Dictionary definition of shop
 

Main entry: shop

Function: noun

Etymology: middle english shoppe, from old english sceoppa booth

1: A handicraft establishment

2: a building or room with merchandise for sale

I dont know scott but maybe its you who missed the point, not steve-o

Shop
 

i did not realize that randy has a store front or shoppe. thats great. but it must be extremely recent. my point is that wsw has spent alot of money to actually stock a variety of kite brands and boards. and equally important is all the essential gear and bits and pieces that go with it. i think they should be recognized for that kind of effort and inventory.

I did see a shop with a bunch of Best Kiteboarding banners in the windows the other day. Not sure if it's open yet or not, I didn't stop. I buy a lot of gear from St. Pete Kite Sports center... small shop but a good guy.

Please support all of our local shops.

Bayflite has a shoppe? Damn, you learn something new every day.

I think I understand what a shop is, but I appreciate clarification. Nothing wrong with agreeing on terms to make sure we are talking about the same thing.

Without getting flamed here guys...because I sincerely respect all of you, the only "real shop" around here is WSW. Period. They benefit from a little macroeconomic principle called "economies of scale," and furthermore a little concept known as "free cash flows." This is the main reason nobody has a clue that other "shops" are available. Who can compete with their pricing/availability?? They have room to negotiate with us. They carry big parts, little parts, fat parts, and skinny parts. The fact remains gentlemen, that for any shop to remain competitive in this area, they need to get big....and quick! I had to replace my CL and depower line on my waroo bar yesterday. Now without purchasing an entire upgrade kit for my '06 bar, what shops could have assisted me besides WSW in this area? We disassembled another bar just so I could have the line and loop. They have their shit together...love it or hate it.

Hope to see you guys on the water...if the wind ever decides to come back! :)

-sean

Noob, you're right that WSW is currently the largest shop locally...and they are getting bigger FAST! There was a time fairly recently when they really only sold the two most expensive brands. Things seem to be getting better.

But there are other kite retailers here with some inventory. I bought nearly all of my Best gear from these smaller shops over the past 3 years. WSW did not offer best so buying from them was not an option.

Nothing wrong with that bro. You buy gear where you can find it. Pretty crazy to think about WSW just starting to carry Best and will already have more inventory, once the shipments arrive, than most dealers that have been around for 3 years. More power to them, make prices cheaper for all of us. "They're carrying quite a few more brands these days," and I think that attests to their desire to serve US, the consumer, in the best way possible. Best of luck to all of the smaller dealers, it's gonna be tough for them. :(

It's true wsw is growing and it'll be good for us, but they are not big by any means. We have a shop 3 hours away (www.oceanextremesports.com) that probably sells more kites in a month than WSW sells in a year and they specialize in mainly kiteboarding.

Shipping is about 5-10 bucks and you will have it the following morning.

For me it's easier to check my mail than to drive an hour each way to wsw and waste 1/4 tank of gas (especially since they don't sell best, or didn't then). I haven't found anyone that can beat their prices yet either (anywhere). If WSW matches their prices I'll be impressed for sure. I'm getting ready to buy a small waroo so maybe I'll give WSW a look and see what they can do.

Wow...
 

I just want to say that I do not recall much from the night I wrote the rasta style rant...

spliff spliff...

back to the regular scheduled program...

nice :D