at the SIA workshop I attended the other week, they showed a number of examples of shops and asked was if you brought someone blindfolded into your shop could they tell where they were or see something different and memorable?

One of the more memorable shop presentations on my trip was not in the shop, but outside- a huge pile of old ski boots. At The Startingate in Bondville, VT just outside of Stratton, they pride themselves on their boot fitting and they don't make compromises with this service. If a customer comes in with a boot they want fitted and that won't provide the best performance for that customer, out the second story window it goes into the boot pile. As a result they have developed a reputation for exceptional boot fitting service... and being a little crazy and different.

What do you do that is different?

SIA Workshops

Yesterday, I attended the SIA Fall Education Workshop in Springfield, MA. It was a very interesting and informative progam with a great line up of speakers. Tom Shay took up half of the morning and half of the afternoon with very compelling and entertaining presentation. He had number of great suggestions for merchandising and have a number of free calculators on his website Profits Plus. He also has a free newsletter that you can subscribe to for free.

In other SIA Workshop news, at each workshop they presented Rep of Year awards for each region. Congratulations to KJUS Southern California Rep Steve Brock, who was named rep of the year for his territory.

Bode Joins the Team

Some exciting news here at KJUS. Bode Miller will be wearing KJUS through the 2010 games. He's a guy who doesn't make any compromises and as such left the US Ski Team so he can travel in his now famous RV around the World Cup circuit. We'll be following his season closely, as he looks to eclipse Phil Mahre's record for most World Cup wins by an American.

Welcome to KJUS World USA

KJUS continues to be force in the skiwear world and in the US. Here we will post news, stories, and things we feel will interest our sales representatives, dealers, and KJUS skiers.