When I want to find out what’s happening in the snowboard industry, Wave Rave owner Steve Klassen is usually one of my first calls.
Wave Rave, with stores in Mammoth, Bishop, and Los Angeles, California, is one of the most high-profile and high-volume snowboard retail businesses in the industry.
I spoke with Klassen last week about the challenges of last season, how he ordered for this season, what brands he is excited about, and more.
Last Season’s Double Whammy
Two seasons ago, business was humming.
“It was the best year ever,” Klassen said. “We had record snowfall, and people still had money from COVID. But we all knew it couldn’t go on forever.”
And it didn’t – the booming sales and abundant snow all came to a halt last year.
“We got the double whammy of the post-COVID comedown and no early snow,” Klassen said. “I know in lot of the country, the same thing happened to them. It’s always so heartbreaking when that happens because everyone’s got momentum going, and everyone wants to make more product and sell more product, and then it all crashed.”
As a result, Klassen said his business is down 25% for the past 12 months compared to the same period last year. But, he said he’s not freaked out – he’s been in the snowboard business for 35 years and has had several ups and downs.
“I’ve been in this game a long time, it was inevitable it would slow down,” he said. “You could see it coming.”
Wave Rave is rolling into this season with about $1 million worth of carryover product, he said. Because of that and the slower sales environment, his orders for this season were down 35-40%.
“We are coming in light, definitely lighter than usual, but the shop looks great,” Klassen said.
Of course, a lot of brands were not thrilled with the smaller orders. Sales reps and brand executives usually want bigger orders – especially those owned by private equity, he said.
“They are on a growth plan and people who work for those companies are expected to make growth happen,” he said.
Others, most notably Burton, actually came to him about two years ago and said they wanted Wave Rave to order less because they expected a downturn was coming after the go-go COVID years.
“They were smart,” Klassen said. “I told a bunch of other companies about that, and some took it to heart, and others went in a different direction.”
Wave Rave owner Steve Klassen. File photo courtesy of Wave Rave.
The Saving Grace – Owning His Buildings
Given the downturn in the business, driving profitability was difficult last year. But investing in property long ago has paid off in times like these.
“My deal is that I own my main building free and clear,” he said. “And if I don’t have a good year, I just don’t pay myself rent. And then I make it up on one of the other years that are better.
“That’s how I stay in business – it’s really come to that in our industry,” Klassen added. “It’s feast or famine based on snow, and if you don’t own your own property or have a deal with somebody so it’s like you own your own property, I think you’re in trouble in this industry. You have to have that safety net for a no-snow year.”
Other ways he is looking to trim expenses include incentivizing his managers to watch payroll-to-sales ratios more closely.
Product and Other Excitement
I asked Klassen what products, brands or categories he is excited about as the season gets underway.
“I personally ride traditional bindings and I’m going to stay with that,” he said. “But the step-in category has just really been taking off for us. The Burton Step On has done tremendous for us and we are bringing in the Nidecker step-in this season.
“I spend a lot of time in Europe, and I’ve always been a fan of the Nidecker brand. Many years ago, we tried carrying their boards, but the name just didn’t work for selling boards in the U.S.
“But I could not deny what I saw with people riding that binding last year when I was in Verbier, Switzerland. I saw people throwing double rotations in the park with that Nidecker step-in (binding) and free riding really well with that binding, and that impressed me. I don’t know if I’ll ever personally go away from traditional bindings, but I’m excited about that part for sure.”
Other brands that shoppers are excited about include 1910, the start-up apparel brand by snowboarders and artists Jaimie Lynn and Schoph.
“That’s definitely what’s cool in terms of the hardcore side of casual wear,” Klassen said.
Klassen himself is a big fan of Volcom outerwear, which he describes as the best in the industry.
“Volcom 3L is the best outerwear in the game,” he said. “I’ve got the pants on right now. But I will say that it did hurt our industry with it being sold so inexpensively last year on their direct-to-consumer. They discounted it way too much.”
Downsized LA Store
Wave Rave expanded to LA three years ago. When I asked Klassen how that store is doing, he said, “It’s going good enough.”
“We decided to downsize it because I can’t justify that square footage during the summer,” Klassen said. “So we’re shrinking to about 1,400 square feet during the summer and expanding to about 3,500 feet in the winter. That way it’s affordable for us to pay rent.”
Supporting Companies Who Don’t Do Lame Things
Klassen believes Wave Rave has lasted so long because he and his team are totally immersed in every aspect of snowboarding. Klassen himself competes in extreme freeriding competitions in Europe, and has won the Xtreme Verbier competition multiple times.
“I went snowboarding today,” he said. “I walked up a couple thousand vertical feet so I could find a spot with enough snow to make 10 turns. I love it – there’s nothing else I want to do.
“And I think that’s the type of person that should be in our industry and that should be owning companies, too. That’s why I’m excited by companies like Jones, and Jon Hirshberg of JR286 (a longtime friend of Klassen), who put a lot of money down and signed on to license part of the Dakine business for 30 years. That’s his personal money. And Donna Carpenter at Burton, I have a ton of respect for her.
“Those are the people I want to hang out with, that I want to do business with. They do it because they love it.”
Klassen has heard horror stories of other retailers being squeezed by brands if they don’t place orders of certain sizes.
“I haven’t had that issue, but I’ve heard other retailers have had that issue with some people playing hardball, but here’s the thing,” he said. “If you play hardball, it’s really easy to go someplace else. And this would be a message to every manufacturer out there. It’s really easy to go buy a different helmet somewhere or a different pair of gloves from a different company.
“I make my decisions based on my relationships with people,” Klassen added. “It’s about how I feel about people in the company and how cool they are, and hopefully they didn’t do anything lame. You didn’t do anything lame, you didn’t do anything weird, so you get the big order.”
As far as this season getting underway, it’s really a waiting game to see if Mother Nature will grace Mammoth with early snow, he said.
“If we don’t have early snow, it crushes us in Mammoth,” he said. “People usually decide in December where they are going to go, so if we get snow in January, they’ve already decided to go somewhere else. When it comes late, sales do kick in and people come, but it’s more of that hardcore customer that usually has most of their gear.
“We really need that early snow to bring up a lot of new customers to get people here early, and get them buying their product from us early.”
