Snowgum placed in administration

neil on 28/10/2013 - 16:15

Looks like OzBargainer favourite Snowgum has gone into administration.

For those who don't remember, someone spotted a free $20 gift voucher with no minimum purchase in The Age which worked well for most but resulted in this for some:

Due to the voucher offer being posted on coupon websites thus overwhelming our online store with responses, we are unable to offer the redemption online.

We apologise to genuine readers of The Age. If you are a reader of The Age and you are unable to take your coupon into a store, join the Snowgum Club online and mail your Age coupon to us at Snowgum The Age, PO Box 1343 Clayton South, Vic, 3169 along with your membership number and email address, and we will email you a voucher to use online. "

A similar offer was posted resulting in many more unhappy users. Some explanation here

Not sure if they offered the vouchers as the writing was on the wall and/or if the vouchers helped in their downfall.

Update:

According to The Age they blame Rising rents and wages, stagnant sales and steep discounting from competitor Kathmandu

They also blame the GFC. but turnover slumped in 2008 during the global financial crisis

Via [The Herald Sun]

General Discussion

Related Stores

Snowgum Australia
Snowgum Australia

Comments

  • PissLUR on 28/10/2013 - 16:26

    not surprised here.

  • BuyoTheCat on 28/10/2013 - 16:39

    Snowgun, Columbia gone. Retailers for outdoor/hiking stuff are really facings a hard time.

    • m0nkeycheese on 28/10/2013 - 17:34
      +32

      Probably been told to take a hike

    • Davo1111 on 29/10/2013 - 10:51

      Columbia is part of Mountain Designs? In Chatswood they share the same back room, and Columbia stock is available in MD

  • [Deactivated] on 28/10/2013 - 16:58
    +2

    Yeah, they got ozbargained. They basically turned their brand into ^*(#.

  • mskeggs on 28/10/2013 - 17:13

    I got my free gloves from them on that coupon thing. I did end up buying a thermos from them later, so I wasn't completely a free rider.

  • cwongtech on 28/10/2013 - 17:29
    +1

    Rising rents and wages, stagnant sales and steep discounting from competitor Kathmandu

    Right. Kathmandu.
    "$1000 jacket, discounted to now only $700!"
    Steep discounting indeed.

    • Pacify on 28/10/2013 - 20:37
      +11

      Kathmandu sale price is their normal price. Their regular price is pure robbery lol. That shop is a joke, and has only got worse every year. people who buy there must be out of their minds :(

      • dasvenson on 29/10/2013 - 10:37
        +2

        I've bought a couple of things there during their sales. I'll admit it's still not the cheapest ever but during their peak big sales the prices get down to being comparable to online retailers. Last sale I bought a goretex shell and a polarfleece inner layer for about $400 (usual price $850 or so).

        With outdoor gear I especially like to be able to touch it, make sure it fits and ensure it's of good quality which I just can't get online.

      • humdingaling on 29/10/2013 - 13:18

        speaking of kathmandu jacking up RRP

        During their supposed 50% sale, ive seem products where they black out the original RRP with a marker (not a very good job on some of them as i could still see the original RRP) then increase the RRP to give a discount on their sale

        ie
        original RRP 15, new RRP 20
        50% is off 20 and not 15
        so really it ended up being 5 bucks off instead of the 7.5 which 50% should have been

        ps…this was quite some time ago

    • BlazinPast on 28/10/2013 - 18:13
      +4

      Dude, grow up. You're praying on their downfall because you didn't get your freebie?

  • aimon on 28/10/2013 - 17:37
    +1

    Agreed. After seeing the same products at half the price London (Kathmandu) it is amazing what these guys charge for simple outdoor gear.

    • cloudy on 28/10/2013 - 18:30
      +2

      It's amazing they charge so much and they are still going broke. Normally u associate rip off prices with fat profits, but the fact is in Australia everything is expensive, rent (look at house and land prices ), wages (look at minimum wages) and utility prices (I've grabbed old bills and can confirm 15-20% year on year increases for a few years now).

