I was informed this afternoon that St. Croix will have a stand-alone booth at the National Rod Builders Show in Charlotte in February. Expect to see their full line of blanks and related components. Dave Schulter will be on hand to answer your questions.

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Great news! Was starting to wonder about their commitment to the builders.

I certainly understand, but we have to remember that none of these companies should attend Charlotte in order to support the show or the builders or anything else. They should come and display only if they feel that the show is going to be good for everybody - themselves (companies do need to make money if they're going to stick around), the rod builders, the craft. Everybody's back needs to get scratched and this is the type show where that happens.

When the dust settles and the show is over, I want the companies who displayed to be able to say, "We sold a ton of product and showed our product to over 1,000 rod builders in person." I want the builders to say, "We saw tons of product, got some really great deals on stuff, learned a ton and had a bunch of fun." And I want Barry, the show promoter to say, "This thing turned out even better than we expected. So much so that we're going to do it again next year and expand the rod building portion even further."

As we move closer to the actual show date, I think you'll see more companies make the move and commit to booth space. We're two-thirds full right now and I suspect we'll sell all 50 booths by January.

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For a company to attend a show halfway across the company there is going to be a very large expense involved. You have to ship and move a lot of product and cumbersome displays. Then you have to fly in company personel and lodge and feed them for several days. I would think that a company like St. Croix is going to spend several thousand dollars to attend something like this.

I guess I don't expect companies to attend every show in support or commitment to the rod builders. They probably just can't afford to do that. At smaller shows I don't see how companies can expect to come out ahead and you can only loose money so often if you want to stay in business.

This is not a knock on the Charlotte show. I know it's easily large enough that they'll probably make their expenses back many times over! But it may be the only one where that is really possible. I just hate to see companies labeled as not supporting the rod builders just because they can't display at all the various shows. I'm sure they would if they could.

Tom, that's great to know.
You fellows will be wowed by the new blanks that St. Croix has added to their selections. Pick up a rod builders catalog and a rod catalog. These have good information. The rod catalog is especially good with some quips and amusing fishing story lines. Their reels are nice too. The baitcaster was one of note with outstanding reviews in the outdoor magazines. I hope they also bring the fly reels to show.

I'm glad that St. Croix is committing to Charlotte. It will benefit them and rod builders and anglers alike. Dave knows his company and I'm sure will be fruitful with information on the product.

I've been honored over the past years being in the St. Croix family of domestic rod blank distributors for which they stand behind for quality and value over a couple generations now.

Rich Garbowski
Richard's Rod & Reel

All the St. Croix reels, from fly to spinning to baitcasting, will be on display in Charlotte.

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St. Croix having a booth in the rod building show with someone from the company there will be good for them and for the show. I don't think their reps that man their regular booths at the fishing shows know anything about rod blanks. At the ones I've talked to haven't. Glad to see them attending. I want to take a hands on look at the new SCV models that I've heard people talk about.

Awesome!

You will find Dave Schluter to be very knowledgable about St. Croix blanks. He is VP of Manufacturing, and knows the business inside and out. My impression of him is that he values the rod building community and beleives it to be a viable part of his customer base. I am looking forward to seeing him again.

This is wonderful news for everyone - The show will now have top-of-the-line manufacturers (All Star/Shakespeare, St Croix, Batson Enterprises); marketers/retailers (Mudhole); distributors/developers (American Tackle Trondak, Flex Coat) and the people who use them all in the same place with customers in an atmosphere where all can comingle and exchange ideas. I can see how/why more manufacturers and large volume distributors will have market pressure applied to attend. G. Loomis had a reasonable display last year and since their merger will almost have to attend. Sort of surprising (and at the same time not so surprising) that Pac Bay and Fuji or Shimano haven't jumped in (yet).
I'm glad I committed early --- and I won't have a thing to sell at the show.

To the list of marketers and retailers let's add FishSticks 4U, Schneider's Rod Shop, Donart, and probably Custom Tackle Supply.

It's probably not reasonable to expect every company to attend, although this is partly because most can't comprehend a rod building show on the scale of this one in Charlotte. What they've grown accustomed to in the rod building show arena are much smaller events. Good events, but not of sufficient size for them to be cost effective for most manufacturers and dealers to attend. Charlotte is done on a completely different scale and those that didn't attend last year's show have a hard time comprehending what it's really like.

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I am also very glad to hear Dave will be there to represent St Croix. His knowledge on the St. Croix product line is something that will only enhance this Great show.
We ( Batson Enterprises - Rainshadow/Forecast ) were there last year with a booth and were very pleased with the results. Even though we do not sell products at these shows it gives everyone a chance to see and feel our extensive product line. It also gives us a chance to see alot of folks we do business with and helps us to strengthen our personal relationships with these folks, which we all feel is very important. We will have a few distributors there ( Fish Sticks 4 U, Schneiders Rod Shop and maybe others ) That you will be able to purchase our products from. If there is anything you know you will need you should contact these distributors so they can order it and bring it with them, save yourself on shipping.
We are really looking forward to this show and meeting new folks and seeing old freinds. We will be there in full force with 5 "Team" members and a 30' booth. We will be there to show our products and answer any questions you may have.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact us
Bill Batson
CEO
Batson Enterprises
Rainshadow/Forecast
877-875-2381
wbatson@olypen.com

Actually, you do sell product at these shows! When you demo or show an item to a builder, and he asks you where he can get one - you send him to one of your dealers on the show floor. That dealer is buying that product from you!

The manufacturers who display in Charlotte do indeed sell product - not directly to the consumer, but to the dealers who carry their product. The manufacturers are there to create demand for their product lines and this trickles down (pours down really) to sales for their dealers. And, those dealers have to buy that product from the manufacturers. It's sales circle - the consumer buys from the dealer, the dealer buys from the manufacturer/distributor.
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