By Anthony Harubin

February 25, 2000

Located in beautiful Coquitlam, British Columbia, Sport Mart is one shop in a large chain of stores. Manager Lorraine Hagan says Kombi Gore-Tex gloves, Kombi fleece underwear, and Bollé goggles were the top-selling accessories in her store last year. As for margins on these items Hagan replied, "I have no idea, and I don’t think we want to share that information either."

When asked about top-selling gloves, underwear, and goggles, John Iglefias, manager of Hakuna Snow and Surf Shop says, "We didn’t carry any of that stuff because there’s no market for accessories around here."

The shop, located three hours south of Toronto in Sarnia, Ontario, only sells boards, boots, and bindings. Since Sarnia is more than 90 minutes away from the nearest mountain–a tiny one at that–Iglefias claims that "only spoiled rich kids are going to buy those products [gloves, underwear, and goggles]." Dude, now that’s hardcore …

Perhaps one of the most popular shops in Western Canada, Rude Boys is Banff’s star attraction for snowboarders. Kalina Ford, manager of this ten-year-old shop, reports that last year Burton Outland mitts, Burton underwear, and Spy goggles sold very well. "Gloves don’t sell as well for snowboarders around here as mitts, and Burton is a name our customers count on for quality," says Ford. "Our competitors would really like to know our margins, so that’s not something we want to divulge."

Aaron Yohnki works in Dunas Snow and Skate in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan where Four Square and Special Blend gloves were all the rage last season and Spy goggles were popular due to their colors and lenses.

According to Yohnki, "We don’t carry long underwear because people don’t seem to need it with the quality of the pants on the market. Plus, all the other shops carry them."

Shop Owner Sheldon Dlugos says, "We don’t really have any specific way to calculate margins. We follow the suggested retail price, and it all depends on the amount of snow we’ve received and what kind of selling season we’re having."

Mike McGinnis, owner of Wind Addiction in Kingston, Ontario, sells snowboards in the winter and sailboards in the summer. Last season Convert gloves, Hot Chillys underwear, and Iris goggles were the big movers in his shop. "As for margins on these items, let’s just say that they were down due to the lack of snow before Christmas," reports McGinnis.