      Rip Australian retailers

  • TheAviator on 28/10/2013 - 18:52
    +9

    they blame Rising rents and wages, stagnant sales and steep discounting from competitor Kathmandu. They also blame the GFC

    Seems the trend is to blame everything but poor management these days…

    • cloudy on 28/10/2013 - 20:18

      When an industry with poor economics is met with talented management, it is usually the industries repute that remains in tact. Warren Howard all-u-can-eat

  • [Deactivated] on 28/10/2013 - 19:52
    +1

    Quotes from MD Ross Elliott:

    Kathmandu had "perfected the art of pricing a product at an exorbitant retail price then offering it at 60 per cent off to attract buyers".

    "The adventure wear category has traditionally maintained integrity in retail pricing, but Kathmandu has changed all that".

    "The Kathmandu high-low pricing model where products are constantly on 50, 60 and 70 per cent discount, all year round, has forced the whole category to follow suit".

    Those stupid enough to celebrate this have forgotten that the reduced competition will be exploited by Kathmandu and those remaining.

    • Mungulz on 28/10/2013 - 20:38

      Heh, so the industry had a price fix to rip off every Aussie who wants to enjoy the outdoors?

      Good.
      And no, competition will not be exploited by Kathmandu.
      Almost everything you can buy from them is available on eBay from multiple sellers.

      It's all made in China anyway, the difference is just the middleman.

      • [Deactivated] on 28/10/2013 - 21:48

        And no, competition will not be exploited by Kathmandu.

        Are you for real?
        Of course it will, and that's how it's meant to work.

        Your average mug goes to a store made of bricks.
        Not everyone is like you & me, together, nude.

    • Pacify on 28/10/2013 - 20:39

      the only real option one has left is to buy from american sites like sierra trading post, its miles cheaper then any thing kathmandu or mountain designs offer

      • 2ndeffort on 29/10/2013 - 02:11
        +3

        What do you mean option, I've been doing this for years and have never bought from either Snowgum, Mountain Designs or Kathmandu. Our seasons are the opposite of the northern hemisphere, the American and UK clearance sales match perfectly with the start of our seasons!!

        How much longer for Anaconda??

  • Doey21 on 28/10/2013 - 22:02
    +1

    Ah well guess its time to stay indoors then…

  • riley94 on 28/10/2013 - 22:33
    +2

    Sad to hear that. I spent several hundreds of dollars on hiking gear there, and found the staff to be much more helpful and knowledgeable than the surly minimum wage teenagers/uni students working at Kathmandu with their ridiculous prices and constant 'sales'.

    Snowgum was a good store that stocked good brands, compared to Kathmandu's 'home brand' rubbish.

  • Kinjiru on 29/10/2013 - 11:17
    +2

    Snowgum is one of those brands that I have a soft spot for. I've bought a number of things from them over the years, particularly during a period when I was doing lots of outdoor activities. I've always found the quality of their products to be quite good and reasonably priced (compared to the other outdoor retail shops in Sydney). AS someone mentioned earlier, their staff are always friendly and helpful. I for one, will be sad to see them go.

    Kathmandu quality is rubbish these days and I no longer go in their store having cottoned onto their dodgy pricing strategy years ago.

    • Bargain4U on 30/10/2013 - 00:52

      I no longer go in their store having cottoned onto their dodgy pricing strategy years ago.

      Care to enlighten us?

  • Baghern on 29/10/2013 - 11:19

    Forget all that, the industry was due for consolidation for a long time. That's how Katmandu was able to captialise and grow. Those other companies have no excuse, since Kathmandu also help expand the market through awareness of their products.

    A lot of people wear this type of gear do not go hiking, they wear it as casual wear. Winter wear.

    Those companies just sat on their haunches and failed.

