Fly Fishing Retailer Show

"Could Be Better, Could Be Worse"

This common phrase to describe things as being about the same is a good way to sum up the Fly Fishing Retailer 2008. No one really expected the amount of new products as last year and frankly from a retailer's point of view that is a good thing. Even though it is exciting to see the new stuff it generally means that shops have to blowout a bunch of 'outdated' product and bring in the 'shiny' things which deflates the ability to keep floating.

If you have been to the previous FFR's, one thing that everyone seemed to agree on was that Cloudveil had created a pretty good stir of things for the last couple of years. They seemed to be putting up a strong alternative to Simms and Patagonia in the soft goods market. Wow, where's Cloudveil in FFR 2008?

Unfortunately, one of the underlying themes I saw at the show was that, like everything else, the prices of most products are going up. I guess the silver lining can be that it shouldn't really be a surprise to anyone.

This is not meant to be an obituary for the show or industry. Contrarily, I feel like all factors being considered, that things are good for the simple reason that things are not too bad. It may sound silly simple but it's just one person's opinion.

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