Skateboard Gear Retail Business Plan

Burly’s goal is to provide specialty apparel, shoes, boards (skateboards, snow boards, etc.), hardware and miscellaneous specialty items (hats, wallets, bandanas, etc.) to the under-served market of the Suburb/Salem community.The major competitive retailers have left a hole in this market. There are two to four competitors in the general area. After surveying many potential customers, we have found that the general trend is people feel that they have no alternative but to go to one of these stores. Many indicate that they would welcome an alternative in their locality. This particular population of customers is growing.

Our intention is to gain 80% of this market share by focusing on our niche positioning, neighborhood location, popular brands, and special promotions.

5.1 Competitive Edge

Burly offers an enhanced shopping experience, while being competitively priced and keeping up with the latest trends of the world wide market. Our stellar customer service separates Burly from the rest.

• Sponsorship of up-and-coming talented skateboarders throughout the community. These sponsored youth will distribute 10% off business cards while they skate at local skate parks throughout Oregon. They will also demonstrate Burly apparel and equipment.
• Our location in the community will offer closer access to our target customer base.
• Special sales and package deals featuring complete beginner packages. Burly plans to provide beginning lessons at a future date.

5.2 Marketing Strategy

Our marketing strategy will focus heavily on sales promotion, niche positioning in the market and customer service with loyalty and retention in sales.

• The marketing budget will range from 15% to 20% of our gross annual sales.
• Our promotions will always stay in tune with our company objectives and mission statement.

Initial marketing will begin with flyers and leaflets in the skate park for two months before we open, to alert our potential customers to our new store. Our Grand Opening, in May, will include discount prices, and we will give away discount cards to the first 50 customers that day.

Future marketing programs include radio spots, ads in the local high school newspaper, and leafletting around other high schools and skate parks in the Salem suburbs. 

5.3 Sales Strategy

• We will utilize the Retail POS software with every sales transaction. With each purchase, the software will record and maintain in its database the customer’s name, address and purchases. This information will be used with our direct mailing program to focus on the top 50% of our customers.
• We will offer a 14 day return/exchange policy to build trust with our customers and maintain retention and loyalty.

5.3.1 Sales Forecast

The following table and chart give a highlight of forecasted sales. We expect sales to start off slowly but increase extensively during the summer skateboard season. We also expect to see increased sales during the Christmas holiday shopping season and the winter snow boarding season. Burly has planned for a growth rate of 15% annually. As we build name recognition and status in the community, we expect to gain a larger percentage of the market share and increase our customer base, and consequently see an increase in revenue.

Based on research into other skateboard and snow board retailers, we expect COGS at 45% of retail prices for all categories.

5.4 Milestones

The accompanying milestone chart highlights our plan with specific dates. This schedule reflects our strong committment to organization and detail.