    Their stores don't feel much different from the 90s

  • jzx100 on 29/10/2013 - 18:51
    +2

    Good old OzBargain, sending retailers into administration since 2006.

    • Baghern on 29/10/2013 - 19:43
      +2

      pfft, most of those stores were always doomed to fail, Kathmandu proved that.

      I still remember in the late 90s walking into those stores, at Parramatta Westfields whenever I went there, barely any products, ultra expensive and rarely anyone walks in… how they 'hell' do they stay open.

    • morpheu on 29/10/2013 - 20:05
      +1

      look at it this way, OZb members did them a favour by putting them out of their misery, you know like a racehorse breaks it's leg and out comes the rifle….but don't cry just yet, there's a good chance the head honcho or some of the ex staff will start up a new company in one form or another!

  • lead_org on 30/10/2013 - 14:15

    They had their days. The profit margin these guys were earning were huge. An outdoor all weather jacket costs about 20 dollars to make, and they sell for 200 dollars. You can get lot of hiking and outdoor gears can be bought from online retailers for half of the price.

  • tonester on 30/10/2013 - 15:47

    given that they've been having 50-80% off everything for months, it's not too surprising but still unfortunate :(
    http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/114996

    snowgum is better than kathmandu and was a cheap local source of good brands such as patagonia :)
    http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/109655

    check out macpac locally for good cheap outdoor gear
    http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/81744

    • Davo1111 on 30/10/2013 - 23:11

      I went to macpac, but couldn't get a good deal. Store is nicely kitted out though (the one in townhall, syd)

      • Baghern on 30/10/2013 - 23:28

        I've visited that one,very very bad location, 90% of the time I accidentally skip it when looking for things.

        • Davo1111 on 30/10/2013 - 23:45

          They've slightly extended the store, so it's now go a front inside the townhall shopping centre (not some sketchy side entrance). It's still not the best place in terms of foot traffic.

        • cwongtech on 31/10/2013 - 01:07

          Townhall has a shopping centre?

        • Davo1111 on 31/10/2013 - 04:41

          ok, maybe not a shopping centre, apparently it's an Arcade.

          Quite a few shops down there :/

  • symo on 31/10/2013 - 09:55
    +1

    The problem / isuue I see with oz outdoor retailers ( appart from cost) is they tend to slant towards the travel market rather than bushwalking market, and therefor the quality of the product reflects this.

    I bought a head-torch from jcar (brick & mortar store) shelf price $35. kathmandu had exactly the same torch on sale (50% off sale) for a measly $60 (reduced from $120).
    Go figure!

    • [Deactivated] on 31/10/2013 - 17:15

      they tend to slant towards the travel market rather than bushwalking market,…

      Well yeah, given it's so much bigger.

      I used to be able to get a decent day pack from Kathmandu - not anymore - all their zips are flimsy now - none of the big fat zips.

      I love fat zips.

  • frostee on 27/12/2013 - 09:08

    It seems Snowgum is back. Just got a text message saying they had restocked.

  • 2ndeffort on 28/12/2013 - 00:30
    +1

    I don't mind Snowgum, bought some superfeet insoles in there not long ago. Weren't too far awy from overseas prices and I got to touch/feel them before I bought them. Sad thing was that the guy was amazed, said I was the 1st person he could remember that bought those insoles. Meanwhile across the corridor numpties were paying over the odds for rubbish in Katmandhu!

    I buy loads of ski gear, most of it from overseas. I cant believe the prices charged in Katmandhu. For a basic waterproof shell in Katmandhu I reckon I could get a Gore Tex Jacket online! I cant imagine a scenario where I would buy anything from either Katmandhu or Anaconda!

  • cheepwun on 28/12/2013 - 20:33
    +1

    The age of the stupid Australian shopper is hopefully changing.

    We have had decades of that. Trim the fat. Record personal debt in this country (most of it feeding speculators and parasites that supposedly lead us), so some things have to give.

    Never stepped foot in this store.

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