Sunday, October 9, 2011

BJR feedback Comp



The BJR Feedback Competition’s genesis is an interest in hearing ideas from Australian climber’s on how we can make our business better - retreading climbing shoes and retailing climbing gear. 
 
I have no lack of ideas myself, but I am still interested to hear what others think. 

I have provided a rockshoe resoling service for 25 years now and I think this shows a long commitment to climbers. My repair prices have not increased in that whole time, except for the introduction of GST. If anyone can produce a better repair, we would like to see it. 

Before our climbing gear store, nobody in Australia provided the range of bouldering and training gear which we have available. I wanted our climbing store to be a store which I would like to browse and purchase from. As examples, this is why we introduced multiple climbing clothing brands (why should climbers dress in surfing labeled clothing?) and a large range of helmets (so you can find the one that fits your head).

Our gear store has achieved all of our initial goals. Our retail sales help to pay the shop’s rent, help keep both Dave and I employed and add a bit fun to our day. 

The reason for going online was to make our large range of climbing gear available to all Australian climbers. We think that our pricing has always been very competitive nationally. We think that many of the items we sourced directly, and a very few locally available brands, have been internationally price competitive. However, in many gear categories, Australia has been very non-competitive when compared international on-line stores. That is changing in a major way, with a number brands slashing pricing the past weeks – this will be talked about this during the feedback comp. 

My attitude is that our business is just about climbing, climbers and climbing gear. When we stock an item it is more about the product and the customer who wants it, than how many units we can sell.  

We believe it is important that climbers secure their climbing future, by taking responsibility for the environment associated with the climbing areas – this is why we donate 5% of sales to Track Care. Taking action to ensure access to climbing areas needs organisation, labour and cash. When climbers shop with us, they are contributing financially to the upkeep of Australian climbing areas.

Our involvement in the Sports Climbing Association, is another way we are helping to make climbing stronger.

The BJR feedback comp will be an opportunity to promote good reasons to buy locally, find out more from you about what you want and hopefully spread the word to the larger population of climbers nationwide all the good reason to shop with us – BJR Climbing Equipment.