Hey guys, I just put in a call to start carrying Lat 64 should hopefully place the first order on Monday.
My question for you guys is which models are the best from Lat 64? This lineup is new to me and I want to get your input!!
Also we are having a sale on discs next Tuesday (4-20-10)
And starting monday our new summer hours go into effect. M-F 12-7 Sa 11-5 Su 11-4
Dont forget your bag tags either!! Everyone with the internet can read these and I want to make sure the paying members are the ones getting the 20% off!
Thanks,
Andrew@A2B
from the random forums i would say that the halo, striker, and core are extremely popular. The vision, Riot, blitz, and XXX seem to have their followings. thats as much help as i can be. will definitly be interested to get some when those come in
Here's my experiences with Lat 64 product so far.
Putters:
Sinus SP and AP (overstable putter, 3 thumbtracks on top)
Spike (stable putter, 2 thumbgrips on top)
Pure (straight putter)
Zero Line is kinda gummy, Grip Line is kinda slick (kinda a pro/star combo, not sure of durability yet)
Midrange:
Core (Stable midrange, slight faster Buzzz)
Medius (slightly overstable)
Opto Line is Champ/Elite Z like, Gold Line is like Star Plastic but slicker and more durable, so far)
Drivers:
Striker - Stable driver, like a slightly faster TeeBird
XXX - very overstable fairway driver, like a FireBird or Predator, needs a lighter more space to work in the air for tommies and thumbers)
Vision - Understable distance driver, similiar to a Valkyrie
Riot - Didn't have the arm for it. Somwhere in the Destroyer/Xcaliber area
Trident - Overstable Driver, faster Banshee but a strange pointy rim, if you order some you'll see
Same Plastics as above.
I haven't thrown a Halo, Blitz, or Primitus. Halo is "the latest and greatest" from Lat 64. They are releasing a Fuse or just did. It should be a slower Midrange (spped 3/4ish). Might be Roc or Comet like. Either way, should do well.
If I was to order Latitude 64 for distribution, I would plan on moving more Cores, Strikers, XXXs, Visions, and Halos. I would also plan on moderately moving Riots, Blitzes, and putters. The putters are hard for me to put in order, but I would assume Pures would sell best followed by Spikes, than Sinus SPs, then Sinus APs. The uniqueness of the thumbtracks might boost those sales though. With that being said, I throw Sinuses and just started using a Pure and did not miss a putt 30 down today with it. I would probably only order a couple of Tridents and maybe no Primituses or Mediuses. If you plan on order the full line I would keep the order on those really low (like 2). The Fuses on would bet on doing solid and probably would come pick two up from your place when they come inI
That's my book. If I can attempt to help you any further send me a PM or an email.
People are saying the Halo is the boss "killer." It's got a real nice glide and so easy to get an S out of them.
The vision is like a faster sidewinder which can turnover very easy
A lot of the people who use Lat64 love the spike for putting. Put it on a line and it will hold it
The thing Lat64 is known for is their overstable discs.. They generally are not made for the novice or intermediate players. The exception to that is the Vision. Also, some people have been saying that the gold-line plastic is a little more understable compared to Opto. I'm not sure about this but I think they might be discontinuing the grip plastic
I've heard that the Sinuses throw like snot! ;D
My experience says the chuckers, who are the vast majority of your customers, will throw anything with cool artwork on it. Otherwise, they want Innova.
The tournament players, who post on this website but don't buy that much plastic away from tournaments, are looking for a specific disc. 75% of the time, that disc is Innova.
In the Chicago area you can serve 99% of the players with a good mix of Innova, Discraft and Gateway. Stock small brands if you can justify it in terms of shelf space and income.
Thanks for all the input. Im going to start building the order now!
Let me tell you this, just to be helpful: If your discs are really well organized, you sell a lot more discs. When we started displaying our discs sorted by manufacturer and then sorted alphabetically by mold, we sold more discs. Pitner sells even more discs by having his inventory completely computerized, so if someone says, "Do you have a red Champion Firebird around 172?" he can give them a helpful answer, like, "There should be a red 173 Champion Firebird in that box over there."
I rarely buy discs in stores, but when I was in Ohio a couple of weeks ago the store owner was able to tell me exactly where to look for any X Wasps he might have and he made the sale that way.
Andrew,
For what it's worth, I agree with Bruce. I've been to your store a few times (most recently on Tuesday for the sale) and it is not easy to find anything. The display wall looks great at first glance, but I was simply looking for a Valkyrie. I felt like I had to dig for a needle in a haystack. The guy behind the counter helped out, but he also had to spend a lot of time looking at every disc.
I have not been in your store, because I'm not local, so I was not trying to be critical. I didn't know how you've arranged things. When we first started arranging the discs by manufacturer and by alphabetical, the girls who were helping me do this thought I was nuts. After we did two tournaments that way, they still thought I was nuts, but not for alphabetizing the inventory! They admitted that that was a pretty good idea. ;D
Yea I can agree the organization of the discs lacks a little. Believe it or not we arrange them all the time!! Kids grab them and just put them back in the next empty spot they see or they try to hide them to come back later and see if it's still there. We will work on the organization and probably have to figure out a new way to display them.
If it weren't for the dang customers, retail would be a wonderful job! ;D