By Robyn Hakes

At Purple Skunk in San Francisco hardgoods are arriving faster than softgoods. "Nothing is late yet because our cancel date hasn’t come up yet," says Patty Soohoo, assistant manager. A few brands, including Santa Cruz and Northwave, were even early with their deliveries.

"I think this year’s deliveries are a lot better than in the past," Soohoo adds. "Last year we didn’t see snowboard stuff until October or even November."

Greg Hansen, manager of Free Flight Sports in Grass Valley says the shop had received about half of its snowboard equipment by mid September. "That’s about average from what I’ve seen over the years," he says. "We usually get about half the product on time. Next month is when we’ll really see if we have a problem with anything."

Hansen says Morrow was the best with deliveries this year, shipping the complete order. Free Flight is still waiting for half of its clothing order from Burton, and Ride is still out. "We finally had to call them about our order and they said they’d look into it," Hansen scoffs.

The shop has already started selling some boots and bindings, but no boards just yet.

Boardmart Snow, Surf, and Skate is still waiting on some equipment, but Manager and Snowboard Buyer Dale Gipp says Burton and Santa Cruz did a great job this year. "Burton has a huge presence in my store and the product looks great," he says. "We’ve had strong preseason sales so far. Santa Cruz is also doing well for us. The boards are flying out the door."

Gipp adds that he is still waiting on deliveries from some companies though. Sims is slow due to a mix up with his order but Gipp says that’s all been straightened out now. And Forum is still out but the company has told him Boardmart should be getting product, "Any day now."

Powder House, a rental shop in South Lake Tahoe, has sold snowboards in the past, but not this year. For the upcoming season, the shop will retail apparel, boots, and bindings only. "Our apparel is starting to arrive daily," says Manager Bob Spees. "The deliveries are on time, but it’s always about the same every year. We give them the ship dates when we order at SIA."

For the shop’s hardgoods, Spees expects deliveries to start in early October. "We’re a two-season shop so we don’t need the stuff to come in early," he adds.

Jime Herbert, manager at 118 Board Shop in Granada Hills says deliveries are late from everybody. "All the companies are about the same," he says. "Burton has improved tremendously, though. Last year we got four boards and then two months later we got twenty. We didn’t get boots until after Christmas."

This year, Burton has shipped 118’s order nearly complete, with a few apparel pieces outstanding. "We have the majority of the stuff we need to have on the floor right now," Herbert says. "We’ve gotten a lot of stuff in, but mostly incomplete orders."