I just heard that Inside-Outs contract was not renewed. Wonder who they have lined up to do that big, almost thankless, job?
That’s a bit of a shame since the guys from Inside Out Sports had developed this to a science. Their operation was very polished and, in my opinion, they did an excellent job.
It will be a tough act for anyone to follow.
By next year you mean 2010?
Makes sense…looked like they were being phased out last year at the NA Sports events. I suppose there’s no chance in hell of it being an open-type of expo?
I just heard that Inside-Outs contract was not renewed. Wonder who they have lined up to do that big, almost thankless, job?
When you say “thankless”, I assume you mean thanks aside from the huge amount of money they must have made from doing it?
I just heard that Inside-Outs contract was not renewed. Wonder who they have lined up to do that big, almost thankless, job?
When you say “thankless”, I assume you mean thanks aside from the huge amount of money they must have made from doing it?
I am not familiar with the finances of the operation but I doubt there were huge profits, especially the last years where NA sports took away their ability to sell anything not bike related. They had to transport around all the stuff and the staff and pay NA sports their cut. I know HP bike works did the expo in Hawaii after that other bike shop bit the dust. He did it just one year.
It was my impression Inside Out did this more because of their love of the sport than the big bucks to be made.
Someone made HUGE money last year at Lake Placid, that’s for sure.
By next year you mean 2010?
2009
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Too bad. They were a HUGE help to Sergio and I in Brasil. And then I used them last year at KS70.3 and everything was perfect.
clm
Say it ain’t so…Sid and the gang freaking helped a TON of folks get thru many, many races. They busted their tails trying to create loyal and satisfied customers. I enjoyed seeing them at the events. This is sad.
x2
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x3 Hopefully this isn’t just the start of WTC changes to what were some great prior NAS races … that would be a shame.
Dave
Khai, when you consider what Inside Out had to pay to be at the Ironman venue, the costs associated with getting there and the expenses involved in their very advanced set-up at the venues (processing credit cards via satelite!) I doubt even the very savy business people from Inside Out made a killing. I wager there were events they lost money at.
Sid and his father are hard-working, stand up guys who earn a decent living because they really work hard and run a class operation with great service. The Ironman expos helped build their identity and brand visibility, but their expertise and service built their reputation.
I think the guys on the short end of the stick in this deal are actually Ironman. I doubt anyone will be able to mount as successful a remote specialty retailing and service effort as Inside Out did. It was the industry standard in remote retailing and it added value and service to the Ironman experience for everyone who participated.
This isn’t a big loss for Inside Out Sports, it was very hard work for them, but it is a big loss for Ironman in my opinion.
I think the bigger question would be given the extremely low profit margins year after year from this, why would anyone want to be the vendor? IMNA better get a great sales presentation together. Unless you can convert those people at the expo to customers online or retail this isn’t a big net profit deal.
Sid and his father are hard-working, stand up guys who earn a decent living because they really work hard and run a class operation with great service. The Ironman expos helped build their identity and brand visibility, but their expertise and service built their reputation.
I think the guys on the short end of the stick in this deal are actually Ironman. I doubt anyone will be able to mount as successful a remote specialty retailing and service effort as Inside Out did. It was the industry standard in remote retailing and it added value and service to the Ironman experience for everyone who participated.
This isn’t a big loss for Inside Out Sports, it was very hard work for them, but it is a big loss for Ironman in my opinion.
Tom,
Well said. I agree wholeheartedly. The Cardoso’s and their team at Inside Out did a first rate and outstanding job over the years. The reason that it did work was due to their organization, focus and professionalism.
Another thing that having a great retailer like Inside Out on the case did was, and this rarely get’s mentioned - they acted as a outstanding middle-man as any great retailer should, between the vendors and the end-user customers. Many people don’t realize this, but many of the key endemic suppliers/vendors in this business, are very small businesses, that can’t afford to dedicate large amounts of human resources, product and other physical resources exclusively, to this number of events over the course of the year. We would like to, but we would have to slash all other marketing and sponsorship that we do.
I was wondering about the anything not bike related thing. At IMAZ this past November, I needed to find a pair of goggles and that guys and Inside Out gave me this secretive look and told me they couldn’t “officially” sell me goggles, but if I went in the back, they had a bunch I could buy. It seemed very odd to be all cloak and dagger for a pair of goggles, but I guess now I know why.
I was sort of an outside observer during the year and Cid and I spent some time talking about this at slow periods at some of the expos. After the sale of NAS he didn’t have a clue what was going to happen in 2009. It appeared no one did as questions were met with big shoulder shrugs. But, it seemed, by the end of IM Arizona, he had received enough clues to indicate things would be on again in 2009. So much for his ability to read tea leaves.
I felt that NA Sports treated him like crap, squeezing him for every dime they could, especially compared to the way WTC treated him in Louisville. This stuff about not wanting him to sell swim goggles, or wet-suits, or clothing, or almost anything else not directly bike related didn’t seem very athlete or vendor friendly. I was hopeful that this would work out for him in a positive way. Looks like the NA Sports attitude wore off onto the WTC though.
I find it hard to believe they will be able to find someone who actually wants the job if the attitude stays the same. We will see.
Yep I had the same experience this past year at IMMoo. My goggles started leaking a bit on the Friday swim so that afternoon I went to Inside out and they said the couldn’t sell me goggles. I thought that was weird. The only people selling swim stuff on site were the Blue Seventy crew through NA Sports. I did bring a spare pair so it wasn’t a big deal. I feel sorry for all the people that wait until Friday and Saturday of IM weekend to get there bike tuned up. Wonder if they will contract each IM out to a local shop like smaller races do.
I agree with Chi Tri about questioning the part of only bike-related stuff. At IMLP, I bought several things that were not bike-related, and it all seemed above board.
Why in the world would NAS do this, especially since the expos are hardly “open” at the IM events? If* any* race should go out of its way to make all sorts of gear readily-available, it should be at IM events. Those distnaces? That number of participants? Do they really think that there won’t be a lot of race-related needs that crop up?? Decisions like this give me even more cause for pause in considering whether they are really the folks who should be running those events!
Shame those guys were awesome… helped me out no end when I ripped my wetsuit the night before LP IM