Any proshop in Mel?(near CBD)

[Michael Little]

I am going to throw my 2 cents in here, having recently and currently undertaken some part time work in one of the pro shops here and knowing how much and what the whole sale prices are, charging 100 on top of what a ball costs wholesale isn't really as much as you might think, especially when that generally includes grips/slugs, measurement etc, on lane coaching after wards by myself, freight, subtract those costs and break down what is left, what do I value as 30 mins of my time for coaching, 20-30 mins of drilling/measuring time, actual profit on a ball. You aren't really left with much.

Of course there are two sides to the coin, you have your back yard operators who make bugger all profit and just get the cheap prices flowing and then you have your average pro shop operator who charges reasonable prices for their services, but struggles due to these blokes, who IMO, are ruining the industry as they generally don't support the distributors in the country either.

I believe there is a distinct lack of qualified pro shops and operators around the whole country, you have the guys listed above who are trying to do the right thing and support the bowlers, but so many centres are also happy for any old person who works there to just drill balls at high prices, which ruins the industry even more.

 

[Michael Little]

But regarding the original posters question, I couldn't go past KGB out there at Chirnside, Karl has always been welcoming each and every Melbourne Cup, always wanting to look after the bowlers. Can't really ask for more.

 

[nev25]

Of course there are two sides to the coin, you have your back yard operators who make bugger all profit and just get the cheap prices flowing and then you have your average pro shop operator who charges reasonable prices for their services, but struggles due to these blokes, who IMO, are ruining the industry as they generally don't support the distributors in the country either.

I agree
Back yard operators dont have the overheads the pro shops do
Happens in all retail

Then again you will always pay for quality work in any industry

Of course people will buy on price but what I want to know how can a backyarder measure and assess a bowlers ball speed and PAP, axis tilt, revolutions, RPM etc without being on the lanes??

 

[becka_girl]

I agree
Back yard operators dont have the overheads the pro shops do
Happens in all retail

Then again you will always pay for quality work in any industry

Of course people will buy on price but what I want to know how can a backyarder measure and assess a bowlers ball speed and PAP, axis tilt, revolutions, RPM etc without being on the lanes??

My ball driller drills all the gear out in his shed. If he wants to watch my ball speed and work out my PAP, axis tilt, revolutions, RPM then we set a time to go down to the local bowl and measure all this out and then he goes back and drills the ball. I dont think you need to be in a bowl to drill someones gear if you have all this information.

 

[rychenroller]

My ball driller drills all the gear out in his shed. If he wants to watch my ball speed and work out my PAP, axis tilt, revolutions, RPM then we set a time to go down to the local bowl and measure all this out and then he goes back and drills the ball. I dont think you need to be in a bowl to drill someones gear if you have all this information.

Agree, although I guess a slight hassle logistically. I guess I just miss the old proshop within the centre thing. Having said that, we wont be going anywhere and will still try our hardest to compete with the online guys. We also protect the distributors this way who really have no recourse to the massive savings the online guys can provide.

 

[Michael Little]

Overheads will always be lower in a private enterprise/location where rent isn't required, that's fine if all the bowlers info can be garnered etc. The only real problem that occurs is when finite adjustments need to be made to thumbs or other things like polishing etc etc, the bowler then has to either go back to the back yard or rely on the good nature of the proshop at whatever bowl they are practicing in to allow them to fix up a ball they didn't get drilled there in the first place.

I have no idea where or how Ballistic get their equipment, but other operators in the past have certainly circumnavigated the local distributors of brand bowling gear. If it happens to a bigger extent, this will eventually hurt the industry as a whole, these distributors are the guys the industry turns to first in an effort to garner sponsorship dollars/product for tournaments and other events, if their margin lines become narrower and narrower over time, what will be the first thing to be decreased/lost and where the flow on finish?

 

[Brenton_Davy]

Overheads will always be lower in a private enterprise/location where rent isn't required, that's fine if all the bowlers info can be garnered etc. The only real problem that occurs is when finite adjustments need to be made to thumbs or other things like polishing etc etc, the bowler then has to either go back to the back yard or rely on the good nature of whatever bowl they are practicing to allow them to fix up a ball they didn't get drilled there in the first place.

I have no idea where or how Ballistic get their equipment, but other operators in the past have certainly circumnavigated the local distributors of brand bowling gear. If it happens to a bigger extent, this will eventually hurt the industry as a whole, as these are these distributors are the guys the industry turns to first in an effort to garner sponsorship dollars/product for tournaments and other events, if their margin lines become narrower and narrower over time, what will be the first thing to be decreased/lost and where the flow on finish?

The bolded passage is significant. When you consider how much that Qubica/AMF, Animals Distribution, Heritage Bay, BPD, Team Storm etc put into tournament bowling, the loss of sponsorship of these companies is going to have a highly detrimental effect on our already struggling tournament scene.

Having said that, back on topic, the guys at Werribee have a good reputation, as does Karl Goodger at Chirnside Park and Patrick Birtig at Boronia. I have not had any dealings with AC ProShop or Ballistic Revs so I can't comment there. However what I would say is that you need to find someone who will look at your game seeing as you are a newcomer to the area and take the time to get it right.

 

[Docta]

Hey Brenton...are you still with AMF or are you doing your own thing now. Noarlunga sure could do with a ball driller.